ARE YOU AHEAD OF YOUR TIME?
GET UP TO THE MINUTE WITH THESE CUTTING EDGE SMART WATCHES
N THE short time since Apple released its first smartwatch, the market for wearable wrist tech has skyrocketed.
Of course, there were smartwatches before then, but as often happens when Apple gets into the game, everybody else had to up theirs.
Now the market is full of excellent examples of useful smartwatches, with the focus very heavily on fitness tracking for most of them.
It remains something of a miracle to me that many of us are now walking around with tiny computers strapped to our wrists with the kind of power that a few decades ago would have been unthinkable in a home computer, let alone a device of such small dimensions.
Here are five of the best smartwatches available today…
THE Active2 is, as the name suggests, Samsung’s second effort at a dedicated health-tracking smartwatch. It features a circular screen, and packs in all the features you need to stay on top of your fitness.
It tracks your heart rate throughout the day, and will give you a nudge to do some guided breathing exercises if it thinks you are getting a bit too stressed out.
It will also track your workouts, with the built-in “running coach” offering real-time advice. When it comes to communication, it’s got you covered there – there’s wifi in the entry-level model, but you can pay more for mobile connectivity, so you can use it on the go without your phone.
It runs a variant of Tizen OS but can sync with both Android phones and iPhone.
The sleek and simple case comes in two finishes (stainless steel and aluminium), and three colours (black, silver and gold). Samsung also offers a wide variety of straps so you can mix and match to get your unique look.
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You have access on your wrist to the Google Assistant, as well as Google Pay and Google Fit activity tracking software. It tracks your heart-rate, too, and is waterproof for fitness tracking while swimming. Access to a variety of apps is available, including Spotify, plus a huge number of watch face designs. Go for it if you’re in the Google world.
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PERHAPS the best smartwatch out there (and certainly the most popular by far – most estimates suggest the Apple Watch, left, has 50% of the market), the sixth version of the device is the most complete experience yet. With its always-on display, superb health and fitness tracking features, and tight integration with iOS and the iPhone, the Apple Watch Series 5 is the smartwatch to beat.
In fact, its only real drawback (if you can call it that), is that you need an iPhone (and only an iPhone will do) to use an Apple Watch, even if improvements over recent years have seen the device’s reliance on iPhone beyond initial set up dwindle significantly.
There are four finishes – aluminium, stainless steel, titanium and ceramic. Three colours (gold, black and silver) are available for aluminium and stainless steel versions, while the titanium is available in its natural colour and black, and ceramic comes only in white. A large array of straps are available, too.
The software on the Apple Watch has been refined to focus on fitness and health, as well as communication, and the experience is now second to none.
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THE offering from Withings differs from the other smartwatches on the list as it opts for a traditional watch display, with real dials and hands, which makes for a timeless and classic look. Even the dial that shows how much of your target activity you have managed on a given day is analogue.
There is a small monochrome screen that displays info like heart rate, steps and calories burned… and can show other stats according to the apps you install (WhatsApp, Uber and Citymapper, for example). This approach means the Steel HR can run for 25 days on one charge.
It also means the Steel HR is much more useful for things like sleep tracking – you hardly ever have to take it off. That isn’t to say it isn’t a fully featured fitness tracker, though – it measures activity and workouts automatically, and all the data can be accessed via the Withings app.
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TWITTER TELLS A STORY
TWITTER has finally taken the wraps off its version of Snapchat Stories.
If you don’t know what Snapchat Stories are, you might well know them as Instagram, Facebook or Messenger Stories – Facebook has its own version of the feature in all its apps.
Essentially Stories are posts that appear separately to your regular timeline and remain visible for a set amount of time – usually just 24 hours. The feature is now being tested in Brazil, with a view to rolling out across the globe once any kinks have been ironed out.
One difference is the name – Twitter is calling its Stories feature Fleets – fleeting thoughts to be shared quickly. They can be text (limited to 280 characters like regular tweets), video or photos.
You cannot like, retweet or comment on Fleets, but you can react to them with an emoji or reply to them via direct message.
JACK WON’T HIT THE ROAD...YET
MEANWHILE, Twitter HQ was abuzz this week with news that ‘activist’ investment company Elliott Management had bought a big stake in the company and was seeking to oust CEO Jack Dorsey.
An ‘activist’ investment company is one that seeks to influence the direction a company it invests in takes, rather than sit back and hope for the best.
Elliot has apparently been unhappy with
Twitter’s slow growth and the fact that
Dorsey, pictured right, is CEO of another large company (payments firm Square).
In a settlement revealed this week, Twitter said Elliott was to be given three seats on Twitter’s board, and Dorsey would stay for now, but has some aggressive growth and revenue targets to hit this year.
AMAZON TO GO
AMAZON has revealed plans to sell its cashierless store technology to other companies.
The Amazon Go stores offer what Amazon calls a “just walk out experience” – once you have gained entry to the store, Amazon tracks customers using a variety of cameras, and knows what they have picked up thanks to weight-sensors fitted to shelves.
Customers are then automatically billed and sent a receipt via email.