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Asus Smartwatch Will Be "Feature Packed"

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The first Asus wearable will likely be a watch.

During a company year-end party, Asus Chairman Jonney Shih was asked about the company's progress in developing smart wearables. He said that the first device will likely come in the form of a watch, and that the company will put its entire design thought into it.

"There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means," Shih said

The question arrives after Asus told investors in November 2013 that the company plans to reveal several devices this June at Computex 2014. The company's rivals are already striking gold in the smartwatch sector including Sony's Smartwatch 2, Samsung's Galaxy Gear and Qualcomm's Toq.

Just this week, an unnamed Acer source said that his company plans to debut a smart device in the second half of 2014, and that it would be distinctive, standing out from the competition. The device could possibly be a necklace sporting body temperature sensors and the ability to connect to a smartphone.

"We hope we could have a distinctive product when we introduce it. So we will not launch it in a hurry during the first quarter and will likely make it available globally in the second half," the source said.

2014 looks to be the year of the wearables thanks to Google and its Glass smartglasses, Oculus VR and its Rift gaming-focused HMD, current players like Sony and Samsung, and those promising devices sometime this year like Archos and Razer. Even those rumored to be working on devices, such as Microsoft and Apple, are helping fuel the wearable fires this year.

The problem device makers will have in 2014 will be in differentiating themselves from the competition. Each wearable device will need to make a lasting first impression, especially those gadgets that are up there in price. As retail products, they'll need features that consumers want and can't live without. What we don't want to see is a collection of high-dollar junk because device makers are simply jumping on the "me too" bandwagon.

Expect to see and hear more about wearables this June during Computex 2014.

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • greghome
    What is with this smartwatch fad?Are consumers really running out of things to buy from these companies?
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Agreed. This SmartWatch thing is just a fad. It'll go away, eventually, just like tablets. IMO, a combination of the SmartPhone, PC and cloud technology will prevail. That is, PCs will soon be sold as barebones with docking ports or some form of wireless technology to facilitate connection (either 802.11 or Bluetooth).
    Reply
  • Sangeet Khatri
    PC building Enthusiasts would never ever like anything as gimmicky, underpowered and useless as a Smartwatch.
    Reply
  • xkm1948
    Did they manage to get a 3000mAh battery in that watch? It is nice to have so many features. But it will suck if I have to plug it in to recharge every 4 hrs.
    Reply
  • renz496
    "There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means,"

    if you want to replace my watch then the first challenge is to make the battery last several years before you think about adding more features to it. the idea i have to charge my watch everyday or after several day of use is dumb.
    Reply
  • Nada190
    They should just make a gaming watch jeez. Play BF4 on a 2in screen.
    Reply
  • randomizer
    I don't need a feature packed device on my wrist. Packing thousands of half-baked, gimmicky features just to boost application numbers should be left to smartphone manufacturers. They're already leaders in this area. Try something truly innovative, like a watch that tells you the time whenever you look at it, for as long as you look at it, and only when you look at it.
    Reply
  • wtfxxxgp
    I laugh at people who buy these types of devices simply because they can. Stop-watches and other sports-related JUSTIFIABLE uses aside, there is no way that I will be caught dead wearing something that needs to be charged often. I already hate that my current watch's battery doesn't last for years and years. We have smartphones for everything else.
    Reply
  • shaun_shaun
    no thanks. I have been using my Casio for over 8 years now .
    Reply
  • assasin32
    My Citizen Eco-Drive (Solar) watch will last at least 6months without light (other models will go up to 7yr's off memory), and suppose to have 80% max capacity in 20years. There are also far cheaper watches with 10yr batteries.Mind telling me why I want a watch that doesn't have enough battery life to tell me the time of day? Last I checked that was the primary purpose of a watch.
    Reply