A report back in February this year first carried by the Information alleged that social media giant Facebook was working on its first smartwatch with a focus on messaging and fitness. Further details of the Facebook smartwatch have now emerged showing the watch will feature a detachable display with two cameras for video recording, as well as a heart rate monitor.

The detachable display will enable users to take photos and record videos that could be assessed or shared with different apps. The design philosophy of the new watch is to enable users to carry out activities like recording videos and several other tasks that their smartphones can do. The Facebook smartwatch project is uncharted territory for the social media giant and could offer several opportunities and setbacks. The company seeks to leverage the expanding market of smart wearables by throwing its hat into the fray.

Privacy concerns are a critical component of the development of smart wearable devices. These smartwatches generate tons of data relating to the user’s daily activities across a broad spectrum. Hence Facebook will have to firm up its processes to assure potential users of the device, of utmost respect for their privacy.

Facebook seems interested in building more consumer-focused hardware to challenge the dominant mobile phone platform creators, Apple and Google. However, it is known that Facebook is collaborating with various companies on further expanding the scope of the revolutionary camera system. If it could be attached to other things like a backpack, then the versatility of this device will be further established.

Inside sources also indicated that the device could be made to function independently of a smartphone, as talks have continued with wireless carriers in the US. The device has also been mentioned as a possible connected device for a VR headset.

Although Facebook has not provided official information on the possible release of its first smartwatch, it could be out by the summer of 2022, according to the source. The price and the expected quantity to be produced for the Facebook smartwatch are still under wraps.

RELATED:

• Facebook signs deal in India to buy renewable energy
• Facebook to compete with Clubhouse with its own upcoming Audio products
• Facebook and Instagram seems to threaten iOS users to charge unless they opt to share data

(source)

The post Facebook’s first smartwatch to launch next summer with Dual Cameras appeared first on Gizmochina.

Google recently revamped its Pixel smartphone lineup and instead of offering top-of-the-line specifications, the company has shifted focus to offer a better user experience. In line with that, the tech giant has been trying to offer some interesting features.

The company has announced that it is adding new heart rate and respiratory rate monitors to its Fit app on Pixel smartphones. The feature is set to be available to all the users later this month but no specific date has been revealed yet.

Interestingly, both of these new features rely on the smartphone’s camera. For monitoring the user’s heart rate, it tracks color change as blood moves through the fingertips. And for monitoring respiratory rate, it tracks the rise and fall of the user’s chest.

The company has clarified that the feature is being rolled out to allow users to track overall wellness and added that it cannot evaluate or diagnose medical conditions. Jack Po, Product Manager at Google Health, said “A doctor counts a patient’s respiratory rate by watching their chest rise and fall, and the Google feature mimics that procedure. The machine learning technique that we leverage basically tries to emulate that.”

Jiening Zhan, Technical Lead at Google Health said that internal studies on Pixel phones showed that the respiratory rate feature was accurate within one breath per minute both for people with and without health conditions, while the heart rate feature was accurate within 2 percent.

The heart rate monitoring feature is similar to what Samsung offered on several Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S10. However, the South Korean giant removed the feature from Galaxy S10E, Galaxy S20 lineup, and phones launched after that.

RELATED: 

• This might be the design of the upcoming Google Pixel Foldable Smartphone
• Google is shutting down in-house Stadia game development studios
• Google shuts down Loon, its venture to provide internet through balloons

The post Google Pixel smartphones will soon be able to measure heart rate using camera appeared first on Gizmochina.

We are inching towards the realme’s December 23 launch event where the company will announce the new wearable products. It will unveil the Watch S, Watch S Pro, and as per the latest hints, a Watch S Master Edition as well. Ahead of this, tipster Mukul Sharma has revealed the entire specifications and features of the Pro version.

Earlier, an FCC listing of the Watch S Pro revealed few details of the display, battery, SpO2 sensors. However, the realme event page(via Mukul Sharma) reveals the entire features that are coming with the smartwatch. The Watch S Pro is the first ‘Pro’ premium wearable from realme and it looks like the company is leaving no stones unturned.

realme Watch S Pro Specs

Accordingly, the realme Watch S Pro will have a 1.39-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 454×454 resolution. It will have a peak brightness of 450 nits and a contrast ratio of 100,000:1. That said the presence of AMOLED means you get perks like Always-on Display, vibrant colors, and deeper blacks.

