Friday, August 29, 2014

Asus reiterates sub-$200 price, voice control, October ETA for ZenWatch

For the most part, Asus officials have skipped the “leakster” middlemen in their effort to build hype around the company’s debut smartwatch, voluntarily slipping little nuggets of info to the press, culminating with pricing and availability details.





Between Samsung’s growingly diverse family of both Android and Tizen-running wearables, Motorola’s Moto 360 introduction, LG’s G Watch/G Watch R launches and Sony’s proprietary timepiece lineup, it’s starting to feel like all these experienced device manufacturers are simply throwing everything they have against a wall to see what sticks.

Clearly, the market is a bit hectic and everyone’s strategy is a little too all over the place at the moment, but give it time. Sure, the G Watch R and Samsung Gear S are far from flawless. Yet they’re hands down superior to their predecessors in more ways than one, and that’s certainly a good sign.

And so are the signals we’re getting from Asus. Unlike their Korea-based rivals, the Taiwanese had the restraint to wait for the wearable landscape to mature. Or at least evolve. And now that the world is a better, smoother, more cohesive place, bam, here comes the game-changing ZenWatch.





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I’m getting ahead of myself, you say? Perhaps, but Jerry Shen just confirmed the ZenWatch will roll out in October, a mere month after its formal unveil next week at IFA, and cost less than $200. $150 is the magic number that came up in the rumor mill before, and is still very much on the table, though my personal guesstimate is $199.

Which is less game-changing, still pretty hot. Especially for a gadget showcased on video with nice curves, a metallic frame and an overall seductive design. No doubt powered by Android Wear, the ZenWatch will come packed with a bunch of specific software tweaks and add-ons, including voice recognition. Solely in English at first, and in Chinese by the end of the year.

No words on gesture control this time around, but the feature was reportedly in testing not long ago, so, you know, fingers crossed and everything.

Source: Focus Taiwan



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