Hasta La Gadget!

Pebble promised some news during its CES press event today, and it’s now confirmed that, after a series of delays, the smart watch will finally begin shipping to Kickstarter backers on January 23rd. That includes some 85,000 orders in all, which will apparently take six to eight weeks to fulfil as it’s now looking at a production rate of about 15,000 units per week. The company will then begin fulfilling non-Kickstarter pre-orders after that. Eager for a closer look at what’s in store if you ordered? You can find our hands-on look at the finished device right here.

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Toshiba just wants to know you’re fit, healthy, and eating well, and if its new smartwatch prototype can help you with your email, calls, and messages too, that’s all the better. The company is showing off a new concept watch with a 1.7-inch color OLED display, capable not only of hooking up wirelessly to your smartphone so as to ping over reminders, alerts, message previews, and other notifications, but of tracking your pulse from your wrist and keeping a fitness record. It even uses biometrics for security.

The display runs at 200 x 320 resolution, which is sufficient for multiple lines of text, with simple controls to navigate through the menus and options. As well as messages and calls, it will offer directions pulled from your iOS or Android smartphone, together with news headlines and weather forecasts.

The ECG sensor tracks heart-rate and can keep a record of your fitness, but Toshiba also expects to use it for security: if the smartwatch doesn’t recognize your usual pulse, it won’t unlock. Toshiba also envisages a download store for alternative watch faces and apps.

What most struck us, though, was the content of Toshiba’s looping demo, which included choice messages like “I get so emotional when your [sic] not around. I think the emotion is called happiness.” There’s no telling whether the watch and its charging cradle will actually make it to market, but Toshiba would probably need to slim down the design before that could happen since it’s a chunky block right now.

Toshiba Smartwatch tracks health, location, and passive-aggressive mail is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Last year at CES, smartwatches seemed like they might become the next big thing (they didn’t). This year, the trendy wearables are all fitness trackers, which have already become something of a meme among gadget makers. Toshiba thinks it has a way to bridge both trends. Here at CES 2013 the company is showing off a concept smartwatch that measures the pulse in your wrist. Of course, it also does all the other things you’d expect a smartwatch to do, like pull in email and calendar appointments from your smartphone. We’re told that if this came to market (and we don’t know that it will), it would pair with an Android / iOS app, which would allow the watch to not just sync email, but also pull in maps and turn-by-turn directions.

The hardware itself is styled more like an analog watch than other smartwatches we’ve seen. Toshiba demoed it with different bands, some of them made of leather in serious tones like black and dark brown. As you can see, the 1.7-inch, 200×320-pixel OLED screen can display different clock faces, some of them even designed to mimic an analog watch. As far as runtime is concerned, a Toshiba rep indicated that the company is aiming for at least two days of battery life, though that figure is hardly final. In our hands-on, we noticed some charging points on the reverse side of the face, which you’d use with a proprietary charging cradle. At the same time, the Toshiba spokesperson indicated USB charging was also a possibility. Again, no word on when or if this will come to market. Even if it never surfaces, though, we can get behind the idea of smartwatches that track vitals — or perhaps fitness trackers that do a little more.

Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.

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For those of you that worked with the KickStarter for the device known as the Pebble Watch, you’ve been waiting perhaps a bit longer than you expected you would to actually see a final product in your hands. Today the folks responsible for the Pebble Watch project have made it clear that they’ll be hosting a CES 2013 even that will – quite likely, but no promises – reveal the watch at last.

This event will be presented on January 9th via a live streaming webcast at the getpebble.com website. This event will be a live presentation captured from a real live CES 2013 event that’ll be taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This says to us that the presenters, “Eric + Pebble Team”, finally mean business.

What we’re expecting to see at this event is a real live presentation of the final product as well as details on when the device will be shipped to KickStarter backers. With as long a wait as we’ve seen with this device in this campaign, it’d be a disappointment not to have those two things (at least) ready for action. Meanwhile we’ll also hope for additional color casings and features and all that good stuff as well.

You’ll be able to tune in to the whole massive ocean of events all week long via our CES 2013 tag – expect that portal to be filling up with a never-ending stream of madness the whole week through. Also be sure to hit up our Pebble tag to see those updates exclusively as they pop up.

Pebble tips CES 2013 event: “It’s (almost) Time” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Pebble smartwatch missed its original September target ship date. Then, it failed to ship in time to stuff stockings this holiday season. And, while we’ve seen them in person and the company claims a release is imminent, you’d be forgiven for being a bit skeptical. But there is reason to hope: the connected wristwear has officially received a thumbs up from the FCC. What’s more, the e-paper timepiece gets the full teardown treatment and comes complete with an owners manual. There’s no surprises here, but if you’re the impatient type, there should be a few things to keep you occupied until the next delay.

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: FCC