As revealed earlier, the Watch S Pro will have stainless steel over the Aluminum case on the Watch S. The event page also reveals that the watch will come with additional leather straps. Moving on, Mukul Sharma’s leak says that the watch will weigh 63.5g with the strap which will be removable.

EDITOR’S PICK: Realme seeks to become one of the top 5 brands in Taiwan

Watch S Pro Features

The realme Watch S Pro is confirmed to have high-precision Dual-Satellite GPS(GNSS) functionality. It basically means that the receiver end will track more than one radio signal at a time from satellites for accurate, and real-time data. Further, the Watch S Pro will also have other features like 100+ Watch faces, Blood Oxygen(SpO2 sensor) and heart-rate monitor(PPG), 5ATM water resistance(up to 50m), 15 Sport modes.

Some of the modes include Swimming, Cricket, Yoga, Outdoor run and walk, outdoor cycling, Hiking, free workout, and more. Powered by a Dual-Core processor, the Watch will have a 420mAh battery and charge via a Magnetic Charging case. This is higher compared to 390mAh on the non-Pro variant.

Accordingly, realme promises a 14-day battery life in a single charge that should take about 2Hr. Besides, in addition to the Smart Control, Date Display, custom dial features, the Watch S Pro will also have other control modes and features as below:

• Music Control
• Camera Control
• Find my Phone
• Weather Forecast
• Power Saving/No Disturb mode
• 12/24Hr Stopwatch
• Lift Wrist to Wake

Finally, the realme Watch S Pro will support connectivity with Smartphones running Android 5.0+, and iOS 9.0+ (coming soon in future updates). Let’s wait for the official pricing.

UP NEXT: realme X7 and Watch S India retail boxes teased by realmeow

The post realme Watch S Pro Specifications and Features revealed ahead of December 23 launch appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Blackview BV-SW02 was announced last week and it is the first business and sports smartwatch of the company. It comes with many attractive features and the Chinese manufacturer confirmed that it will hit the market on December 23rd at the ridiculously low price of $39.99. Let’s see what it has to offer.

When used as a sports smartwatch it offers heart rate detection, calorie tracking as well as  12 sports-focused modes to help the user train better: outdoor running, indoor running, outdoor riding, indoor cycling, outdoor walking, hiking, indoor walking, elliptical machine, rowing machine, HIIT, yoga, and other (customizable via the app provided). Also, it sports 5ATM rating, meaning that it can withstand the pressure 50m deep underwater.

On the other hand, when used as a business-oriented watch, it notifies you about calls, texts, events, and other social notifications. It also supports hanging up incoming phone calls without taking out your phone. You can see the daily weather forecast and you can also wear it during sleeping to track your sleep habits and improve your sleep quality.

One of its best features is its battery performance. The BV-SW02 can go on for up to 15 days on a single charge, taking advantage of the power-efficient Nordic nRF52840 Bluetooth chip. It comes with a 1.3″ round LCD display with 4 styles supported. In the box, you will find a black TPU wristband dedicated to Decathlon as well as an extra orange wristband. It is compatible with phones running Android 4.4 or higher and iPhones with iOS 9.0 or above. The VeryFitPro app is used to communicate with the watch and record your activity.

Coming on December 23rd, it brings premium design and quality at an incredible price during presale. You can add it t your cart right now to get notified when the sale begins. On the same day, the Blackview BV9900 rugged flagship phone will start its open sale at a discounted price of $329.99. You can also join the giveaway of both products to win your one.

The post Blackview BV-SW02 will go live at the ridiculously low price of $39.99 before Xmas! (video) appeared first on Gizmochina.

The continuously rising temperature due to climate change is a fact and it hides dangers that most of us wouldn’t imagine. One of the risks people don’t take into consideration is the exposure to high heat during the day, especially those who work or exercise outdoors. Thankfully, technology is here to aid this effort and Blackview BV9700 Pro is offering a heart rate monitor to help users protect themselves from unpleasant situations.

Prevention is better than cure and the heart rate monitor embedded to the BV9700 Pro does just that. The rugged flagship from Blackview adopts a heart rate monitor at the back of the device and all you have to do is press your finger against it and let it do its job. It’s that simple and you carry it with you all the time. Its accuracy is better than ever and it also comes with a pedometer to track the distance you run or walk.

