Michael Kors enters Android Wear Smartwatch Market

American designer Michael Kors has entered the wearable market. The company unveiled two Android Wearable Smartwatches; a gold-plated Smartwatch for women and a sporty black for men.

The starting price for both the Smartwatches is $395.

The Smartwatches run on Google's wearable platform Android Wear which means they can sync with both iPhones and Android phones.

Key features of the watches include display faces, which change with a swipe; interchangeable leather and silicone wristbands; social media updates and text and email alerts; app notifications; built-in fitness tracker and support for Google's voice commands.

Motorola launches Moto 360 Smartwatch

For the Motorola fans, the wait is finally over. Motorola has launched the much-awaited second-generation version of its Moto 360 Smartwatch in India with prices starting at Rs 19,999. The Smartwatch will be available on Myntra and Flipkart websites.

Moto-360 (second-generation) was unveiled at IFA in Berlin in early September. The new Moto 360 Smartwatch, from Lenovo-owned Motorola, comes in three variants: A men's watch in two sizes, a women's version and a sports model called Moto 360 Sport.

The men's model comes in 42x11.4mm and 46x11.4mm sizes. The women's version is 42mm. The 42mm Moto 360 comes with a 1.37-inch (360x325-pixel resolution) display, while the bigger 46mm model has a 1.56-inch (360x330-pixel resolution) display. Visually, Moto 360 still sports a round display as last year's model.

Specs include a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400, 512MB of RAM, 300mAh battery and 4GB of internal storage. The new Moto 360 models support wireless charging and packs accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope and vibration/haptics engine.

For connectivity purpose, the device includes Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. Similar to so many recent Android Wear watches, Moto 360 second-gen too supports ambient display capability with the watch display switching to a power efficient black and white mode with minimal information, when you're not actively looking at it.

Alcatel OneTouch Watch with Android Wear

Alcatel has launched its Smartwatch range in India starting with the OneTouch Watch. The Android Wear-powered watch is available in India through Flipkart at Rs 7,999. 

The OneTouch Watch is available in two styles - Sporty dark red/volcano black and White. It features a 1.22-inch round display, with a resolution of 240x240pixel and TFT 262k colour display with oleophobic coating. 

It connects to Android and iOS Smartphones via Bluetooth.The Smartwatch can be synced with Android Smartphones (Android 4.3 and above) or iPhones (4S and above). 

The watch features a heart-rate monitor, an accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter and e-compass. It also allows users to track their sleep cycle, distance covered, steps taken and calories burned. 

When connected to a Smartphone, the Alcatel OneTouch Watch displays call notifications, social media updates and vibrates if users stray too far from their phones. It also offers a "raise to see" feature turning on the display when the wrist is lifted. Touching the watch's screen activates a multimedia remote control. Users can control music, take pictures from their phone from a distance or make their phone ring in order to locate it. 

It is dust and water-resistant (up to 1meter), and Alcatel claims it has a long battery life with its 210mAh battery. 

The watch has a USB charger integrated into its band.

Misfit launches Wearable Devices in India

Misfit, maker of wearable and smart home devices has launched its devices in India. 

Three Misfit wearable products are now available for purchase exclusively via Snapdeal - Misfit Shine, Misfit Flash, and Misfit Link. 

The Shine, Flash, and Link devices don't require charging, are water resistant, and are compatible with free companion apps on iOS and Android. 

Misfit Shine is an all-metal activity and sleep tracker that is wearable anywhere and automatically measures steps, calories, distance, and light and deep sleep. Misfit Shine lets users track walking, running, cycling, football, swimming, dance, and more. Users can double tap the face of Shine's metal body to see progress toward their daily activity goal, and sync with the Misfit app to see more data and connect with friends. Available at Rs 5499, Shine is compatible with a variety of accessories including a leather band and a polished necklace, Bloom. 

Misfit Flash tracks the same activity and sleep metrics as Shine but is made from a special soft-touch plastic and comes in a variety of color options. Users can press on Flash's face to view progress or to enable one of Flash's smart button features, like messaging friends or starting a playlist. Flash is wearable anywhere with a sport band or clasp and is available at Rs 2499. 

Misfit Link is a multi-purpose smart button. It can be used to take a selfie with the phone camera app, control music, or advance slides in a presentation, among other functions. It is priced at Rs 1999.

Sony SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk available in India

Sony has launched its SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk wearables in the Indian market at Rs 19,990 and Rs 12,990, respectively. Both of the devices are available in variants of black.

Both wearable devices connect with Sony's Lifelog, an app that allows users to track their health, lifestyle patterns and smartphone usage.

SmartWatch 3 offers significant step ups from SmartWatch 2, including a 1.6-inch 320x320 TFT LCD Transflective display for visibility in bright sunlight, set within a stainless steel back panel. It is waterproof and charges via a standard microUSB port.

It has 4GB internal storage, allowing users to store music and connects with a Bluetooth headset.

The SmartWatch 3 is the first Sony Smartwatch to be powered by Google's Android Wear. The Smartwatch is equipped with Google's voice recognition service and can perform simple tasks including checking email, sending text messages and carrying out an online search at users' voice command.

The watch comes with a built-in microphone, accelerometer, compass, gyro and GPS sensor technology that make fitness tracking more accurate.

The device cannot make phone calls but can be connected to many of the latest Android-based Smartphones. The watch can be used with any Smartphone running Android 4.3 and above.

Like Sony's first-generation SmartBand, the SmartBand Talk is also a 'life-logging accessory' and not just a fitness tracker and offers additional features.

The wearable sports a built-in microphone and speaker, and comes equipped with a short call function allowing users to answer calls and listen to them via the band. The band comes with HD Voice support.

Through Sony's integrated Voice Control technology, users can also assign different sounds to life bookmarks and use their voice to carry out specific Smartphone operations.

SmartBand Talk features a curved, always-on 1.4-inch E-ink. It displays Lifelog activity, notifications and the time at a glance.

The band's built-in accelerometer and altimeter sensor technology helps the band provide an accurate overview of the users' daily physical activity including walking, running or climbing.

SmartBand Talk and SmartWatch 3 both enable and present lifelogging activity and data on the wrist, and connect to the companion app on an Android Smartphone via Bluetooth and NFC.

Apple Watch to hit Indian Market in February

Apple is targeting India as its priority market for its wearable device, Apple Watch. The device is expected to hit the Indian domestic market by early February.

The bullishness of the company comes from initial market studies that show the Apple Watch has the potential to become a bestseller in India, after iPhones and iPads.

Apple also proposes to engage Indian developers to create apps for the device and is firming up the launch.

"Apple is bullish about the success of the Apple Watch in India since it already has a base of more than 4 million iPhone and iPad users who are initially the potential target," says one company executive in India.

The Apple Watch is expected to be launched globally in early 2015.

As per estimates, the price of the Apple Watch will be about Rs 28,000-35,000, which will be more than the cost of wearable products sold by rivals Samsung and Sony. The device will be compatible with the iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus, which run the latest operating system.

Apple last week rolled out the software that will help developers to come up with new apps for the Apple Watch. The company is hopeful the Indian base of developers will roll out local apps to expand the appeal of the device in the domestic market.

Apple is set to launch its latest tablets in India sooner. Pre-order demand for the latest iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 has been encouraging and is expected to exceed levels reached at last year's launch of iPads. Demand for the new iPhones - iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, too has not come down and supplies have become regularized.