Technology you can wear

MANILA, Philippines - Wearable technology is becoming popular in mainstream markets and will see a rise in demand in the next two to three years. In general, these devices positively affect our lifestyle and help us to do better and be better.

Sony celebrates this anticipation of the next wave of technology innovation and locally unveils two new products adding to the overall SmartWear experience.

“Life is a journey, and journeys are made up of stories and experiences that define you — this is the underlying principle for Lifelog, the Android app at the heart of our SmartWear experience. We’re going beyond mere fitness tracking and number crunching, to help you log and preserve those emotional moments that matter,” said Jhoana Benedicto, marketing officer from Sony Mobile Communications.

”As a pioneer of smart and wearable technology, the SmartBand Talk, SmartWatch 3 and Lifelog don’t merely affirm Sony’s leadership in the space, but its place as innovators that dare to be different – bringing the world choice products and services no else can, or will,” she added.

With its built-in microphone and speaker, SmartBand Talk comes equipped with a short call function so you can talk into it and hear your caller, with HD Voice support – perfect for when you’re on the move or your phone is out of reach. Through Sony’s integrated Voice Control technology, you can also assign your own sounds to life bookmarks and use your voice to carry out specific smartphone operations.

SmartBand Talk’s curved, always-on 1.4-inch e-paper display is a fresh creative approach, based on consumer feedback. It is low power but highly visible and clear; you can monitor Lifelog activity, and view notifications and the time at a glance.

The new built-in accelerometer and altimeter sensor technology feels how you move – and how much – to provide an accurate overview of your daily physical activity; whether it be walking, running or climbing. You can see how active you are  and how you have been communicating, as it pulls all of your information from your smartphone and then enables you to view it on its  e-paper display screen, wherever and whenever you like.

SmartBand Talk is waterproof. Launch styles will include Black and White, with optional exchangeable strap colors so it can blend with work clothes or come as a fun accessory to a casual outfit, and allow the wearer to express his or her individual style.

SmartWatch 3 is Sony’s latest generation SmartWatch, the first specifically designed for the latest Android Wear updates in close collaboration with Google. This partnership matches Sony’s leadership in smart, wearable products with Google’s software and platform expertise to create a unique wearable experience founded on both hardware and software innovation.

Android Wear organizes your information, suggests what you need, and shows it to you before you even ask. You can get messages from your friends, appointment notifications, and weather updates at a glance. It could be flight information, tips based on your interests or messages of any kind, so user input is seldom necessary. But if you need to interact with Android Wear, voice is the easiest way.

Even without your Android smartphone, SmartWatch 3 is a fun and useful accessory with impressive standalone functionality. The built-in microphone, and Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro and GPS sensor technology means more accurate, more powerful lifelogging.

SmartWatch 3 offers significant step ups from SmartWatch 2, including a 1.6” 320x320 TFT LCD Transflective display for visibility in bright sunlight, set within a stainless steel back panel for a premium look and feel. It is, of course, waterproof, rated IP683 – and charges via a standard microUSB port.

It has a built-in 4GB local memory, which means you can sync playlists, and simply connect with a Bluetooth headset to listen. You can do this before a run, leaving the smartphone at home and still have great music offline. You can also track that run with GPS and Lifelog.

It will be available in classic (black and white) variants, with optional extra color straps available after launch.

Sony SmartBand Talk and SmartWatch 3 are now locally available and retail for only P8,990 and P11,990, respectively. The Sony SmartBand Talk comes in pink and lime straps for white devices, and red and blue straps for black devices. The SmartWatch 3 provides four color options for the strap: black, white, pink and lime.