The Smart watch that tells more than time
Your smartwatch can serve almost the same functions as your smartphone. So, when you receive a call, you do not heave to pullout your phone, you can answer it on your wrist watch.
What you need to know:
With new technology, some watches can serve almost the same purpose as the phone.
Imagine you are in a crowded place and your phone is in your pocket or hand bag but you cannot hear it or you do not want the inconvenience of pulling it out and your wrist watch saves you the hustle. This is the beauty of a smartwatch.
You might ask, what is a smartwatch? A smartwatch connects to the Internet and can also connect to other devices like smartphones or tablets in order to deliver information from your phone to your watch. It is a watch that does more than just keep time but with some basic functions similar to those you find on the smartphone. It is the shortcut to your smartphone.
TYPES OF SMARTWATCHES
Samsung’s Gear
This one is a product of the Samsung brand and it is compatible with Galaxy smartphones and tablets. The company offers two versions of its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, the gear fit and gear 2. The Samsung gear will cost you between Shs750,000 and Shs1m.
Sony’s Smartwatch
This performs several of the more basic Smartphone functions right on your wrist and can easily connect to any android device. The Sony smartwatch comes in the Sony xperia Z2 that will cost you Shs730,000 and the Z3 will cost you Shs910,000.
The Pebble Smartwatch,
The Pebble works with Androids or iPhones but lacks some of the more sophisticated features that Sony or Samsung offers.
LG G watch
This works with the LG Smartphone brand and it costs Shs700,000.
FUNCTIONSFUNCTIONS
Sinan Dash, a marketer at Sony World, says smartwatches can enable you read texts and emails, give directions to places, make a call, connect with your contacts and listening to music.
Some of the other options on the smartwatch include the pedometer, a heart rate monitor which works well for the fitness lovers because it helps you keep track of your exercise activities. “If you choose to go cycling, running, walking, or hiking, it measures your heart rate automatically during the time, recording the readings each minute,” Dash says.
Some of the smartwatches such as the Samsung Gear have the watchon remote which you can use to change the channels on your Samsung smart television.
The smartwatch media controller feature makes changing music you’re listening much easier, as it allows you to skip, pause, play or control the volume of music that is being played through the attached smartphone, right from your wrist. The watch has different clock designs that allow you to choose between analog, digital or classical looking watch faces, some of which include the weather and date.
HOW THEY WORK
Michael Kintu, a sales assistant at Samsung, says most smartwatches connect to other smart devices via Bluetooth. Through the Bluetooth connection, a smartwatch cannot only see things such as texts and incoming calls on your phone, pass on those notifications to your watch, it also allows a shared Internet connection for smartphone apps and other functions.
He explains that the SIM in the attached smartphone is still responsible for the text and call notifications that the smartwatch receives, as are the smartphone’s WiFi or Internet connections that are used to deliver any app notifications like twitter, facebook to the watch.
With a smartWatch, you can keep track of what is happening on your device without taking it out of your pocket or bag.
When a call, message or other notification comes in, your smartwatch vibrates.
However, when your smartwatch is not connected to your smart device, it will still work like a regular watch. You can charge your smartwatch the same way you charge your phone using a USB cable.
