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Qualcomm’s Toq smartwatch is a wearable device with a low-power display that’s designed to be easy to read in direct sunlight. You can pair it with a phone to view weather forecasts, notifications or incoming calls, and I suppose you could also tell time with the Toq too.
But that limited functionality comes at a steep price — Qualcomm is offering a limited quantity of Toq smartwatches for $350 each. They’ll ship in December, but pre-orders opened today.
If you’ve always wanted a watch with a Mirasol, sunlight-readable display, now’s your chance. Or you could buy a few Pebble E Ink watches for the same price.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Qualcomm’s Toq smartwatch goes up for pre-order for $350
Everybody and their kid brother wants to sell you a smartwatch this year. This one feels more like a showcase for Qualcomm’s display technology than an actual consumer product… but if it sells well maybe the prices will come down and Qualcomm will spruce up the app ecosystem. [Toq Store] - First look at the Zopo ZP998 phone with MediaTek’s octa-core chip
Chip maker MediaTek is starting to produce its first ARM Cortex-A7 chip, and the Zopo ZP998 is one of the first devices to use it. The phone seems to be pretty decent… for folks who don’t mind phones with enormous displays. It has a 5.5 inch full HD screen. [GizChina] - Android 4.4 KitKat rolling out HTC One Google Play Edition phones (or you can grab it manually)
So you’ve got an HTC One because you wanted a phone with a speedy processor, nice build quality, a good screen, and front-facing speakers — but you’re not a fan of HTC Sense. Good news — not only does the HTC One Google Play Edition offer a stock Android experience, but it doesn’t take long for Google and HTC to push official software updates… let’s see if they offer them for longer than 18 months though. [Android Central] - Microsoft OneNote update lets you scan items with a camera, convert pictures to searchable text
OneNote has been around for ages, but it’s never gotten as much attention as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. But now that touchscreen tablets are becoming common, maybe Microsoft’s note-taking app will get the recognition it deserves. For now, it’s getting the optical character recognition it deserves. [Engadget] - CyanogenMod 10.2 RC1 released
Work on CM11 (based on Android 4.4) is already underway, but the CyanogenMod team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on their final Android 4.3-based custom ROM. [CyanogenMod] - Amazon said to by working on next-gen Kindle Paperwhite with 300ppi display, glass screen, better fonts, etc
Amazon’s next Kindle reader may have a higher-resolution display, fonts that are easier to read and a glass screen… which is hopefully half as sturdy as the plastic ones you can get now. Part of what makes an eReader different than a tablet is its durability. [TechCrunch]
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