Mirasol – SomeGadgetGuy

August 9, 2014

Timex Unveils IRONMAN ONE GPS+ Smartwatch

Timex took the wraps off of their new fitness focused smartwatch.

Built on a partnership with AT&T and Qualcomm, the ONE GPS+ uses the incredible screen from the Toq for low battery usage and direct sunlight view-ability.

In addition to the Mirasol display, the watch also comes with 4GB of storage and Bluetooth for music playback, GPS for location and fitness tracking, and a 3G phone connection for messaging and a pretty neat SOS feature.

For many people, exercising with a phone is becoming a necessity as that’s where all your entertainment and communications capabilities are stored. The idea that you could leave with just a watch, not worry about sweat-soaking your phone, and still have the basics covered is pretty exciting.

The ONE GPS+ is currently in pre-sale on the Timex site for $400 or $450 with a built in heart rate monitor.

December 19, 2013February 6, 2014

First Impressions: The Qualcomm Toq Smartwatch with Mirasol Display

It’s in my hands!

One of the gadgets I’ve been most excited about this year is finally here! Qualcomm is delivering a really interesting smart watch solution, with a fantastic display. Also exciting, as this is the first product from Qualcomm where they’re trying to speak directly to consumers.

I’ve barely gotten it out of the shipping box, but let’s take a look at this sexy little piece, some of the set up, and a run down on the feature set!

Shop for the Qualcom Toq.

September 4, 2013

Qualcomm Toq competes for your Smartwatch affection

Well Qualcomm. The one piece of advice I might give is to not announce your new smartwatch at the EXACT same time as a Samsung press event. That said, with Toq they are launching an interesting alternative to the other smartwatches we’ve seen so far.

First off the display uses Qualcomm’s Mirasol tech which reflects light around it to enhance view-ability. Not using a traditional backlight should also reduce power consumption, a nice side effect for a gadget which should last all day and all night with you.

Unlike the Galaxy Gear, Toq will be compatible with every Android handset using 4.0.3 or higher through their Toq app in the Play store. The idea here is for sleek simplicity and at a glance functionality instead of Samsung’s approach which is almost a proper phone replacement. Toq will have simple controls for interacting with notifications and controlling apps like music playback. Plus you’ll have the ability to see caller ID to accept or reject in coming calls. No other buttons or controls. Qualcomm is keeping this set up simple.

As an optional accessory, Toq can pair with a set of truly wireless bluetooth headsets. No cable or band connecting right ear and left ear any more, these are truly wireless. They link up and are controlled through Toq for all your audio needs.

A wireless charging base comes with Toq which can also juice up the bluetooth headsets. Again, simple and clean presentation, Toq looks like any other watch in a nice stand or case even when charging. No “geeky” cables or flaps hiding USB ports. Hopefully his should mean decent water resistance.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this is one of Qualcomm’s first forays into the consumer space as its own brand. The techiest of folks might know which phones use Qualcomm internals, but few consumers probably have Qualcomm on their radar. This is a big step for a company which formerly operated in a somewhat “behind the scenes” fashion, and will likely be the beginning, the first product in a chain of future releases as they try to form relationships with consumers directly.