Huawei Watch unveiled alongside other wearables at MWC

02.03.2015
Huawei Technologies is making its first foray into the smartwatch market with a new Android Wear device that was announced today in Barcelona alongside two other wearable devices.

The watch, unveiled on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) fair in Barcelona, features a 1.4 inch circular display with scratch-proof crystal sapphire lens.

The internet-connected watch will allow users to receive texts, emails and phone call notifications.

A built in heart rate monitor, a six-axis sensor and a barometer will also help people to monitor their fitness levels. It's understood that the device is also able to detect in real-time if a user is walking, running, biking, hiking or sleeping.

Specifically, users can monitor calories burned, heart rate, climbing height, steps taken, and distance travelled.

The Huawei Watch, which will be available in gold, silver or black and with up to 40 watch straps, comes with a Qualcomm 1.2 Ghz processor, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM and Bluetooth 4.1.

A number of technology blogs have already declared Huawei's device as the most aesthetic Android Wear watch to date, which could prove to be very important as many people have shunned bulky smartwatches up until now in favour of traditional watches.

Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said: "Consumers - specifically in the Western World - may not have expected a great smartwatch from Huawei. However, Huawei's new Android-powered smartwatch looks great.

"Following Huawei's success in the mid-to-high end smartphones, the main challenge and key success factor for Huawei is to establish its transformative brand in the new connected world."

Huawei did not provide a release date for the smartwatch or say how much it will cost.

To date, demand for computer-powered watches has been limited, with only 720,000 watches powered by Google's Android Wear shipped in 2014, despite reasonable levels of publicity for the launches of the Moto 360 and Samsung Gear Live, according to market research firm Canalys.

Other wearables such as bracelets have proved to be more popular than smartwatches, which is perhaps why the Chinese company also showcased two other products - the TalkBand B2 and TalkBand N1 designed for the business executive on the run.

(www.techworld.com)

Sam Shead

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