Apple aiming at selling 2 million second-gen Apple Watches per month

Apple is reportedly making huge orders to its suppliers for second-gen Apple Watch parts. According to DigiTimes the orders to the supply chains are "rather aggressive".

The estimates suggest Apple might be looking at shipping as many as 2 million second-gen Apple Watches and the first batch should be ready by the end of the third quarter this year. This means the new Apple Watch should be in track for the fall release in September side by side with the new iPhone 7 series.

The second-gen Apple Watch is rumored to use the same design, but improve on the display and battery. We may even see added cellular connectivity, but the information is still scarce on this.

Microsoft announces Outlook watch face for Android Wear

Microsoft has announced a new watch face for Android Wear. The watch face comes as part of the Outlook app and should increase the utility of your Android Wear device if you're an Outlook user.

One of the features of the new watch face is that marks the edges of the watch dial corresponding to events in your calendar. It also color codes them to the different calendars you may have added to your Outlook app. This way you can see when a certain event will be, over the course of the next 12 hours, by just glancing at your watch. Other than the subtle coloring, the watch face will also expressly mention all your events for the day below the time.

If you don't have any events, the watch face will show you the number of unread emails you have and who sent them. You can respond to email by choosing from archive, schedule, flag, and delete options. You can also RSVP for invitations from the watch. If you have to reply, you can use one of the canned responses or use voice dictation.

The watch face is also customizable and you can change the background and accent color.

The new watch face is part of the updated Outlook app.

New Microsoft Band 2 update brings ability to track heart rate zones

The Microsoft Band 2 as well as its Health companion app has received a new update, bumping the firmware version to 2.0.4737.0 and the app version to 2.3.20602. The update brings a couple of new features, including the ability to track heart rate zones.

The software giant explains the new Heart Rate Zones feature as: "Track your heart rate zones on Band: Improve your workout health with notifications for heart rate zones. When you're at 80% maximum heart rate, the heart rate on Band turns orange. At 90%, it turns red."

In addition, the update also adds Cortana support to Health app's Android client as well as fixes a repeat SMS bug on Android.

HTC smartwatch delayed yet again; Is it ever coming out?

"When HTC comes out with a smartwatch, we will turn the industry on its head." That's what CEO Cher Wang said in February this year - tall claims indeed. Whether or not the device will be a game changer is a different question, what HTC seems to be really struggling at the moment is to fix a launch date for the device.

At a time when technology changes every year, we're hearing rumors of an HTC smartwatch since 2013. The recent ones suggested that the wearable - allegedly dubbed HTC One - will be launched in April this year. However, as we all know, that didn't happen.

The usually reliable leakster @evleaks, who has been passing on information related to the device's launch time-frame in the recent times, has now revealed that the launch has been pushed further back.

 Follow

Evan Blass ‎@evleaks

What a clusterf***: HTC wearable bumped again, to the fall. Hurry up, HTC, before people realize that they don't really need these products.

1:18 AM - 28 May 2016

 
•  4141 Retweets
 
•  193193 likes

Clearly, he's frustrated as well, just like most of us.

@evleaks didn't say anything on why the launch has been delayed yet again. Is the Taiwanese company waiting for Android Wear 2.0? Or is it something related to the HTC Nexus devices coming later this year? We really don't know at this point in time. But lets hope there are no further delays.

Android Wear 2.0 update? Here is a handy list of what we currently know

Google came prepared for I/O 2016 and packed the keynote with a few exciting announcements. Many of these, however, like the new Daydream VR platform in Android left us wondering about availability and support. The same goes for Android Wear 2.0, which was showcased on stage in an impressive presentation of new features, but we never got word on whether and when we will experience it on our smartwatch.

In the absence of any official support list, as of yet the only solution is to deduce and hunt around for fragmented information. This is exactly what user konrad-iturbe on Reddit set out to do and the following are his findings thus far:

Huawei:

• Huawei Watch: YES, Developer Preview available

LG:

• LG G Watch SQUARE: NO, confirmed by LG USA twitter
• LG G Watch R ROUND: YES, confirmed by several LG microsites: UK - Screenshot
• LG G Watch Urbane ROUND: YES, confirmed by spanish LG microsite
• LG G Watch Urbane 2gen LTE: YES, Developer Preview available

ASUS:

• ASUS ZenWatch 1: UNCONFIRMED, No button on the side, probably no wear 2.0
• ASUS ZenWatch 2: PROBABLY, the Android developer site has an image of the ASUS ZenWatch 2 with Wear 2.0

Motorola/Lenovo:

• Moto 360 v1: UNCONFIRMED, got a reply from Motorola, it's up to Google
• Moto 360 v2: PROBABLY, as seen on the Android Developer page
• Moto 360 Sport: UNCONFIRMED

Sony:

• Sony SmartWatch 3: UNCONFIRMED, got a reply: cannot comment on future updates at this time

Fossil:

• Fossil Q Founder: UNCONFIRMED, waiting for reply from Fossil

Samsung:

• Samsung Gear Live: UNCONFIRMED, twitter reply: they cannot speculate, full text

No information as of right now

Tag Heuer:

• Tag Heuer Connected: YES, tweet - screenshot

Casio

• Casio WSD F10: Unconfirmed

It is worth noting that as with all things Android, unofficial ports for other devices are bound to arrive at some point. Judging from the users original post, the efforts towards porting the OS over to the the original LG G Watch have already started, but it might not be such an easy endeavor, due to hardware absences, like the speaker.

As for the compatibility list itself, it is sure to grow as the Android 2.0 release, promised for some time this fall draws nearer. Frankly, at this stage, it seems even Google hasn't quite ironed out all the details yet, so a bit more patience is in order.

Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 unveiled with heart rate monitors

Yesterday we told you about an intriguing countdown that took over Pebble's official website, and today the mystery has been revealed. It turns out that the company has unveiled not one, not two, but three new products, two of which are smartwatches.

The Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 are successors to the original Pebble smartwatch and the first Pebble Time, as you'd expect from the naming. Both new models bring a heart rate monitor this time around, allowing for even more comprehensive fitness tracking.

The Pebble 2 (shown above) costs $99 and will ship in September. It has a high-contrast black and white e-paper display and 7-day battery life. The Pebble Time 2 (pictured below) is priced at $169 and will ship in November. It has a 53% larger color display compared to the Pebble 2, and a stainless steel construction. Its quoted battery life is ten days.

Both the Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 are water resistant up to 30m, have built-in microphones, as well as activity and sleep tracking. They will show you notifications from your phone (running Android or iOS), show your schedule, and can be controlled through their side-mounted buttons.

The smartwatches are now up on Kickstarter (which is where the Pebble story started a few years back), having already surpassed the $1 million funding goal in just a few hours. In fact, Pebble's campaign has raised more than $2.8 million at the moment, with the numbers rising fast.

The Pebble Core is part of the same Kickstarter campaign, even though it's not a smartwatch. It's basically "a clippable fitness device that lets you leave your phone at home", as Pebble puts it. It's got built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G connectivity, and can stream music (which you can listen to by connecting a pair of headphones to its 3.5mm jack).

The Core tracks your pace, distance, and location, supports recording voice notes, and can even send an emergency SOS message if needed. Its battery should be good for five and a half hours of use. It's priced at $69 and will start shipping in January 2017.