Today Sony announced its new SmartWatch, and did something a lot of people, including some pundits, assumed it would not, namely moving the device to Google GOOGL +1.22%’s Android Wear. Previous versions of its SmartWatch had used a proprietary operating system that, while compatible with non-Sony Android devices, didn’t offer much in the way of app support.
But Sony’s SmartWatch 3 does indeed come pre-loaded with Android Wear, which is Google’s official wearables platform. There are going to be lots of advantages of this to Sony. The company won’t have to develop its own apps – although it will, of course – and it won’t have to tempt developers to learn how to build things for its own platform, with no hope of financial reward. Instead, Sony will be able to leverage the power of Google, and use standard Android Wear apps.
But the company has also realised that it can’t sell smartwatches with similar spec to LG or Samsung’s, without investing some time in making the product unique. So what it has done is included two apps that are designed to add value, and persuade you to give your smartwatch money to it, instead of one of the other firms. The first app is Sony’s famous Walkman branded player. As a music playback app, it perhaps doesn’t add much that isn’t available elsewhere, aside from letting you store music on the watch’s 4GB of internal storage. That also means that you can use the watch as a music player, without needing to carry anything else, besides a Bluetooth headset that is.
The second app is by far the best idea though, it’s called Lifelog, and it’s also installed on the new Sony Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and Tablet Z3 Compact. It’s able to watch your activity, and because Sony’s smartwatch has GPS built-in, you can head out for a run, track your distance, route and other metrics without having to drag your phone with you. The Walkman music player, when paired with Bluetooth headphones also comes into play here, if you can’t run without a soundtrack.
Add in to these added value apps the fact that the Sony SmartWatch 3 is waterproof, and can be left submerged in water for 30 minutes, then you’re left with a device that has real selling points over its rivals. It’s similarly priced too, at around 230 Euros (£190 or $300).
But Sony’s SmartWatch 3 does indeed come pre-loaded with Android Wear, which is Google’s official wearables platform. There are going to be lots of advantages of this to Sony. The company won’t have to develop its own apps – although it will, of course – and it won’t have to tempt developers to learn how to build things for its own platform, with no hope of financial reward. Instead, Sony will be able to leverage the power of Google, and use standard Android Wear apps.
But the company has also realised that it can’t sell smartwatches with similar spec to LG or Samsung’s, without investing some time in making the product unique. So what it has done is included two apps that are designed to add value, and persuade you to give your smartwatch money to it, instead of one of the other firms. The first app is Sony’s famous Walkman branded player. As a music playback app, it perhaps doesn’t add much that isn’t available elsewhere, aside from letting you store music on the watch’s 4GB of internal storage. That also means that you can use the watch as a music player, without needing to carry anything else, besides a Bluetooth headset that is.
The second app is by far the best idea though, it’s called Lifelog, and it’s also installed on the new Sony Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and Tablet Z3 Compact. It’s able to watch your activity, and because Sony’s smartwatch has GPS built-in, you can head out for a run, track your distance, route and other metrics without having to drag your phone with you. The Walkman music player, when paired with Bluetooth headphones also comes into play here, if you can’t run without a soundtrack.
Add in to these added value apps the fact that the Sony SmartWatch 3 is waterproof, and can be left submerged in water for 30 minutes, then you’re left with a device that has real selling points over its rivals. It’s similarly priced too, at around 230 Euros (£190 or $300).
0 comments:
Post a Comment