Qualcomm Announces its Smartwatch Platform - Qualcomm Toq (Update: Now With Specs)
by Brian Klug on September 4, 2013 1:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Qualcomm
- Mobile
- Uplinq
- Tablets
- Trade Shows
- Toq
We’re at Qualcomm’s Uplinq 2013 conference where Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs has announced Qualcomm Toq, a smartwatch with a Mirasol color screen that can still be viewed outdoors in bright sunlight with touch capabilities, and wireless charging capabilities through WiPower LE.
The Toq shows notifications and looks like it has a few applications of its own, can control music playback and play locally to wireless headsets, and looks like it can do things like screening calls and show a variety of different watchfaces. Qualcomm is trying to leverage its mobile silicon leadership, Mirasol display, and enable partners to deliver better wearable products. The Mirasol display stays on all the time, never turns off, but still lets the Toq last multiple days between charges.
Later this month Qualcomm will make a limited number of Toqs available and continue to release more details about availability. There still are a lot of unknowns but we're hopefully going to find a lot more about Toq shortly.
Update: Qualcomm also posted the highlights video for the Toq it showed during the Uplinq keynote.
Update: Qualcomm has made its toq minisite live with a bit more detail, Android 4.0.3 is a requirement according to the voucher we were handed. We're hopefully going to get hands on with the Toq soon.
Update: We're still getting more information, but the SoC inside Toq includes an ARM Cortex M3, battery life is somewhere around 3 days, and uses Qualcomm's Alljoyn for pairing which uses Bluetooth in a serial mode. Qualcomm's Mirasol display looks to be very high dot pitch in person, and also includes front lighting. The platform is also water resistant.
Update: I've built a table with all the information I've been given about the Qualcomm Toq platform, and additional hands on photos:
| Qualcomm Smartwatch | ||||
| Toq | ||||
| SoC | 200MHz ARM Cortex M3 based (Not Snapdragon) | |||
| Display | 288x192 1.55-inch diagonal Mirasol color display | |||
| Dimensions |
Wrist bands adjustable to fit wrist sizes between 6 inches and 8.7 inches Total watch face size 43.3mm high 47.6mm wide and 9.96mm thick |
|||
| Mass | 0.2 lbs | |||
| OS | Toq Runs ThreadX, Android 4.0.3 or higher required | |||
| I/O | Bluetooth | |||
Source: Qualcomm
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speculatrix - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
TI have a "smart watch" called the Chronos, and you can build your own apps for it.I used quotes because it's really a development platform to help developers get acquainted with a specific SoC.
It uses low power radio rather than Bluetooth. It has a variety of sensors.
Daniel Egger - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
You basically it's a completely useless gimmick?kjmathew - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Looks promising.Here's what I'd look for in a smartwatch:
* Time! (hh:mm:ss ddd dd MMM YYYY)
* Battery life (4 to 5 days here?)
* Charging time
* Waterproof
* Scratchproof (Sapphire?)
* Timezones with GPS sync
* Do I have to turn this off on a plane?!
kjmathew - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
+ high pixel density displaykjmathew - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
That's a 223ppi 1.5" 288x192 display. 'll be interesting to see the 577ppi 600x600 next-gen version (Ref 2:12 of the video at http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/qualcomm-miraso...bah12 - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Don't forget price. Samsung just released pricing on theirs at $299...LMAO as if. Maybe $50-75 definitely not more than $100.I feel like they are trying to reinvent the abacus here, didn't we kill off watches for a reason?
UpSpin - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
+ Outdoor readable display with zero power consumption while displaying static content, else the battery life won't survive.+ Noise cancelling microphones for voice commands/speach recognition (answer short sms, short searchs, calling contacts by names, ...)
+ Metallic wrist band (If I pay $200+ for a watch, it must also look and feel good.)
+ slim design. It must be a device I can wear everywhere and all the time, not just while doing sports.
Muthurasu - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Any info about "HEAT DISSIPATION". I feel our wrists/nerves won't afford the heat. Any thoughts?omarccx - Thursday, September 5, 2013 - link
I want this, but not for $300. That could buy me a new Nexus phone.Deelron - Friday, September 6, 2013 - link
It at minimum is one step better then the Samsung one, you can actually use it as a watch.