Tech special: Keep time the smart way with these watches

Think smart watch and the image of a chunky boring timepiece appears to your mind When you have a huge collection of watches in a multitude of colours to match every occasion why would you opt for a smart watch But what if it looks sleek as well as serves a variety of purposes apart from showing timeA single timepiece can replace your Bluetooth headset activity monitor navigator and act as very small wrist top computerPebble Steel Rs 15152Pebble is designed to connect to your smart phones and interact with Apps Available in two models Brushed Stainless and Matte Black Pebble Steel has a 126inch diagonal black and white Gorilla Glass covered lsquoepaperrsquo display It comes with two straps mdash metal and leather which makes it ideal for formal and office wearPebble Steel is rated at 5 ATM water resistant making it ideal for swimmers and places experiencing heavy rainfall Once you download the Pebble App on your iOS or Android phone the watch connects to it over Bluetooth and opens the gateway to various Pebble Apps Once connected it adopts the time from your phone Go to the App to select notifications to push ranging from call alerts to text messages email previews calendar reminders Facebook messages and Google Talk messages You can even shake your wrist to get rid of the alerts When linked to the smartphone Pebble loads the most recent playlists you listened to The builtin accelerometer and gyroscope talks to most of the fitness Apps The watch has a battery life of up to five to seven daysSmartWatch 2 by Sony Rs 14990SW2 has a 16inch sunlightreadable 220x176 pixel colour display Itrsquos compatible with any Android phone as long as it runs on Android 40 or higher Setting up the watch is easy as it has both Bluetooth 30 and NFC connectivity The touchscreen has three buttons for back home and menu with an aluminium power button on the side of the watch for turning it on and off and to control the backlightYou can access calls emails Facebook Twitter and even your SMSes SW2 also lets you know when it loses connection with your phone thus reminding you that you have left your phone behind It comes with an IP57 dust and water resistance which makes it good for 30 minutes under less than one metre of waterThe ldquoSmart Camerardquo app lets you use the watchrsquos display as a viewfindershutter for your phonersquos camera making it great for taking selfies from a distance Depending on the number of notifications the battery can last up to three daysApple watch Starting at Rs 21 235The muchawaited Apple Watch is one of those rare smart watches that have taken the size of a womanrsquos wrist and their fashion needs into consideration The watch is an iPod a fitness tracker with heartrate measurement a communication device to send and receive messages calls and audio recordings and a portal to other apps all built into one small wrist top device It even connects to the Apple TV and acts as a remote for connected smart home devices such as opening the smart locks controlling the smart thermostat etcFour Sapphire lenses on the back help deliver an accurate heart rate measurement the builtin gyrometre and accelerometer and Applersquos custom fitness apps track calories burnt activities including cycling and workouts eliminating the need to wear a separate fitness tracker The watch has a bright colour touch display with a scroll wheel digital crown on the side for extra features You can touch swipe or simply speak into the microphone to interact with the watch Apple Watch also has a ldquoTapticrdquo engine that provides haptic feedback through subtle vibrations for notifications alarms and other messages Though we are not going to have Apple Pay in India for sometime if you are going to use Apple Pay on your trips abroad the Watch also works as an extension Apple also is working with a few hotels where the Apple Watch will work as the hotel room key so no worry about losing those pesky oom cardsThe Smaller Apple Watch is sized at 38 mm and the larger at 42 mm each of the sizes is also available in three variants unlike other brands where they feel one size will fit all The Apple watch will be available only next year so we arenrsquot sure about the battery time but the company has developed a contactfree charging system to charge the watch overnightGear S by Samsung expected price Rs 30990The latest from the Samsung family Gear S has a 2inch super AMOLED curved multitouch screen with a 360x480 display It is a fullyfeatured 3G and WiFienabled device that can make calls receive calls check messages and connect to GPS without a phone near it or act as an extension of your phone when connected over Bluetooth It still needs at least a Samsung phone running Android 43 or later to download Apps There is also a QWERTY keyboard that can help write short emails or messages directly on the watchLike your smart phones the front face of Gear S has small physical home button or you can simply swipe from different sides to go to the sub menus or the different apps The underside of the watch has an optical heart rate monitor and runs a NikeApp which coupled with the builtin GPS gyroscope compass UV light sensors and its rubberised bands makes it a great fitness oriented device The Gear S is IP67 water resistant which means it can be worn while showering but not while swimming Samsung has claimed that the watch will run over 1000 apps including turnbyturn navigation from Here and 24hour news service The Lithium Ion 300mAh battery is expected to last up to two days