Pebble or Apple, which is smart watch it later to your wrist? – NRC Q

The battle for your wrist crack this year apart. And now really. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona manufacturers take an advance on the arrival of the Apple Watch, the smart watch that appears in April. Also Pebble, one of the best-selling smart watches to date, brings a new model.? – Now with color

A smart watch, why again

You look at your phone if you want to know what time it is. Why would you still want a smart watch?

Such a watch can display notifications on your phone (mail, SMS, Whatsapp). It is also a fitness tracker: with pedometer and often a heart rate sensor. And the watch can act as a remote control, for example, to turn on the music and the lights to turn off. It also provides functions that are largely the phone itself. Only now you do not have to conjure more out of your pocket or your bag.

Still not convinced that you have something clever to watch? That may be true. The smart watch market is still early; There are watches from Samsung, LG and Sony released, but the biggest sales success is the Pebble with its simple black screen. Until now sold this former Kickstarter Project 1 million copies. It is now a company with 130 employees and comes with a second version, the Pebble Time.

Ten minutes Pebble Time

Q NRC allowed ten minutes playing with prototypes of the new Pebble models: one with plastic housing and one of metal. Both watches have an e-ink color. Not the bright colors of an LED or OLED screen, but the advantage is that e-ink uses less energy.

The new Pebble Time is thinner and lighter than its previous generation and has a batterijduur- longer than 5 but 7 days. In comparison, most models with LED display keep the two days of the Apple Watch should probably be recharged every day

The luxury variant Pebble Time Steel is heavier, thicker and has a larger battery.. Which also holds 10 full days on a single charge, says Pebble. If the wrist is the weight difference or very large; which is partly due to the Gorilla Glass scratch-free, that you know well of smartphones

The Pebble operation has gone ahead.; you no longer need via a general menu to ‘surf’ to applications but can navigate through a timeline. That ministry is also working on the current Pebble models

The new Pebble is no fitness band -. Instance is no heart rate sensor. It is intended that enthusiasts develop a strap with an additional sensor and link it to the device. Advantage: the ugly magnets which you clicks the charger cable to the Pebble, moving to the back

The Pebble Time also has a microphone that allows you to send short messages – make a phone call via your wrist does not seem possible..

Pebble Time was put back as a project on Kickstarter. Nonsense, because the company this model has long been ready and there is no crowdfunding needed to produce the new version. But Kickstarter is a recognized marketing tool:. Always a good PR stunt to say that the Pebble Time “the most successful Kickstarter project ever” is

Nerdy is luxury

first smart watches were fodder for geeks, now the general public has warmed. The smart watches now seem normal, luxury watches with round screens and a decent band.

Look at the LG Urbane, an Android Wear sturdy watch with three buttons on the side. There is also a Urbane LTE running on WebOS – another operating system. Confusing? Samsung also produces watches with different operating systems (Android Tizen and Wear). Chinese Huawei keeps it in an Android Wear watch with a luxury -ietwat kitschy – look. Sony makes an Android Wear watch, like the Alcatel Onetouch Watch. Android Wear is not so easy to use that you will do your mother so watch gift. Or just that.

Alcatel Onetouch Watch

Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the marketing of violence surrounding the Apple Watch. Apple chose a dial that you select apps and activates, in combination with a touch screen. Apple has already purchased huge ads in fashion magazines like Vogue. The watch will cost from $ 349. Presumably, the watch will from April in Europe for sale – at least in Germany. It is expected that Apple will next week announce more details.

Is Apple Watch a flop or a success? Despite all the hype watch, who expected sales as the smartphone (1.2 billion copies in 2014) will be disappointed anyway.

The success of the Apple Watch is primarily dependent on the applications you can run on it and the extra cost to “simple” smart watches as the Pebble to justify. Apple has reportedly 5 million watches have produced. That’s a lot, if you compare the sales of other manufacturers.

Apple can rely on a number of fans who will want to try every product. If you want to suppress all primary sale drift; remember how many teething Apple dissolves in the second generation of its gadgets.