Skip to main content

New Android Wear Smartwatches Can Go Online Without Needing Your Smartphone

Image
By

Google is finally adding cellular connectivity to Android Wear, its operating software for smartwatches and wearables, in a move that could reduce a user’s dependence on their phone.
Android Wear already supports Bluetooth and Wifi connections, but now wearables will be able to plug right into the mobile grid to take calls, send/receive SMS, get search results and other internet-connected tasks without needing to pair with a smartphone or be connected to Wifi. So, as Google said in its announcement, now you can “try leaving your phone behind” when you head for a run or run errands — though we don’t endorse this if you are doing more complicated tasks on the go.
This update will come into effect with future Android Wear smartwatches, starting with LG’s new Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. The LG watch is on sale in the U.S. right now, via AT&T and Verizon. It’s slated to become available to international customers over “the coming months.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intel announces the first 14 nanometre processor

By
At the Computex conference in Taipei, chipmaker Intel has revealed a fanless mobile PC reference design using the first of its next-generation 14nm "Broadwell" processors. The 2 in 1 pictured here is a 12.5" screen that is just 7.2 mm thick with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams.  The Surface Pro 3  – for comparison – is 9.1 mm thick and weighs 800 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The next-generation chip is purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will hit the market later in  2014 . Called the Intel Core M, it will be the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history with power usage cut by up to 45 percent, resulting in 60 percent less heat. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless, with up to  32 hours of battery life,  offering both a lightning-fast tablet and razor-thin laptop. Intel is also delivering innovation and performance for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Facebook Now Supports PGP To Send You Encrypted Emails

By
You can now instruct Facebook to encrypt every email it sends to you so nobody — not even the NSA — is likely to be able to read your messages anytime soon. All you have to do is import your public PGP key into your Facebook settings and you’re good to go. The problem here, of course, is that most people have no idea how public/private key email encryption works and how to even get started with it. In the wake of Edward Snowden’s leaks, a number of organizations, including Google, promised to completely hide the complexities of end-to-end email encryption from regular users. Very few of these products have materialized so far, however — not for lack of trying, but because this is actually a very complex problem, both from a technical and user experience perspective. Facebook uses the well-established PGP scheme (the GNU Privacy Guard implementation of  OpenPGP, to be precise) to encrypt messages and tools lik...
Post a Comment
Read more

Uber, Google and other tech employees form Coalition of Black Excellence

By
When black employee resource groups from a variety of tech companies come together, black magic happens. More specifically, black excellence happens. The Coalition of Black Excellence Week, spearheaded by Uber Litigation Counsel Angela Johnson in collaboration with black ERGs from over 40 tech companies like Facebook, Google, eBay, Lyft and Microsoft, kicks off this Monday in the San Francisco Yay (Bay) Area. The idea for CBE Week came in part from Johnson’s experiences living in Washington D.C., and being able to attend events put on by the Congressional Black Caucus, she told me at Uber’s headquarters this week. “When I moved out to the Bay Area, I really wished there were similar types of experiences for tech,” Johnson said. “And I thought if we could bring together different black ERGs, or diversity and inclusion committees, or people who were interested in some of the issues the black community is passionate about, a lot of positive change and impact could come from that....
Post a Comment
Read more

Oculus’ New $99 Samsung Gear VR Makes Serious Virtual Reality Affordable

By
At half the price of its last mobile VR headset, the new $99  Oculus-made  Samsung Gear VR is cheap enough to unlock virtual reality for the mainstream. Revealed today at the Oculus Connect conference, it works with the whole 2015 line of Samsung Smartphones including the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+. It will ship in November in time for Black Friday. Compared to the $199 previous Gear VRs that only worked with fewer phones, this headset will be a lot more accessible. The new Gear VR is 22% lighter, making it more comfortable to wear. The trackpad on the temple of the headset also now has a tactile directional pad on it so your finger will know where it’s touching. The previous Gear VRs had a smooth trackpad and sometimes it was to tough to know if you were touching it or just the unsensitive shell of the headset when you couldn’t see for yourself. There’s also a new Gear VR Gamepad which all the Oculus Connect conference attendees will get for free. It features an...
Post a Comment
Read more