*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

When the first Pebble smartwatch was released to the public in 2013 it received plenty of acclaim thanks to its crowdfunded origins, easy to use and highly versatile make-up.

Pebble Time

So, it comes as no surprise that the tech world is in raptures after Pebble revealed it had begun crowdfunding for a new and improved device – the Pebble Time. In fact, within the first three hours of the Pebble Time being launched on Kickstarter it had raised $4m, surpassing its $500,000 target eight times over.

Like its predecessor, the new Pebble Time is an innovative little watch with a whole host of tricks. For instance, unlike its rivals the Pebble Time won’t use an OLED or LCD display as they consume a lot of power and cut battery life short. The Pebble unconventionally will utilise the power of a colour e-paper display, which means it has a battery that can last up to a week.  However, this means the display will not be a touchscreen like the competitions’ screens. 

The device is also 20% slimmer than the original, has a scratch resistant display and a bezel made of stainless steel. It’s water resistant, has a quick release mechanism to make it easy to change the strap. The little watch also has a new operating system that organises alerts in chronological order. 

Developers will Delight

The Pebble will also come with a smart accessory port that will facilitate developers in creating sensors and straps that can be used in conjunction with the watch. 

This move is of course one that’s there to encourage developers to take a shine to the device. And, as well all know a smart phone operating system often lives and dies on the number of apps that it has. 

The new watch, which will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices, will come with straps in a variety of colours and is compatible with the 6,500 apps currently in the Pebble store. It’s expected that it will be sold for $159 (£103) and shipping to those who have funded through Kickstarter will begin at the end of May. The device will also be sold via retailers later in 2015 for the higher price of $199.

Apple Watch

The release of the Pebble crowdfunding effort comes only a few weeks before the launch of the Apple Watch, which was showcased last year and will go on sale for $349. 

Pebble’s previous device rose over $10m from a Kickstarter campaign in 2012 and was released in the UK last October alongside the slimmer bodied Pebble Steel. 

Even though some experts think the small size of a smartwatch display is the biggest problem for these sorts of devices, most believe that the smart watch could have a big year in 2015. 

We haven’t written our Christmas lists to Santa Claus yet, but this little watch may well make its way on them if it meets the buzz around it. 

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

Google has released the new version of its proprietary mobile operating system known as Android 7.0 or Android Nougat. The OS is currently available to Google’s Nexus devices, while mobile phones from the rest of the manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. will contain the new OS soon. Nougat has many new features and functionalities which are not only something new, but advanced and eye-popping as well. Let’s take a look at 6 of them.

1.    Enhanced User Interface

The user interface or the UI has been tweaked in Android Nougat and it looks much better and more appealing than before. The swipe down top menu has been upgraded and now you can quickly toggle important functions like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Notifications don’t take up much space; they use smaller fonts and will cover the width of the screen.

Furthermore, you can choose the option to have notifications arrive in stacks; in this way, the notification menu won’t fill up easily with, for example, Facebook messenger messages.

2.    Run Two Apps at a Time

Multitasking has been present in the previous versions of Android, but in Nougat, the functionality has been improved. You will be able to switch between your most recently used apps by double-tapping the recent or overview button and a clear all button has also been included.

But the best feature is the ability to run two apps simultaneously; tap the overview button in an app and you will have the option to open another app at the same time. This will be extremely useful for people who are multitaskers. There is the added functionality to share data between two apps but dragging certain items.

3.    Better Battery Life

When the Android 6.0 Marshmallow came out, it added a new feature called ‘Doze’. This improved the battery life of Android devices by reducing the CPU’s background activity as well as the network activity, when the device was idle for a certain period of time. In Nougat, this feature has been enhanced further and now power consumption will be deferred even when the phone is in your bag or pocket.

4.    Run Apps without Downloading them

Yes it’s finally here; in Nougat, you will be able to test out an app by directly running it from Google Play Store without buying or downloading it. This will be handy when you want to decide whether or not it is worth paying for a particular app.

5.    New Emojis

Nougat introduces more than 1500 emojis with unique characters with the ability to change their skin tone by holding the icon on the on-screen keyboard.

6.    Apps Can be Used During Updating

Before Nougat, Android apps couldn’t be used while they were being updated. With the arrival of Nougat, this has changed and now you can use the app while it is being updated in the background. This is known as seamless updates and it will be achieved by creating a simultaneous image in the system.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.