WearIT sportifys the smartwatch

Although smartwatches have been around since the 1980s with devices such as Seiko’s Data 2000 watch that could store 2,000 characters in its user-programmable memory, there has recently been an explosion in the number of devices vying for wrist real estate. One that caught our eye at CE week in New York is the WearIT smartwatch targeted at outdoorsy and sporty types.

WearIT features a 1.54-inch capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 240 pixel resolution, is powered by a Cortex A8 600 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM, and runs on an Android 4.1 Jellybean-based OS. It has 4 GB of onboard storage and a variety of sensors, including accelerometer, magnetometer, pedometer, GPS and digital compass. Its 550 mAh lithium-ion battery is recharged via USB.

Intended as a customizable sportswatch rather than a communications device, the WearIT can’t be paired with a smartphone to make and take calls like competitor devices, such as the Pebble, Agent, Vachen, I’m Watch and Kreyos Meteor.

However, it does includes Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music to a set of Bluetooth headphones and ANT+ connectivity for wireless connection of sport and health monitoring devices, such as heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, blood glucose meters and pulse oximeters.

There’s also Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) connectivity for uploading captured data to the cloud and for accessing social media, games, and issuing or accepting remote challenges. This also allows users to access the WearIT App Store. This hasn’t yet been launched, but WearIT’s creators promise a variety of apps will be available in addition to the basic apps included with the device. They have also started a program and created an SDK to get developers creating apps for the device..

The WearIT’s waterproof case measures 45 x 60 x 15 mm and will come in a variety of colors. The company is aiming to launch at CES in January 2014 in the US$350 to $400 price range. It also has plans to integrate a phone into a second version that it hope to have ready by mid-June 2014.

Source: WearIT