The new face of wearable tech on display at Mobile World Conference in Barcelona
SONY, LG and Huawei are among the tech companies that have just launched new wearables — and smart watches are only the beginning.
IT MAY be just one week from Apple’s highly anticipated smartwatch launch but wearable technology gushed from the halls of the world’s biggest mobile phone show on its opening day.
Smartwatches, fitness bands, smart headsets, and even internet-connected motorcycle helmets were on show at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, including offerings from major smartphone makers yet to enter the wearable race.
Chinese phone maker Huawei made perhaps the biggest wearable tech splash, unveiling three gadgets for the wrist, with the hero device a slick, metal smartwatch for use with Google-based phones.
The Huawei Watch features a 1.4-inch AMOLED screen for displaying phone updates and one of 40 customised faces, a heart-rate sensor, barometer, a microphone for dictating messages, and Android Wear software.
Huawei consumer chief executive officer Richard Yu said the company had chosen to enter the market as “no doubt, wearable devices will remain one of the most significant trends in the device industry”.
A further two new devices from the company, the TalkBand B2 and TalkBand N1, offer fitness tracking in the form of a bracelet-style device and a headset that can be worn like a necklace.
LG also revealed two new smartwatches at MWC, including the world’s first 4G smartwatch.
The South Korean company’s Watch Urbane wearables debut metal bodies, though they retain the 1.3-inch, bright P-OLED screen from its Watch R smartwatch launched last year.
But a 4G version of the device, the Watch Urbane LTE, can also use its own SIM card to connect to the internet independently of a phone, giving the watch its own phone number and allowing users to make and take calls on the watch.
The 4G Watch Urbane is also the first to use LG’s WebOS software, which delivers a rotating menu for apps including phone calls, text messages, sports and exercise tracking, and even a built-in voice translator. A built-in NFC chip will also allow users to leave their wallet at home and make payment with a swipe of their wrist.
LG president Juno Cho said despite added technology in the 4G watch, due for release in South Korea within the next two months, the company had merely focused on creating a timepiece attractive enough to be worn daily.
“LG Watch Urbane is an important part of our strategy to develop wearable devices that are worn and viewed as everyday accessories, not electronic gadgets,” he said.
HTC also entered the wearable technology race at MWC, though not with a smartwatch as some analysts predicted.
The HTC Grip, developed in conjunction with fitness brand Under Armour, is instead designed to appeal to athletes and is a plastic band that offers tracking for a wide range of sports, a GPS chip, and a basic display for phone notifications.
Sony again showed images of its planned e-paper smartwatch, though stopped short of displaying a prototype, while Intel demonstrated a smart motorcycle helmet capable of reading map directions and showing off indicator signals to drivers behind the rider.
The helmet used Intel’s Edison Platform, designed for creating no-fuss technology prototypes, and showed brake and indicator lights on the back of the helmet in time with a connected BMW motorbike, while a microphone inside the helmet allowed users to search the internet and Google Maps using voice commands.
Intel researcher Stephanie Hoyerman said the smart helmet had only been in development since October but the research product was not ready for road use.
The wave of wearable technology comes just one week from the San Francisco event at which Apple is expected to launch its first smartwatch after revealing its form last year.
The Apple Watch is expected to renew interest in wearable technology, with Australian research firm Telyste predicting a 50 per cent jump in smartwatch ownership this year due to the Apple Watch alone.
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Samsung.
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