

Sony SmartWatch 3 - SoulMan
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/smartwear/smartwatch-3-swr50/

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RankingMember
This torrent of chunky rectangular smart watches are all about as sexy as the
Casio calculator watches from way back when. I still think those calculator
watches are a cool piece of old tech, but I don't know anyone who would wear
one un-ironically.

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hardwaresofton
I've owned a wide range of smart watches (sony smartwatch 1, sony smartwatch
2, galaxy gear 1), and people actually compliment me/notice the watches quite
frequently -- considering what they do/contain (essentially being very small
computers), they're exceptionally small

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RankingMember
The question, then, is whether they're complimenting you because it's new and
they've never seen it before or because they actually think it's a good-
looking watch. People complimented PT Cruiser owners when those things first
came out. :P

~~~
hardwaresofton
Well I imagine it's a little of both -- also, there's a sort of retro-chic
that still goes with large/squarish devices... Style is so subjective -- look
at the new porsche blackberry phone, that's a PT Cruiser if I've ever seen one

And yeah, PT Cruisers are terrible.

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Kayou
Same specs as Samsung and LG smartwatches, toy-like design, unpractical
charging port, 230€, not really interesting.

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cskau
..except GPS

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Kayou
Sorry, I didn't see the GPS. So if there are apps compatible with this, then
it can distinguish itself from other smart-watches. Would be nice to go
running without a smartphone and still tracking the speed.

~~~
unfamiliar
I hear this a lot, what exactly is the problem with running with a smart
phone? I run with my 5S all the time and I barely notice it is there. Is this
just a problem with larger screened phones? Is it really such an inconvenience
that it justifies a +$200 watch to solve the problem?

~~~
Kayou
Yes, I wear my Nexus 4 on my arm and it's not the nicest thing. I previously
had a 4" phone which was much better. Also, the smartwatch is nice to see your
speed and the time, so you would wear it anyway (I can't really check the
phone's screen on my arm, but I have audio feedback). If you can get rid of
the smartphone, which is here just for the music and GPS, that's perfect. An
update to android wear is going to bring bluetooth offline music, perfect for
my bluetooth headset I use. Why take your smartphone with you when you don't
need it?

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krisgee
Another boring black square. I want someone to innovate on the Moto 360
already.

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arpit
Like LG's R Watch? [http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/04/lg-g-watch-r-hands-
on/](http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/04/lg-g-watch-r-hands-on/))

~~~
thoughtpalette
That actually looks pretty good! Reminds me of 007 Goldeneye for the N64.

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drivingmenuts
So, basically it's a watch and a pedometer?

Can _anyone_ please come up with something more interesting than counting the
number of steps I take during the day?

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TillE
Apple's promised hearbeat sensor is a good step towards making a more advanced
fitness/health device, at least. Even though I'd rather have that as a thin
Fitbit-style band rather than a chunky touchscreen watch.

~~~
dozy
It should be noted that the Samsung Gear Live (one of the first two Android
Wear devices from last June), as well as the Moto 360 both have a heart
sensor, powered by an LED on the back of the device, just as Apple's will.

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jryle80
Sony wearable are powered by Android Wear. Does anyone know if Android Wear
supports BLE out of the box? I suppose it does but am not sure about light
devices such as Sony SmartBand. There doesn't seem to be any mentions on the
page.

~~~
dozy
I could be mistaken here but it seems BLE is not only "supported" but may
indeed be a _requirement_ of all Android Wear (aka Android API level 20)
devices. AFAIK every Android Wear watch has noted an Android 4.3 requirement
for the paired handset, which is also the API level (18) where BLE was
introduced to Android.

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twodayslate
Only 2 days of battery life.

I prefer the form factor of the SmartBand, but that only has 3 days of batter
life (with eink display!). I'd rather get the Garmin vivosmart which as 7 days
of battery life.

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SchizoDuckie
It looks like flava-flav's clock on that little girl's arm
[http://i.imgur.com/1GJsajR.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/1GJsajR.jpg)

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taternuts
As a Moto 360 owner, I smile a little bit with each new released smart watch
that's just another ugly rectangle

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Shad0w59
Love the fact that this has a throwback Sony Sports yellow color.

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post_break
It looks similar to a watch I've seen all over the news. Can't remember the
name of it though. (Also IP68 isn't really waterproof. I take it back, I
thought it was IP67 whoops)

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morganvachon
This is Sony's fourth attempt at a smart wristwatch, going back to 2010 with
the LiveView. I have the first Sony SmartWatch (second in the whole line,
released after the LiveView) and it is crap compared to watches that came
after like the Pebble, which I also own and use currently.

The SmartWatch 2 was a huge improvement over the previous model, but it didn't
impress me enough at the time to buy it so soon after the last one; I ended up
getting the Pebble instead. This one though, looks like what I'm really
looking for in a smart wristwatch. I'd happily trade my Pebble for one, and
probably will once they start selling it in the US.