But apart from that, the BV9700 Pro offers even more. It can be used to measure the indoor air quality and the ambient temperature and humidity level in your environment. The air quality can be detected every 4 seconds and lets you know if it is healthy enough by detecting unhealthy Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) level. Pretty handy for workers that handle solvents, work in paint shops or plastics factories.

What’s more, there is an external night vision camera available to shoot great photos and videos at night and it sports the Sony STARVIS IMX291 ultra-light sensitive CMOS sensor. This special design is for low light and night scenes. You can get much clearer pictures at night compared with other rugged phone counterparts.

Of course, the BV9700 Pro is still an excellent rugged phone with all current protection certifications and a great performer as well. It is powered by the Helio P70 octa-core SoC that delivers 13% better performance than the P60 as well as 30% lower power consumption and 20% better heat dissipation. Also, the AI processing efficiency is 10% to 30% improved. All this, combined with Andriod 9 Pie, result in an unprecedented performance for Blackview. The phone is currently on a limited offer on Aliexpress. You can get it for just $298.99 here.

The post Blackview BV9700 Pro helps you stay safe with its heart rate monitor and gets a special offer appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Xiaomi MIJIA brand is coasting at a rapid rate with an almost daily release of one product and in some cases two. While it launched its 72nd product, an air mask for kids today, Xiaomi also teases the launch of another product via the crowdfunding platform. The teased launch event is for the launch of the MIJIA brand’s 73rd product.

The new product is scheduled to be announced on March 30 at 10 AM and from the teaser, it is likely a heart rate or blood pressure monitor. In other words, we may just be looking at another fitness product but one specifically for monitoring the heart rate or blood pressure. Recall that the Xiaomi Mi Band and Mi Band 2 came with heart rate monitoring function among other but this isn’t likely another smart band. The details of the product are still not known at this moment but we look forward to its launch to know more.

(source)

The post Xiaomi Teases 73rd Crowdfunding Product, Heart Rate Monitor? appeared first on Gizmochina.

There have been rumors of HTC releasing a smartwatch for a while now. Back in September, we saw leaked images of a smartwatch by the Taiwanese company. While the news back then mentioned HTC likely shelving the project, it seems we might be getting it on our wrists soon.

More images of the smartwatch codenamed “Halfbeak” have been leaked online. The watch appears to be a collaboration between HTC and Under Armour, an American sports clothing and accessories company.The new images which were posted on Weibo do not necessarily reveal new info but are just a way of fueling the hype.

The smartwatch has a round display with a 360 x 360 resolution and a shiny bezel around it. There is a red and a white triangle on the bezel that points to two hardware buttons on the watch The underside is where you have the heart rate scanner and charging connector pins. The rubber straps are actually black on the outside but has a red inner band with a grate-like design. The band is probably where Under Armour comes in.

HTC’s Halfbeak is seen to be running Android Wear 1.3. Android Wear 2.0 is set for a an early February launch, so if HTC unveils Halfbeak during MWC 2017 or later, it should be running the new version.

READ MORE: HTC 11 Cancelled? Company to Release 6 to 7 Smartphones in 2017

HTC itself has not made any comments about the watch as they are still busy pushing their newly released HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play, but most people hope they will take advantage of the upcoming tech event and launch their first Android Wear Watch. If they do, they might have to brace up to face competition from other companies who didn’t release an Android Wear watch last year like Huawei and Motorola/Lenovo.

Do you think HTC will be able to win in the smartwatch market? Let’s know what you think in the comment box.

(Source)

The post More Photos of HTC Smartwatch Codenamed Halfbeak Leaks appeared first on Gizmochina.

This year, Meizu has been giving us devices which have been good, but not too impressive. This changes with the new Meizu Pro 6 Plus. The company has finally unveiled a flagship worthy of our attention and the new device makes sure that everything we expect from a top flagship phone is taken care of.

It’s actually quite surprising that Meizu managed to keep the Pro 6 Plus under wraps for so long. But our wait for a powerful Meizu flagship in 2016 is now over. Read on to find out why.

