Three variants of ASUS ZenWatch 2 launched in India, price starts from Rs. 11,999

After the recent launch of the Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen) in India, ASUS has launched its second Android Wear-based smartwatch in India. The ASUS ZenWatch 2, which was unveiled during Computex 2015 in June, will be available exclusively through Flipkart with a starting price of Rs. 11,999. The smaller screen variant is priced at Rs. 11,999, while the larger screen variants are priced at Rs. 14,999.

ASUS ZenWatch 2 Specifications

• 1.63-inch AMOLED display (WI501Q), 320×320 pixels (278ppi), 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.45-inch AMOLED display (WI502Q), 280×280 pixels (273ppi), 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Android Wear v5.1.1 Lollipop
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB internal storage
• Bluetooth 4.1 with LE, Wi-Fi b/g, IP67-certified with dust and water-resistant
• Accelerometer and Gyrometer
• 300mAh (WI501Q) / 400mAh (WI502Q) battery
• 49.6 x 40.7 x 9.4 ~ 10.9 mm (WI501Q); 45.2 x 37.2 x 10.4 ~ 11.8 mm (WI502Q)

The ZenWatch 3 is a second-generation Android Wear-based smartwatch, and comes in three colours; Blue, Khaki, and Taupe. The Blue and Taupe variants have 1.63-inch AMOLED displays with 320 x 320 pixels resolution, while the Taupe colour variant sports a 1.45-inch display (280 x 280 pixels), and is suited for women. There’s a 300 mAh battery in the 1.45-inch screen variant, while the 1.63-inch variants have a 400 mAh battery.

It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, and runs Android Wear 5.1 Lollipop. As most smartwatches these days, it is IP67 water and dust resistant, and feature Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The ASUS ZenWatch 3 competes with the Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen) and the LG Watch Urbane, both of which are comparatively priced quite high, but it misses out on a heart rate monitor

Microsoft Lumia 550 launched in India at Rs 9,399

New Delhi: Microsoft has launched the Lumia 550 in India at an attractive price of Rs 9,399.

The Windows 10 powered phone will be available in the country from December 23. The phone will come in the glossy white and matte black colours.

The Lumia 550 The phone features 4.7 inch HD display with Glance Screen.

The phone features the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor coupled with 1 GB RAM.

Key features of Microsoft Lumia 550

Windows 10 OS

4.7 inch Display

5 MP Main camera sensor

2 MP Front camera
    
LED flash

RAM: 1 GB

8 GB Mass memory

4G Network
    
Quad-core 1.1 GHz Processor

Battery capacity: 2100 mAh

Maximum talk time (3G): 14 hours

Maximum standby time: 28 days

Tag Heuer Is Ramping Up Smartwatch Production From 1,200 To 2,000 Pieces Per Week

Tag Heuer’s chairman Jean-Claude Biver announced that the company is ramping up weekly production of their Carrera Connected Smart Watch from 1,200 to 2,000 pieces.

The watch costs $1,500 and features a nice titanium case and Android Wear. Buyers get the option to upgrade to a limited edition mechanical watch for another $1,500. Biver is also trying to move sales away from the web to brick and mortar stores, an effort that attests to the true market for the watch: folks who still buy watches at retailers.

The fact that this is seeing demand at all is a fairly interesting story.

The watch world suffers from a tough dichotomy. Watch sales have traditionally happened at brick and mortar stores all around the world with stratified pricing for “destination” stores like Bermuda and lower prices and specially targeted lower-end brands for less developed regions (Rolex vs. Tudor, for example.) Watch manufacturers would crow about the low number number of “doors” they had – a sign of exclusivity – and they were quite stingy when working with retailers, allowing only certain shops to carry certain items.

With the web, however, manufacturers began to lose control over the sales process. For a while they were railing against “grey market” sales – namely watches sold by jewelers who took advantage of the massive disparity between wholesale price and MSRP – and now they are realizing that the high touch watch experience still moves merchandise even if the web is the real money-maker. Selling watches at retail stores is wildly expensive but it’s clear that demand for the watch – at least for rich watch lovers who might want to try the Connect on a whim – is focused on stores.

So what is happening here? First, remember that $1,500 is small potatoes in the watch world. Watch lovers routinely spend more than that on branded watch bracelets. Price, in this case, is no real object and the Connect allows them to feel fancy while still trying the latest technology. Second, there is a dedicated group of collectors who will buy anything Tag offers and see this as an opportunity to buy a limited edition mechanical while messing around with an Android Wear. Collectors are obviously a subset of the world at large, but we can assume that Biver will manufacture about 20,000 of these or so in the next few months in order to raise perceived scarcity and reduce their chances of having to scrap these things when the hardware becomes obsolete. In short, they are selling smartwatches to their old customers who are primarily interested in the Tag Heuer brand rather than the technology.

So it’s nice that Biver is admitting that he is ramping up production but the fact that he announced it at all, even in passing, means even he didn’t expect things to go very well. His statement sounds like he is pleasantly surprised rather than all-in in the digital space, a fact that should help you understand just what the Apple Watch and Android Wear will do to his shrinking customer list.