New Smart Competition
Handset makers are actively seeking to find new growth engines following smartphones. The smart watch market is cited as the most favored new growth engine. Jung Boo-yeon, a researcher at the Korea Information Society Development Institute, remarked, “Since smart watches can sync with smartphones or tablet PCs, they are more likely to become a new popular kind of smart device. So, the smart watch market is expected to be reorganized in a way that smartphone manufacturers will take the initiative in the market.”
Mr. Jung compared the four smart watches on the market now. He talked about the Smart Watch 2 first, which was introduced to the market in September of last year. The new smart wristwatch is based on Android 4.0, and thus it can communicate with any smartphone running Android 4.0 and above using Bluetooth or Near Field Communication (NFC). On top of that, the device has roughly 250 applications. However, it is equipped with a small 1.6 inch LCD display with a resolution of only 220×176 pixels. Thus, the model is inferior to other smart watches in pixel density. Moreover, it weighs 122.5g, heavier than other models.
Advance sales of the Gear Live started through the Google Play Store in some countries, including Korea, on July 2. The most notable characteristic of the Android-based version is that it has a heart rate sensor. The new model can be activated by just saying “OK, Google” to the device, weights just 59g, and features a 1.63-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 320×320 pixels. Jung pointed out, “The biggest shortcoming of the Galaxy Gear is that it is only compatible with some Samsung phones. The Gear Live is an Android-based model, so it can only be tethered to Android phones as well.”
The LG G Watch was made available to order from the Google Play Store on July 8 in 12 countries including the US, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Korea, and Japan. The new smart watch is being sold at retailers in 27 other countries. LG's smart wristwatch weighs 63g, has a 400 mAh battery, and always displays the time. The Android-powered model sports a 1.65-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 280×280 pixels, and offers Google's speech recognition service through the Google Now app. It can also be used as an MP3 player. Mr. Jung explained, “The G Watch uses Android Wear, a wearable version of Google's Android operating system. So, it is only compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above.”
The Moto 360, which is scheduled to be released soon, has a round display, different from other rectanglar wearable devices. It is possible to replace the watch band with leather, metal, or urethane. The device reportedly has an OLED display protected by sapphire glass, uses a magnetic induction wireless charging method, shows on-screen notifications, and includes always-on voice-based features. Previously, Motorola said that its new model will not have a micro USB charging port, but will use a new battery-charging technology instead.