Fossil Launches Smartwatch and Fitness Trackers
Google’s Android Wear platform is one that tech analysts knew would take off; after all, Google owns Android, the world’s most popular mobile platform, so it only makes sense that Android Wear would have a popularity that some other competitors in the business would not have. One thing that has always made Android a welcoming platform is that Android is open-sourced, meaning that anyone can use it on their devices. While things can become complex when a company chooses to use a modified form of it (and thus, forfeit Google Play Store access) and bypass the best Android app store there is.
When it comes to Android Wear, though, you’re familiar with LG’s G Watch, G Watch R, Watch Urbane, and Watch Urbane LTE, as well as Motorola’s first and second-generation Moto 360, the Sony Smartwatch 3, Samsung’s Gear Live, and new players like the Huawei Watch and the Asus ZenWatch 1 and 2. A company with a new Android Wear smartwatch that may be a surprise to the smartwatch space is Fossil. The company has now gone public with its first Android Wear smartwatch dubbed the Fossil Q Founder.
Features and Functionality
The Fossil Q Founder has a circular display (unknown size) and a metallic body that connects to both Android smartphones (with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or higher) and iPhones (iPhones 5, 5s, 6, and 6s with iOS 8.2 or higher) by way of Fossil’s own proprietary app. The Fossil app features three types of notifications: 1) Q Notifications: typical notifications for emails, social media, meetings, and contacts; 2) Q Activity: fitness-tracking information such as distance walked, calories burned, etc., and connects to famous fitness apps such as Jawbone, Google Fit, and others; and 3) Q Curiosity, a feature that provides some new activities to get your creative juices flowing. Q Curiosity proposes activities that you’ve never tried before, or those you don’t try too often, to get you to explore some new facet of life from time to time.
The Fossil Q Founder lives in the same path as other Android Wear smartwatches in that it is classy, looks formal, and promotes Android Wear’s key priority: that of form over function. Even with the changes Android Wear has made, though, the platform isn’t as functional as Samsung’s own Tizen Gear smartwatch line, but its focus is different. Google has decided to keep Android Wear software as uniform as possible, making the only competitive edge the unique design of the manufacturer. We’re surprised to see Fossil provide its own app for its own Android Wear smartwatch, as most other Android Wear smartwatch makers have utilized Google’s own Android Wear app.
Pricing and Availability
There is little information outside of this on the Fossil Q Founder, but we do know the price: Fossil says you can expect to pay $275 for the Q Founder, and you’ll get to shell out your money around the Christmas season. Alongside of the Q Founder, Fossil has also announced two new smart bands (Q Reveler, Q Dreamer), and a regular watch with some smart capabilities (Q Grant) that are also under the umbrella of the Q series. Visit the Fossil website to find out more.
