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If you walk through a Chinese electronics market, you'll find countless wearables, including a variety of smartwatches. Why, then, is this China-exclusive a significant introduction? Well, the Appscomm Fashioncomm A1 is the first smartwatch to include the Mirasol display we first saw in Qualcomm's Toq prototype, which means that 1.55-inch MEMS panel is actually coming to market. The A1 delivers much of the functionality we experienced with the device in our September hands-on, with an added GSM chipset, enabling you to make and receive calls directly from your wrist.
It's not the first watchphone we've seen -- and past iterations can hardly be deemed a success -- but as the first such device to integrate Qualcomm's new Mirasol panel, it's at least worth a casual mention. With the A1, Appscomm is also bundling an integrated camera, letting you snap stills and video clips a la Samsung's Galaxy Gear. There's also Bluetooth connectivity, along with a 450mAh battery that's rated for up to 190 hours of standby time. Smartwatch enthusiasts based in China can pre-order the device for RMB 1,299 ($213) beginning today.
Qualcomm's Toq smarter-than-most watch is expected to debut the first week of December, and you can set one aside for yourself starting today. The company has announced that it's now taking pre-orders for the newfangled Toq smartwatch, which, unlike many competing wearables, bases its display features on Mirasol technology. Those looking to order need to be prepared to shell out a good amount of cash -- because, as you may have heard, you'll have to pay a cool $350 to own one of these.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Wearables
Source: Qualcomm
Where mobile devices are concerned, Qualcomm's normally a behind-the-scenes player, but that's all set to change next month. The company has announced that its Toq smartwatch is coming to the market on December 2nd. Big Q had said that it would knock out a limited run of the hardware back in September, but unlike other next-gen wearables, this one wouldn't be limited to a select few. Packing a Mirasol display, wireless charging and stereo Bluetooth audio, the Toq will set you back $350 -- assuming that you haven't already spent that amount of cash on its most immediate rival.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Qualcomm
Qualcomm's certainly made a name for itself in the mobile chipset space, but the company's past attempts at creating a fully baked consumer device have not been tremendously successful. Take FLO TV, for example. The pocketable television receiver had potential, but a botched execution left the firm with an embarrassing failure. It's this legacy that leaves us cautiously optimistic about today's product introduction, a full-function smartwatch called Toq.
Why is Qualcomm designing, marketing and selling a smartwatch, you ask? The answer lies in a troubled display tech called Mirasol. We got our first good look at this low-power color display technology at CES back in 2010. Since then, Mirasol has had a hard time catching on, with manufacturing costs a likely culprit. We've seen new iterations each year, mostly in the form of prototype e-readers, but a decision to shutter production last summer seemingly marked the final straw for the inventive concept. Then, we regained hope following this year's SID Display Week, where two new high-res panels made their debut, including one in a smartwatch. Curiously, that wearable we saw in May bears little resemblance to the product we're meeting today, which you'll find detailed in full after the break.%Gallery-slideshow73561%
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Qualcomm