During the Malaysian launch of Xperia Z Ultra, Sony Mobile Communications Malaysia stated that its expecting the SmartWatch 2 to arrive on our shores around the end of September. Just like any good tease, the exact launch date and retail pricing aren’t disclosed.
SmartWatch 2 is the second generation device to the lackluster SmartWatch and the spiritual successor to Sony Ericsson LiveView. Its size is acceptable, at 42 x 41 x 9 mm, though the weight is rather heavy at 122 grams including the wrist strap. That black silicone strap is bundled in the kit, I believe. However, we could easily swap it with any 24 mm watch bands, which is a huge boon.
It has IP57 dust and water resistant certification, which has protection from water immersion up to 1 meter. Washing your hands, take it to shower or even swimming shouldn’t be a problem.
There is an embedded accelerometer, which detects wrist movements. A flick of the wrist will light up the display from sleep to reveal the time. The display is a 1.6-inch ‘transflective’ LCD with 220 x 176 pixels. That’s around 176 PPI. It supports touch, obviously, but it also has the three capacitive Android Nav Buttons: Back, Home and Menu.
On the left, a flap reveals a hidden Micro-USB port for charging, and on the right there’s a power button.
Sony said that there are currently more than 200 apps in the Google Play Store that works with the SmartWatch. These apps (including built-in ones) have features like changing the watch face, music playback controls, view and answer calls, message caching (to read them offline on the watch), fitness app, TV remote, et cetera. The way it works is that one could easily tap the smartphone to the SmartWatch 2 using NFC, to easily pair it via Bluetooth.
Of course notifications are supported too. When paired, the watch will vibrate and display notifications from messaging and social apps like SMS, WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook or Twitter. The other neat feature is the ability to display a navigational interface on the phone while the smartphone is in the pocket.
On a normal usage, the battery is marketed to last around 3 to 4 days.
The original SmartWatch is currently priced at around RM299. Sony is skimming a lot of hardware in SmartWatch 2 like Wi-Fi, GPS, a mic (for Dick Tracy-like calls), a 3.5 mm port, or a camera. But because of this, we may see it priced below the RM1,000 mark (it better be). In any case, end of September is just a month away. We wait with bated breath. More information on Sony SmartWatch 2 here.
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