SmartBand

Sony SmartBand SWR12 With Heart Rate Sensor Coming Soon?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 29, 2015 | 2 comments

Besides the SmartWatch series, Sony has also been investing heavily in other wearables which includes their SmartBand lineup. The current Sony SmartBand lineup consists of a colorful selection of bands which track your fitness like other similar devices. Beyond the basic ability to track your movement and set alarms in a waterproof design, the SmartBand also allows you to play, pause, and skip through your music. Connection is also easy thanks to the built-in NFC, while non-NFC devices will rely on Bluetooth.

Now, thanks to the FCC, it seems like a successor is on its way with a noteworthy improvement.

Sony SmartBand With Roxy Gets Announced

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 15, 2014 | 2 comments

Just in time for the holiday shopping rush, Sony has unveiled a new collaboration with Roxy, the well known women’s outdoor sports lifestyle brand. Dubbed as SmartBand with Roxy, the latest wearable includes all the basic functions you’d expect from devices of this sort like your step count, number of stairs climbed, and typical calories burned. The Sony SmartBand, however, has a few tricks up its sleeve, hence why Sony prefers the term “life tracker.” Beyond the basic ability to track your movement in a waterproof design and set alarms, the SmartBand also allows you to play, pause, and skip through your music and even act as a camera remote on your Android device. Connecting the Sony SmartBand is also easy thanks to the built-in NFC.

More details after the jump.

Dear Sony, Please Exit the Smartwatch Market

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 2, 2014 | 13 comments

Soon to be available in select territories like Europe and Asia, the Sony SmartWatch 3 is actually the company’s 5th iteration to take on the growing wearable market. Announced at IFA 2014 in Berlin, the SmartWatch 3 is the first device from Sony to incorporate Android Wear, the OS from Google that’s specifically designed for wearables. As a recap, the SmartWatch 3 offers a sporty, rugged design which incorporates a steel-backed case with interchangeable silicone straps that can last for for two days (four days on standby) and charges via micro-USB. On the functionality end, you can get messages from your friends, appointment notifications, and weather updates among other things like flight information, tips based on your interests, or messages from other apps that support Android Wear. There is also a built-in mic with which you can use your voice for search, though, curiously, cannot be used for answering calls.

Alongside the SmartWatch 3, Sony also announced the SmartBand Talk which features a 1.4-inch e-paper display (like the Pebble). Much like the SmartWatch 3, the SmartBand Talk can track your activities, and displays notifications. As the name suggests, the SmartBand Talk is based around communicating. To that end, Sony incorporated a built-in microphone and speaker which allows for short call functions with HD Voice support. Priced nearly 100 euros under the SmartWatch 3 at 159.99, it makes for a curious choice that this unit offers call functionality while the SmartWatch 3 doesn’t.

Either way, whether Sony had incorporated talk functionality in the higher end model or not does not change the fact that it’s time for Sony to exit the wearable market and specifically smartwatches. Let me explain.

More Sony SmartBand Wrist Strap SWR110 Colors Now Available

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 1, 2014 | 0 comments

Say you’ve got yourself the newly released Sony SmartBand. You know, the one that’s not only able to track your health, but your daily life as well, thanks to the intriguing LifeLog app. But now that you’ve got one, you’re noticing that the default black color just isn’t all that fitting to you. Heck, maybe you’d rather have different colors for different outfits, seeing how these units are as much technology as fashion accessories (and they need to be if they are to succeed). Luckily for you, as of today, if you’re in Europe or the USA, Sony is making available a host of new colors.

After the jump, all the new Sony SmartBand wrist strap colors await you.

Lifelog App Expands Support for SmartBand Beyond Sony Smartphones

by Sohrab Osati | May 12, 2014 | 8 comments

The Lifelog app from Sony, in conjunction with the SmartBand SWR10, helps bring your daily activity to life. With an interface that Sony calls “colorful, intuitive, graphic and animated,” the Lifelog app, much like similar offerings from Fitibit helps you set goals to stay active and track your progress. Beyond activity, Lifelog also ties into your social life and displays photos and music, making it stand apart from traditional fitness devices and apps. Now, Sony is prepared to expand that experience beyond their own Smartphones.

Now let’s talk expanded devices.

Sony Smart Tennis Sensor Gets Official With Price and Release Date

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 21, 2014 | 0 comments

During CES 2014, Sony showed off its Smart Tennis Sensor. Designed to be stuck inside the bud of a tennis racket, the sensor is capable of detecting your:

Shot count
Impact position
Swing type
Swing speed
Ball speed
Spin rate

While only shown off on Android, today Sony revealed that they will be releasing the sensor with a compatible iOS and Android app upon launch. Sony thinks that these types of sensors are a natural extension of the wearable gadget era and boom that we’re about to enter and they want to be there from the start. The video below gives you an example of the sensor’s functionality and speed.

PSA: Sony Core Not a Product but Sony SmartBand Is… Let Us Explain

by Allegra Osati | Jan 9, 2014 | 0 comments

Here at CES 2014, Sony introduced a new wearable device that combines portability and connectivity to offer a unique logging experience for your daily life. The term that the press ran with for this device was the Sony Core… which is only partially correct. Let us explain after the jump.