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Sony is in a hurry to upgrade its current set of wearables. Along with the new SmartWatch 3, the company has announced an updated SmartBand fitness tracker, now called the SmartBand Talk. At the ongoing IFA 2014 conference in Berlin, Sony has announced that the new SmartBand Talk will come with an e_paper screen and voice calling facilities in addition to its lifelogging features.
The SmartBand Talk comes with an embedded microphone and loudspeaker, and hence enables you to make/take calls right from your wrist. There’s an ARM Cortex-M4 32-bit processor to power the whole thing with 2MB of flash memory and that 1.4-inch black and white display to keep you updated on progress. Also present inside, is the Sony Core, a sensor which was introduced earlier this year.
Unlike the original SmartBand, the new one comes with a curved 1.4-inch, 288×128-pixel e-ink display for email notifications and so on.
The SmartBand Talk is IP68 waterproof and rustproof certified and connected to any smartphone running Android 4.4 and above using either NFC or Bluetooth. The 70mAh battery is expected to last for three days before you look for the charger. The SmartBand Talk will arrive in four different color options.
It also comes with an accelerometer and altimeter — handy for hikers and climbers. It will cost €160 (approx $210), with a pack of two extra bands costing €25. The first SmartBand failed to excite us, as it lacked screen and was restricted for lifelogging. The new one is far more exciting, but pricing seems to be on a higher side to our liking. Let us wait for an extended hands on time before we pass a judgment.
