ZTE may still be a name with no device for many in the US and Europe, but they will be the third manufacturer to add a smartwatch to their line of devices, coming sometime next year alongside a slew of other smartphones and tablets.
The move to make a smartwatch is starting to heat up, both Samsung and Sony’s attempts have failed – but this has not stopped Google, Microsoft, Apple, LG, Nokia and now ZTE looking to make a stand in the market and reveal the next generation device.
ZTE will develop the smartwatch similar to the Galaxy Gear, a pretty sad announcement for anyone wanting something different. We believe ZTE will just use Android’s store and layer it with their own skin, as they do with most of their smartphones and tablets.
Another piece of sad news is the ZTE smartwatch will only work with ZTE smartphones, we are not sure if this is because the company cannot get the privilege from other device manufacturers or they simply do not want to incorporate them into their smartwatch project.
ZTE will not be bringing the smartwatch to the US or Europe and will actually keep the project inside of China, like most of their more exciting ideas stay. We cannot say we are saddened by this news, unless there are some significant features the company has not detailed, we expect a Galaxy Gear clone with no real vision.
In the smartwatch battle, we are really waiting for the change in functionality or design to make us want to try out the new device. Google or Apple may be able to change this idea and we hope we do not have to wait too long for the Nexus smartwatch or iWatch.
For now, we are bound to see a few tries from other companies following the Pebble or Galaxy Gear idea, with no real innovation on the design, functionality or software side to make the smartwatch a viable option against the smartphone.