Hands-on: The Sony SmartWatch for Android Phones
Sony is showing a new version of its LiveView accessory for Android smartphones, now called SmartWatch, at CES in Las Vegas. The new version of the device should last a lot longer on a single battery charge.
The Sony booth will only feature mock-ups that don’t work, but an employee of the company was kind enough to lend a working copy for a short hands-on. Like its predecessor, the SmartWatch consists of a square screen that can be attached to a rubber wristband with a clip. For example, the device can serve as a watch, but can also be mounted on a board, for example. It doesn’t look very hip, but the weight is low at 41.5 grams and as a watch it can be called quite comfortable.
The SmartWatch is connected to an Android smartphone via bluetooth and can then display small apps and widgets on the OLED screen of 128 by 128 pixels. Apps that run on the phone can send data to the SmartWatch. The icons on the screen are displayed in a 2×2 grid and you can swipe through the available apps using the small touchscreen. By tapping the screen with two fingers you go back to the previous screen, a new feature compared to the LiveView.
The screen is a little too small for us to read text messages and Facebook messages, for example. The widgets came out a lot better, such as one that gave the weather forecast for the next three days. The music widget, with which the music player on a smartphone can be operated via the bluetooth audio protocol, was also well put together. The touchscreen didn’t seem to work quite well yet. Swiping generally went well, but especially tapping with two fingers to go back a screen sometimes did not go well.
The Sony employee present said that the LiveView was not a commercial success and partly attributed this to the poor battery life. With average use, the SmartWatch should last three to four days on a full battery, which, according to the company, is considerably longer than the battery life of the LiveView. The smartwatch should be released worldwide in the second quarter and will cost $149.