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus comes with the powerful Exynos 8890 octa-core chip. Meizu and Samsung have had a very close relationship in the past and the company has renewed its ties this year with its new flagship. We all know how powerful and efficient the Exynos 8890 chip really is and it’s great to see it inside a Meizu device. This powerful chip along with the 12 core Mali-T880 MP12 GPU will make sure that all your graphic needs are met that too without the problem of overheating. In fact, in the conference, Meizu revealed that 30 minutes of NBA2K16 heated up the Pro 6 Plus to just 42.6 degrees celsius, which was much less compared to a Snapdragon 821 powered flagship whose temperature rose up to 47.7 degrees celsius.

The display on the Meizu Pro 6 Plus beautiful, thanks to the 5.7-inch 2K Super AMOLED panel. It further boasts of AOD (Always On Display) technology which will show essential details without having to physically turn on the screen. The phone also comes with pressure sensitive 3D Touch technology. So, overall, it’s a great display!

The camera on the Meizu Pro 6 Plus is great, featuring the 12MP Sony IMx386 sensor with 6P lens, laser focus, PDAF, four axis OIS, and ring flash. Further, Meizu reveals that the ISP is from Samsung and both the companies have worked together to debug the camera onboard, which nearly took 203 days. The company even compared the samples on the Pro 6 Plus with the iPhone 7, which you can check out below.

Meizu has always made sure that its home button up front is multi-functional and apart from the great fingerprint sensor embedded in the button which unlocks in 0.15s, it also functions as a heart rate monitor, revealing your heart rate in just 5 seconds.

The phone also features Hi-Fi custom ad45275 op amp chip and upgraded SoLo amp circuit (2nd gen), making sure that you have great quality audio on the device. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC.

Inside the slim 7.3mm body, the Meizu Pro 6 Plus features a 3400mAh battery. Thanks to the 8V/ 3A charging (24W) the phone can charge this device up to 60% in just 30 minutes, which is amazing.

The Meizu Pro 6 Plus starts at 2999 Yuan (~$435) for the 4GB + 64GB model with an underclocked 2.0GHz Exynos 8890. If you want the best variant, you will have to shell out 3299 Yuan (~$480) which features 4GB RAM + 128GB storage and Exynos 8890 clocked at 2.3GHz.

Like the Meizu X, the Pro 6 Plus too will go on sale first on December 8 via JD.com.

There are three color options for the flagship — Champagne Gold, Deep Space Gray and Moonlight Silver.

Meanwhile, you can read our Meizu X launch coverage from here.

For full specs of the Meizu Pro 6 Plus, click here.

The post Meizu Pro 6 Plus Official: A True Flagship With Exynos 8890, Quad HD Display & More appeared first on Gizmochina.

After months of rumors and leaks, Xiaomi has officially released the Mi Band 2 wearable, which will succeed the highly popular Mi Band 1S released last year. The new upgrade is important because, for the first time, Xiaomi’s Mi Band series comes with a display on board. It will be a custom OLED display which can display a lot more information than the previous generations which had to rely on the connected smartphone app for these details. So, you can check the heart rate, time, distance, calories, power left etc directly on the screen.

Internally, there are a few upgrades as well. The Mi Band 2 with OLED display comes with a new hardware platform that supports  new sports pedometer algorithm which can effectively understand whether you are walking or sitting idle. So, the accuracy of counting steps should be improved on the new model. Further, the band comes with support for calls, text messages, alarms, 7 different kinds of reminders, sedentary alerts and all these details can be displayed on the screen on top. Also, the company is said to have improved the sleep quality tracking on the new device.

The Mi Band 2 comes with a new strap made out of skin friendly material. Also, given that it now sports a screen, the company increased the battery capacity inside by 55 percent, which means you can still use the wearable up to 20 days on a single charge. Its IP67 certified as well.

In case you are wondering, the pricing is still pretty cheap! The Mi Band 2 with OLED display will retail for 149 Yuan which comes to just $22.65. The band goes on sale on June 7 from Mi.com, JD.com, Lynx and even Suning. Third party retailers should soon pick up the device, so watch out for their listings online.

For the full list of features of the new band, check out this article.

So, what do you think about the new Mi Band 2?

The post Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Officially Released, OLED Display & 20 Day Battery appeared first on Gizmochina.