As for the waterproof rating, IP68 would be "no ingress of dust" (the "6" in
the rating) and "the equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water
(immersion beyond 1m)" (the "8" in the rating). That sounds pretty much
waterproof to me. Now, if you mean it's not a diver's watch, well of course it
isn't, and never claimed to be. A diver will wear a diver's watch, not a
device that connects to a phone she wouldn't dive with anyway.

~~~
post_break
Yeah I just edited my post, I goofed on the IP68 thinking it was IP67.

I had the first sony smart watch and it was amazing for its time. Then I got
the pebble and loved it. Now I'm onto the Moto 360 and not looking back.

~~~
makomk
IP68 is actually more waterproof than IP67 - higher digits mean better levels
of protection in IP codes. IP68 is basically the highest rating possible under
this standard.

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skc
Ahh, they missed a trick. Where Apple is going to kill them isn't even on
functionality, but customizability. That's especially ironic considering it's
iOS vs Android.

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ate356
Like the non-standard band the Apple watch has.

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skc
Yep. It's a fashion accessory first. Not sure how Sony missed that.

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ate356
If it was a fashion accessory first Apple wouldn't use a nonstandard strap.

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paullth
"Demand great"

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fla
Shameless plug : We sell high-end digital watches ( != smart watch ) at
www.slyde.ch

Feedback appreciated.

~~~
notjustanymike
Well if you insist.

You website and products looks like they were happier in the Adobe Flash era
of the Internet. The navigation is a disaster; small horizontal bars with
lethargic animations make me dread trying to get anywhere on the site. The
font selection and logo look like you told a design intern to make something
look expensive.

Size wise, your website is 1,600 pixels wide. 1,600! This means you'll see
horizontal scrollbars on a 15" Macbook Pro. Since it's not even remotely
responsive, you've eliminated anyone coming to your site on a mobile device
and even the iPad retina in portrait mode. If you can't be bothered to make it
responsive (not really challenging considering the limited amount of content)
at least make a mobile optimized site.

Then there are pages like this:
[https://www.slyde.ch/en/concept/engine](https://www.slyde.ch/en/concept/engine)

There is no reason the text should scroll on a page like that. It's a drab
wall of text with no formatting, links, or really any kind of structure. Why
have you made a boring wall of text -harder- to read?

Why is there a carousel navigation at the bottom of the page? Circles like
this are traditionally used in carousels (which themselves are universally
hated), and not for entire pages. I have no idea where those buttons lead and
I'm pretty sure lots of people miss them (you could test that with Google
Analytics). The confusion here is compounded, since they -do- work as a
carousel on the homepage.

Regarding the watchfaces: am I correct in seeing you're selling these for $100
per engine?! Do you expect to compete on any meaningful level with the iWatch
and Android Wear? Or is this one of those 'premium' experiences that certain
people are happy to pay for?

So, all in all my feedback is this looks like a site trying to be premium
without a clear understanding of what the word means.

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fla
Thanks for the feedback. I coudn't agree more with the remarks you made about
the website. It defenately needs some improvements.

> Regarding the watchfaces: am I correct in seeing you're selling these for
> $100 per engine?!

Yes. These watch faces (we call them virtual engines) are created by
professional watch designers.

> Do you expect to compete on any meaningful level with the iWatch and Android
> Wear? Or is this one of those 'premium' experiences that certain people are
> happy to pay for?

No, because we are not a smart watch, simply an high-end digital watch. The
product is premium by its materials and craftmanship. (For example: The Slyde
is water resistant up to 30m).

> So, all in all my feedback is this looks like a site trying to be premium
> without a clear understanding of what the word means.

Point taken, there is defenately some things we have to improve with the
communication.

Thanks for you feedback!

~~~
notjustanymike
Glad to give feedback on the site, but I have to call bullshit on the 'virtual
engines'.

"virtual engines" ... that's fantastic! If you simply called them 'watchfaces'
you might have to give them away like your competitors.

Charging $100 for a digital watchface is so amazingly brazen it could only be
done if you had nothing but contempt for your customers intelligence. Or
perhaps you're targeting the fools with more money than sense (such a
wonderful market if you can get in it).

Serious question though: how will you compete with the iWatch and MotoX? They
have vastly more features and a hardware design at the very least on the same
level. Combined with app ecosystems and a solid app distribution network, it's
going to be a short amount of time before iWatch 'virtual engines' come out at
a fraction of your price.

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bhouston
Apple is so good with the showmanship that it seems to have sucked the air out
of competing watches. Is sony even trying?

BTW, this was announced back on September 3 or sooner:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbDDWubWKaQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbDDWubWKaQ)

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JohnTHaller
They were so good with showmanship that many people missed the fact that it's
a complex thing you need to swipe, tap and spin a wheel on to interact with a
multitude of tiny apps on in a very un-Apple way.

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Tyrannosaurs
I'm not sure if I'm defending or criticising Apple here but frankly we saw too
little of the Apple Watch to really know what the interaction is like.

Right now it looks interesting but it's hard to say much more than that.

