HP and designer Michael Bastian prepping a luxury smart watch

HP is no stranger to collaborating with designers to create special edition notebooks. This time around, HP's going with designer Michael Bastian to create a luxury smart watch. The working outline for this device, which is an Android Wear compatible watch, goes as follows, " it will feature a circular, 44mm stainless steel case and three swappable bands: black rubber, brown leather, olive green nylon and a limited edition black."

Interesting to see HP, which doesn't do smartphones anymore, try and capture some of that sweet wearables market buzz. The design inspiration for this as of yet unnamed watch will be taken from automobile industrial design and interiors and HP  apparently differentiate the experience by adding to, "the watch's smart features, which will include notifications like email, text and calls, along with user controls for music and other apps." The HP smart watch is earmarked for a fall release.

Source: Engadget

Neptune Pine takes a massive bite out of the smart watch market

The Neptune Pine has foregone the sleek and slim look of smart watches and decided to give you the largest smart watch (or smallest smartphone) it can put on your wrist. According to Digital Trends’ Andy Boxall, it looks like you are balancing “a pack of 20 cigarettes on your wrist, and you won’t be far off.”

However, if you were craving for more power from your smart watch, then the Pine is a serious contender. It gained Kickstarter success because the device operates on full Android OS, has a SIM card slot, packs in 32GB storage, runs Google Play Store, and is equipped with a 5-megapixel shooter and a 2.4-inch touch-screen that you can unclip from the strap.

Nissan Nismo smart watch concept creates driver-car connection

Making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Nissan Nismo smart watch concept is meant to connect the drivers of Nissan’s Nismo cars with the vehicles by making use of real-time biometric data. The Nismo, like the other smart watches that have recently made their debut, connects to the car via Bluetooth and then connects to a smartphone app, which then creates data for the user to receive and at the same time gathering information about them. 

The simple-looking bangle concept watch is going to provide data to help monitor the car’s efficiency, including its average speed, fuel consumption readings, other vehicle telematics, as well as performance data. It can also monitor your biometric data with a built-in heart rate monitor and show you latest updates from your social media accounts from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Nissan also hopes to add an ECG and EEG monitor to help identify any signs of fatigue, changes in concentration levels, and even skin temperature. Battery life is supposed to last for a week under normal usage but Nissan hasn’t quantified what “normal usage” entails.

Source: Wired UK

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear coming to TELUS on Oct. 4

Looks like we aren’t going to have to wait too long for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear to land on Canadian soil. TELUS has said they will be carrying both devices on October 4 but have not said anything about pricing. We know the other carriers will be offering the Galaxy Note 3 but there is no word yet on availability. Stay tuned for more updates.

Source: Engadget