Sony Unveils SmartWatch 2
The recent success of Pebble (after its crowd-funding campaign, it became the most highly funded Kickstarter project with $10,266,844 pledged by 68,928 people) was not without consequence. It has attracted the attention of big companies like Sony and Apple, companies that have their own smartwatches. Sony was one of the first companies to offer a wrist worn computer (also known as a smartwatch) and it was named SmartWatch. It was released last year and even though it looked pretty nice, it had a few disadvantages, the biggest being its high price and its software.
However, Sony is not a company to give up just after a misstep, and this year with a new Android based smartwatch, named how else than SmartWatch 2. The second generation SmartWatch is very similar to the first generation SmartWatch, but with a few key improvements. For one, Sony added NFC (short for near field communication) so the SmartWatch 2 can communicate with an Android smartphone just by touching. Another welcomed improvement is a higher resolution display with better performance in sunlight. An improved battery life, user interface and more pre installed apps are some of the other changes Sony made to the second generation SmartWatch.
The SmartWatch 2 has a touchscreen display of 1.6 inches (bigger in size than its predecessor’s display) and, as we already mentioned, it has a higher resolution: 220 x 176 pixels. The increased display helped the device’s aesthetics, as the large and ugly bezel from the first generation SmartWatch is now gone. The SmartWatch 2 is also water resistance (with a IP57 rating) and Sony says that it has the longest battery life of any smartwatch on the market. A very good design decision was to give up on Sony’s proprietary cable for charging – you can now charge the SmartWatch 2 using a standard Micro USB cable. Another thing Sony let go was the rubber wristband; in its place you can now find a stainless steel version. Also the second generation SmartWatch keeps its aluminum body intact from the previous generation. You can also change the band with any 24 mm strap.
As you can see, hardware wise Sony did hit all the right notes and improved the original SmartWatch in many places. But the biggest disadvantage of the first generation Sony SmartWatch was its software – mainly the user interface – and its usability. Sony addressed these issues; first of all, the NFC feature will make it easier to connect your SmartWatch 2 with an Android smartphone – just tap to connect. Then there is the redesigned user interface that Sony claims it resembles the Android user interface on a smartphone. The second generation SmartWatch also has home, back and menu capacitive keys on its face, similar to most Android based smartphones. Another plus from the previous version of the SmartWatch is represented by the fact that SmartWatch 2 is compatible with most of the Android based smartphones on the market. However, SmartWatch 2 does not bring iOS compatibility.
Sony confirmed that it is trying to have to SmartWatch 2 in stores this Fall in September, but did not offer any kind of information regarding the gadget’s launch price. The smartwatches market is an emergent one and competition is starting to be very fierce, Pebble already being a success and companies such as Apple and Google are said to have their on smartwatches in production. If Sony want its SmartWatch 2 to be successful, the gadget should deliver on all the promises Sony made, especially on those regarding its much improved software and user interface.
