Apple Watch coming to India

The Apple Watch will make its India debut next week. It cites four senior trade officials as source to inform that in a closed-door meeting with its key trade partners, Apple indicated its intention to advance the launch of Apple Watch and triple sales of the new iPhones during the crucial October-December period. It's expected that the watch will be priced in the Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 bracket. 

Apple Watch originally went on sale in April in nine select markets with prices starting at $349 (Rs 23,000 approximately) and going above a whopping $17,000 for the gold model. Apple has been introducing the watch in new markets in a phased manner. 

The Apple Watch is available in two sizes (38 and 42 mm) and three variants: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Sport. The first two come with sapphire crystal to protect the screen from cracking, whereas the sports version has a strengthened Ion-X glass on the display. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook had said that the new options would be available in all 24 markets where the Apple Watch is sold. 

Apple Watch will compete with Motorola's Moto 360 second-generation and Samsung's new Gear S2 watches which are expected to debut in India shortly.

Sony developing e-Paper Watch

Sony Corp is developing a watch made out of electronic paper to be released next year in a trial of the company's new venture-style approach to creating products.

The watch's face and wrist band will be made from a patented material that allows the entire surface area to function as a display and change its appearance. The device will emphasize style, rather than trying to outdo more technological offerings like Apple Inc's watch and Sony's own SmartWatch.

At stake is more than a win against Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. A decade of cost reductions and job cuts has soured Sony's culture of innovation, once celebrated for the Walkman and the Trinitron television. Chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai formed a business creation division this year under his direct control to fast-track promising products, and the watch is one of the effort's first results.

Hirai's new division is aiming to come up with products and services that don't fit the mold of Sony's existing businesses.

Besides the e-paper watch, the group is developing technology building blocks designed to help professionals and amateurs rapidly create prototypes of new products. The MESH project -  for make, experience and share - is a collection of sensors, light-emitting diodes and buttons encased in colorful blocks smaller than a pack of chewing gum. The devices are linked wirelessly and can be operated via a tablet interface, friendly to people without programming or engineering skills.

The e-paper watch will be a litmus test for Sony's new division. Though the market for wearable technology is still small, with only 22 million of the gadgets sold worldwide this fiscal year, the industry is expected to grow fivefold in the next five years.

Focusing on appearance may help distinguish Sony's new product from the crowd of devices serving as a second screen for smartphones. The company's own SmartWatch acts as a music player remote control, while Samsung's Galaxy Gear offers hands-free calls. Both push e-mail and Facebook notifications and require a phone.