It has long largely been the realm of fictional secret agents. Some vendors have taken their crack at one, only to crash and learn. But based on several popular pitches on crowdfunding web sites, and rumours coming out of a Silicon Valley giant, the time may finally be right for a gadget long awaited by geekdom worldwide: the smart watch. This week, we look at several smart watches already on the market, and the rumours coming out of Cupertino about what may be the next big thing.

1. Are we finally ready for the
smartwatch?
It has long largely been the realm of
fictional secret agents. Some vendors have
taken their crack at one, only to crash and
burn. But based on several popular pitches
on crowdfunding web sites, and rumours
coming out of a Silicon Valley giant, the
time may finally be right for a gadget long
awaited by geekdom worldwide: the smart
watch.
This week, we look at several smart
watches already on the market, and the
rumours coming out of Cupertino about
what may be the next big thing. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
By Jeff Jedras

2. Pebble
After inPulse was unable to attract
financing through traditional channels, it
rebranded as Pebble and turned to crowd
funding instead to get its smartwatch to
market. Nearly 69,000 pledges and over
$10 million later, they had their funding
and the most successful Kickstarter
project to date.
Launched at CES 2013, the Pebble E-Paper
Watch can display messages from an
Android or iOS smartphone via
Bluetooth, and also includes a GPS and
the ability to run apps for music, cycling
and other activities. It’s priced at US$150.

3. Cookoo
The Cookoo Smart Watch also began
as a Kickstarter project. It has more
of a traditional watch look but, via a
Bluetooth connection to your iOS or
Android smartphone, alerts you to
phone calls, e-mails, instant
messages and texts, and when it’s
time to charge your phone.
And it will tell you the time, too. It’s
priced at US$129.99, or $249.99 for a
limited edition green model.

4. Motoactv
The Motoactv smartwatch didn’t need
crowd funding to get off the ground – it’s
an initiative of telecom giant Motorola.
The size of a Post-It Note and as thick as a
pencil, the Motoactv is actually marketed
more as a fitness tracking tool, but it also
includes GPS, fitness apps, a clock, a music
player and Bluetooth connectivity.
Android users can use the latter not only to
get notifications from their
smartphone, but to take calls as well.

5. Sony SmartWatch
The Sony SmartWatch is a 1.3” OLED multi-
touch capacitive touchscreen display that
displays 128 X 128 pixels in 16 bit colour.
It looks like just another digital watch, but it
can also connect to an Android smartphone
via Bluetooth and display Twitter feeds, text
messages and other information, such as e-
mail and Facebook messages.
It also offers call display – perhaps saving you
from fishing your phone from your pocket if
it’s someone you are dodging – as well as
battery status. It’s priced at US$149.

6. Apple’s next big thing
With its incredible growth tapering off
and critics complaining that nothing
innovative has come out of Cupertino in
years, rumours abound that Apple may
be working on its next big thing: a smart
watch.
The cat is somewhat out of the bag –
press reports confirm Apple has filed
with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office for what it’s calling a “Bi-stable
Spring with Flexible Display” and what
everyone else is calling the iWatch. While
the filing doesn’t use the word “watch” it
does mention a flexible display and a
communication link to a portable device.