News & Reviews:   Android smartwatch

WhatsApp might have finally decided to release a feature that some Android smartwatch users have been waiting for. In the latest beta, the messaging app gets support for answering calls directly on the wearables, but there's some catch.

According to anti-Virus company Bit defender, the data transferred between an Android wearable and a smartphone is not secure. Wearables like smartwatches use a Bluetooth connection to send and receive information from the paired smartphones. While this connection is secure to some extent, it can easily be intercepted by hackers who would like to take a peek at the user's conversations. Bluetooth is usually considered secure because it can be accessed only from a short distance, about 10 meters or less. This restricts hackers from attacking a live connection from a long distance. Bluetooth also has its own six digit encryption system to keep hackers at bay. However, Bit defender reports that this six digit passcode is easily crackable by a computer program since there are only 1 million possible combinations. Once this encryption is cracked, hackers can get hold of all the information communicated from the smartwatch to the paired smartphone. Bit defender has also demonstrated a proof of concept video which is shown below. In the video, the company successfully brute-forced the six digit encryption between the Android based LG G Watch and the Nexus 4 smartphone running the developer preview version of Android L.

The Android operating system is nearly synonymous with Google, however, there is a small watch company who is actually named Android, and they are looking to release a smartwatch designed for Android smartphones next month. Bear in mind that this is not the rumoured Google smartwatch nor is the Android watch company in any way affiliated with Google but it has been in the watch industry for years, which is probably why there hasn't been any legal issue with Google. As it is the Android smartwatch looks to be another bluetooth remote control and follows the now standard slab of touchscreen on a strap smartwatch design. According to the features list the smartwatch can answer calls, show you calls and messages, has a pedometer, calculator, chronograph and calendar function and lets you stream and control music from your smartphone. You can also record a voice memo, but apart from that there don't seem to be any other functions. Unfortunately, the features list didn't have any tech specs or specifications listed so we can only assume that it is just another Bluetooth remote control. We also assume it should work for any Android smartphone with Bluetooth as the video shows it interfacing with the Samsung Galaxy S4 but it could just as well work with iOS provided there is an app for it. The Android smartwatch is due in December 2013 but there wasn't any specific Malaysia release date or pricing. The Android smartwatch will be available in black, blue, orange, red and white.