LAS VEGAS—Combine one of the world's best digital assistants with a smartwatch that can actually stand by itself, and what do you get? The Omate TrueSmart powered by Nuance and Swype, which shows the rest of the smartwatch industry the direction it needs to go.
Today's smartwatches have a problem: They need a smartphone. Untethered and unconnected, they're just barely functional. But if they're dependent on a phone, then the smartwatch becomes a $200 solution to the problem of taking your phone out of your pocket. Likewise, a phone without the requisite "smarts" simply pales in comparison to the smartphone.
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While the number of smartwatches available or planned appears to be close to a dozen or more, combining the right hardware and software appears limited to a select few. On the hardware front, Omate raised over $1 million for a chunky yet powerful smartwatch with an actual SIM inside that allows you to place phone calls and send texts, all-day battery life, GPS, up to a 8GB of on-watch storage, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The watch is currently shipping to its backers.
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