Appscomm Fashioncomm A1 Smartwatch with Qualcomm Mirasol display, SIM card slot launched in China

Qualcomm announced its own Smartwatch – the Toq with a Mirasol display back in September, which would go on sale in the U.S. for $349.99 starting December 2nd. Now the Appscomm Fashioncomm A1 Smartwatch has used the same on its own Smartwatch. The Mirasol technology enables an always-on 1.55-inch MEMS display with the battery life lasting more number of days than a standard display. Apart from the usual set of features seen in the Smartwatch including a G-sensor for pedometer and Bluetooth, this also has a micro SIM slot to make and receive phone calls and read or send text messages.

You can also pair it with other smartphones to read the text messages and get notifications. The smartwatch has a 2-megapixel camera to capture images and record videos. It also has a built-in Bluetooth headset so that you can attend calls easily from the Smartwatch, instead of holding your hand to your mouth when attending calls. It also has a built-in USB slot to charge and transfer data. It packs a 450 mAh battery that promises 190 hours of standby time.

The Appscomm Fashioncomm A1 Smartwatch comes in Orange, Red, Army Green, Sapphire Blue, Pearl White and Black colors. It available for pre-order in China for 1299 Chinese Yuan (~Rs. 13,290), which would ship starting from December 12th.

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Lenovo launches IdeaPad Flex, a dual-mode Windows 8 notebook PC

Lenovo has officially taken wraps of IdeaPad Flex, a dual-mode notebook PC with a 10 point multitouch feature. Lenovo’s newest addition comes with an ability to flip 300 degrees to instantly switch between laptop and stand modes.

With the laptop mode, you get the integrated keyboard and a touchpad, while the stand model is designed for touch usage and social functionality.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex sports a 14-inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The notebook measures 343 x 250 x 21mm and weighs about 2 kilograms.

The Flex runs Windows 8 and is powered by a 4th generation Intel core i3 processor along 4 GB of RAM. The NVIDIA GeForce GT740M completes the graphics department. IdeaPad Flex also features a 720P camera, Dolby advanced audio certified speakers and a wide range of connectivity options.

The juice for the portable computer comes from a 48Wh battery, which according to the company lasts for about 6 hours of 1080p video playback. 

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HTC UK creates Gramohorn II for HTC One’s BoomSound speakers

We’ve seen some crazy speaker ideas in our time but the Gramohorn II designed by Justin Wolter by commission of HTC UK is one of the cookiest. It’s a dock that features two horns (like on an old-timey gramophone, hence the name) that is designed specifically for the stereo BoomSound speakers on the HTC One.

 HTC UK is using the Gramohorn II to kick off its “Here’s To Creativity” campaign. Strange that there’s no room for the BoomBass speaker, but still it’s an interesting design piece, which goes well with the uniquely designed HTC One.

Anyway, there are two versions of the Gramohorn II – a plaster-based and a metal-based. The plaster one gives you a choice of 25 colors and it will set you back £999 ($1600/€1200)

. If you want to order one, you should throw in £20 for delivery to the UK and Ireland, £40 for Europe and £80 for the rest of the world. The lead time on the plaster Gramohorn II’s is 3-4 weeks, the lead time on the metal ones is 2-3 weeks.

In case you were wondering about the ‘II’ in the name, the original Gramohorn (also designed by Wolter) was a single horn for the iPhone.

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HTC working on a smartwatch with camera

The smartwatch arena is heating up with all the major manufacturers joining the bandwagon. After recent reports of a bizarre Nokia smartwatch prototype, we have rumours that HTC is planning to launch an Android smartphone.

According to a report published on the Bloomberg website, HTC is planning to release an Android smartwatch which will be ready for launch next year.

The report doesn’t name a source and says that the news comes from a person “familiar with the matter.”

Not much is revealed about the device. The report says that the smartwatch is definitely going to come with a camera for clicking photos much like the one seen on Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

There is no word on the pricing or the full feature list. The device is slated to hit shelves by the second half of 2014.

The smartwatch segment is showing signs of explosive growth in the future. Samsung managed to beat other companies to release the first mainstream smartwatch. The Galaxy Gear

features a 1.63 inch screen along with a 1.9 MP camera. Although it only has official support for apps curated for the device, it was recently hacked to run full Android apps.

HTC’s slipping market share has got the alarm bells ringing in the company. The HTC One failed to spur a reverse trend in the dismal sales record of HTC smartphones. Yesterday, the company’s CEO announced that he will be concentrating on the innovation and product development aspect of the organisation to hopefully engineer a turnaround.

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Lenovo officially launches A10 Android 4.2 powered laptop

Lenovo has officially launched a new Android OS powered laptop dubbed as Lenovo A10. Recently, it was leaked on the website of the company and now Lenovo has officially unwrapped it. Company hasn’t yet shared any information about the pricing and availability date at the moment. However, it says the price of the laptop will be revealed by its regional arms pretty soon.

Features of Lenovo A10 –

• It comes with a 10.1inch display with the resolution of 1366*768 pixels


• It is powered by a 1.6GHz quad core Rockchip RK3188 processor along with 1 or 2GB of RAM


• It comes with 2 USB 2.0 ports and other connectivity features includes microSD card slot, HDMI Out, WiFi and Bluetooth


• It comes with 32GB of internal storage which is further expandable via microSD card


• It is running on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system


• It also comes with a 0.3MP webcam for video calling

“With the recent explosive growth in Android-based, smart connected devices, customers are relying more on Android apps for both work and play. Why should they be required to switch and duplicate to use their laptop? Lenovo’s A10 brings ultra-portability and dual-mode benefits to Android users at a reasonable price,” said Bai Peng, VP and GM, notebook unit Lenovo.

Lenovo A10 can also be used in the Stand mode which can be accessed by rotating the device 300 degree to watch movies etc. Overall, it can be a good choice if you are looking to buy an Android powered portable device in this festival season. We will update you more when it will be available to buy, so keep in touch with us.

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Nokia's bizarre smart watch spotted in patent filing

Nokia's concept for a smartwatch with multiple displays has shown up in its patent filing

The smartwatch race was bound to get more entrants with the market showing promise. Despite the Samsung Galaxy Gear not being the revolutionary device Samsung was hoping, all the manufacturers are betting big on the segment. Nokia is the latest one to join the party.

The Finnish company was recently awarded a patent for a slightly bizarre smartwatch design. The patent was submitted in August last year. The device has been identified as the Nokia Facet by the research team over at Nokia.

The design of the smartwatch is slightly difficult to grasp. Calling it a smartwatch would be a misnomer, it is more like a bracelet. The Facet bears multiple screens because plain old straps are overrated. The device is worn on the wrist with each segment having its own display. You can turn your wrist as much you want and still be looking at a screen.

The displays work in tandem with each other. The device aims to utilise a lot of gestures to streamline the process of working with multiple screens. As an example, you can slide apps from one display to the other. Or you can make a swiping gesture to move all apps one display up sequentially.

The Nokia Facet is a concept and it is likely to remain in the lab for the foreseeable future. The patent doesn’t imply that Nokia is planning to release any such device soon but it is one of the design concepts which are being developed and considered.

It is not clear how Nokia’s deal with Microsoft will affect its work on smart watches but we can expect that both the companies would be entering the race soon.

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