News & Reviews:   Nike FuelBand

A couple of months back we saw a Nike Fuelband inspired Apple iWatch concept from Thomas Bogner and in the recent CES 2014, the trend for smartwatches is leaning more towards the smart band or bracelet look than your traditional watch. This time around we get another, very polished and very beautiful Apple iWatch concept render, this time courtesy of designer Todd Hamilton, who not only did a similar band design but also added in iOS 7 functionality. Overall, the design here is a lot more realistic, as the icons look more readable (as it is oriented differently) than the previous one. However, there are major hurdles for this design, one of which would be flexible enough batteries for such a slim bangle but with LG's recent string batteries, we don't see why it can't be fit into a band form as well. Check out the concept render for yourself below:

The first generation Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch really didn't wow us despite it currently being the most feature-filled consumer smartwatch available. It cost too much, lasted just a bit more than 24 hours and still had to rely on your smartphone to use most of the apps. So when rumours that Samsung could be coming out with a 2nd version surfaced we're still a bit skeptical about the whole Samsung smartwatch thing. As it is, rumours are saying that the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and another wearable to be called the Samsung Galaxy Band could be revealed at MWC 2014 in February. Tech specs and features are very limited but the Galaxy Gear 2 is expected to have a flexible screen while the Galaxy Band would be a health tracker much like the Nike FuelBand. No details on pricing or Malaysia release dates but if they do get revealed at MWC 2014, we'll probably see them in Malaysia sometime in 2014. For now, check out the whole bunch of flexible display tech from Samsung's own Display group below. Do watch out for a FuelBand like bangle smartwatch in the video.

While the Nike FuelBand isn't really a smartwatch, in terms of design it does look a lot better than any other smartwatch currently on the market. Rumours are swirling that Nike may soon change this perception by coming out with a smartwatch of their own with rumours saying that Nike are currently testing it under trial production. Unfortunately, there aren't any other tech specs or features available but it would likely offer standard Bluetooth synced notifications like other smartwatches. The source report goes on to say that it could arrive in Q1 or Q2 of 2014. Hopefully, the Nike smartwatch won't be limited to just Nike apps but then again do remember to take this rumour with a big pinch of salt as the source of the rumour isn't really the most accurate.