Samsung and its recently announced Galaxy Gear will have to chair today’s spotlight when it comes to smartwatches. Rumours that Qualcomm was developing its own smartwatch turned out to be true and the company unveiled it today as the Qualcomm Toq. Designed as a second display to your smartphone, it will feature a color capacitive touchscreen display and will let users manage their smartphone calls, text messages, meeting reminders and various notifications right from their wrist.
The Qualcomm Toq will come with a 200MHz Cortex M3 processor, a low-power always-on Mirasol display, wireless charging using Qualcomm’s WiPower LE technology and Bluetooth Audio. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Gear, it promises to offer a battery life measured in a number of days.
“Toq’s always on, always connected, always visible wearable technology gives you a ‘Digital 6th Sense,’ telling you what you need to know, when you need to know it, with just a glance at your wrist or a whisper in your ear. Toq is a showcase for the benefits of the Mirasol display, WiPower LE and stereo Bluetooth technologies and highlights the experience that the wearable category can provide,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of Qualcomm. “Toq not only represents a long history of technological innovation for Qualcomm, but it also demonstrates our commitment to delivering the breakthrough technologies that redefine the ways we interact with each other and the world around us.”
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The Qualcomm Toq will be offered as a limited edition smartwatch later this year. A “Premium Audio Edition” with wireless stereo headphones will also be offered. Packing a dedicated tweeter and woofer, they promise high quality stereo sound. Price was not announced.
Qualcomm Launches the Qualcomm Toq Smartwatch Featuring Mirasol Display
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SAN DIEGO – September 04, 2013 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc., will release a Qualcomm branded smartwatch in Q4 of 2013. Designed to serve as a second display to your smartphone, the Qualcomm® Toq™ (‘talk’) smartwatch will feature proprietary Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc.’s Qualcomm® Mirasol™ display technology, a revolutionary reflective, low-power display that enables an always on viewing experience, wireless charging by Qualcomm WiPower™ LE technology and a true stereo Bluetooth audio experience, all while offering its wearer long battery life with seamless connectivity to their smartphone.
“Toq’s always on, always connected, always visible wearable technology gives you a ‘Digital 6th Sense,’ telling you what you need to know, when you need to know it, with just a glance at your wrist or a whisper in your ear. Toq is a showcase for the benefits of the Mirasol display, WiPower LE and stereo Bluetooth technologies and highlights the experience that the wearable category can provide,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of Qualcomm. “Toq not only represents a long history of technological innovation for Qualcomm, but it also demonstrates our commitment to delivering the breakthrough technologies that redefine the ways we interact with each other and the world around us.”
The introduction of this limited edition smartwatch will feature the key technologies necessary to deliver unique experiences on wearable devices. The color capacitive touchscreen display is always on – similar to a traditional watch – with days of battery life before the device needs to be recharged. In fact, Toq’s power profile is so low that it does not require an on/off button. Recharging Toq is hassle-free, as it also is the world’s first smartwatch to incorporate the Qualcomm® WiPower™ LE technology, enabling a true “drop and go” charging experience.
With Toq, consumers will be able to manage smartphone calls, text messages, meeting reminders and various notifications from their wrist. Developers also will be able to tap into Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc.’s AllJoyn™ framework to send program notifications to the smartwatch through the Qualcomm Toq app, which supports the AllJoyn Notification Services Framework. Qualcomm will continue adding functionality to Toq through software upgrades, including integration with Qualcomm Life, Inc.’s 2net platform and the recently announced 2net Mobile software. Toq provides participants of the 2net ecosystem the opportunity to deliver new, compelling ways for consumer to manage their health. Qualcomm Life and Qualcomm Innovation Center are subsidiaries of Qualcomm Incorporated.
Toq also will be made available in a “Premium Audio Edition” that features the first truly wireless stereo headphones. This means no wires between the headsets for listening and no wires for recharging. Another key feature of the headset is that it sits outside the ear canal for all day comfort and wearability. The Toq Premium Audio Edition features high quality stereo sound with a dedicated tweeter and woofer for superior wide band audio. Calls can be placed with the smartphone using either of the headsets.
As this category grows, Qualcomm expects to closely collaborate with traditional ecosystem participants and new entrants to enable new product opportunities leveraging these industry-leading technologies, further driving forward the emerging wearables space.
At launch, Toq will be compatible with Android™ 4.0.3 and above mobile devices. For more information about the Toq, please visit www.toq.qualcomm.com.
About Qualcomm Incorporated
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QMC. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
Source : Qualcomm Toq