And finally: Samsung Gear A smartwatch due September and more

Blips and bits from this week's wearable tech news, events and rumours
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And Finally is our weekly round-up of rumours and small news stories that didn't quite make the cut on Wareable. It's the home of everything that isn't quite an announcement or launch in wearables. But we still think you should know about it.

Read this: The best Android Wear smartwatch for you

Here, in no particular order, are the most interesting rumblings of the past week.

Samsung Gear A due in September

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If you're waiting for Samsung's rumoured round smartwatch, the Gear A, the latest word is that it won't launch until this September. Chances are it will launch alongside the Galaxy Note 5 at IFA 2015, the tech show in Berlin, which would be in keeping with past Note smartphone and Gear smartwatch events.

The new rumour comes from SamMobile just after Samsung released its SDK for the as yet unannounced smartwatch - an odd move.

The rumblings are that Samsung wants to let the market settle down after all the Apple Watch hype. Then it will release its exciting smartwatch which will come with a rotating bezel ring and probably run on Tizen OS.

Google I/O tech to "blow your socks off"

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Google's annual I/O conference gave us Android Wear in 2014 and there's just weeks to go until the 2015 edition.

We don't know what we will see from Google and its partners yet at the event, which runs from 28th to 29th May in San Francisco, but we've got some hints. Google's Advanced Technology and Projects Group have posted on the schedule that they will be showing off wearables that they "hope will blow your socks off."

The post named 'A little badass. Beautiful. Tech and human. Work and love" continues: "Our goal: break the tension between the ever shrinking screen sizes necessary to make electronics wearables and our ability to have rich interactions with them. Why can't you have both? We like to build new things. Sometimes seemingly impossible things. We can build them faster together."

Stay tuned to Wareable for announcements from the ATAP group on 29th May.

Via UberGizmo

Women like Apple Watch more than men

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A study by data mining company CrowdFlower has analysed over 30,000 tweets about the Apple Watch and found that women tweeted more positive responses to Cupertino's first wearable than men since its launch. The study also discovered that 64% of women are interested in buying the smartwatch versus 53% of men.

Read this: Apple Watch review

This could be down to the overall user experience, the tech such as the great screen or the fashion factor with celebrities including Beyonce showing off their new Watch.

Negative tweets were about delivery times with positive tweets more likely to be about Apple Watch apps.

Second gen bPay band on the way

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Barclaycard has emailed existing bPay users to let them know that a new, slimmer, lighter NFC payment band is on its way.

According to NFC World, the new band will come in a choice of colours and is months away. The existing contactless payment wearable will be shut down and existing users of the scheme - some 10,000 people - will get a new band free of charge before they go on general sale.

"You'll also see some additions to the bPay family making their debut," said Barclaycard. "On top of this, managing your account will become even easier, with a redesigned online servicing hub and a mobile app to download."


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Sophie was Wareable's associate editor. She joined the team from Stuff magazine where she was an in-house reviewer. For three and a half years, she tested every smartphone, tablet, and robot vacuum that mattered. 

A fan of thoughtful design, innovative apps, and that Spike Jonze film, she is currently wondering how many fitness tracker reviews it will take to get her fit. Current bet: 19.

Sophie has also written for a host of sites, including Metro, the Evening Standard, the Times, the Telegraph, Little White Lies, the Press Association and the Debrief.

She now works for Wired.


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