Interface of GEAK Watch2
GEAK Watch, the smartwatch brand backed by China’s leading online gaming company Shanda, is one of the first Chinese manufacturers that released Android-powered smartwatches so as to capitalize on the rising smart wearables trend. After announcing a sales of more than 300K units for its Android 4.1-powdered GEAK Watch1 in April this year, the company continues its efforts and is going to unveil the second generation product GEAK Watch2 before the end of this year.
GEAK Watch2 features a round dial design, as Miles Xu, product manager of GEAK Watch, hinted in a previous interview with TechNode. According to Xu, round dial plate complies with people’s design aesthetics for a timepiece, while smartwatches with rectangular displays look too much like gadgets rather than watches. Moto 360, which is the first to feature a round-faced dial, creates a sensation among consumers when it was released earlier this year.
However, it is extremely difficult to manufacture a round dial smartwatch because everything in the electronic world is designed and created in the shape of square, like the circuit board, electronic components and screens. Xu noted that there is a black stripe at the bottom of Moto 360’s screen due to these impediments.
Although GEAK is not the first company to feature a round dial smartwatch, it plans to become the first to ship such a product and the shipment date is slated for September this year, according to Xu.
GEAK Watch2 Moto 360
In April this year, it has rumored GEAK Watch2 is going to adopt the newly released Android Wear system, but it turns out that the smartwatch is powered by Android 4.3 system. GEAK Watch2 chooses Android 4.3 over Android Wear system because the user experiences of the latter can not be guaranteed in domestic market as Google Now, a service which Android Wear is based on, is blocked in China.
According to Xu, the battery life of GEAK Watch2 will be greatly enhanced by around 75% as compared with that for GEAK Watch1 with the emergence of low battery consumption processors and components. The battery of GEAK Watch2 is expected to last 4-5 days with regular usage, he said.
In order to create an ecosystem for the gadget, GEAK has established a dedicated app store and is promoting a program to engage more app designers and developers to make killer apps for the product.
The smartwatch market is becoming increasingly crowded in recent years, while strings of manufacturers swarmed into this field, including both big names like Apple, Samsung, LG, as well as startups like inWatch and Tomoon, etc. The entrance of various rivals can create more mature market in terms of user base and supply chains, said Tiger Gu, CEO of GEAK Watch. “Just like the case for smartphone market, the growth of iPhone did not kill other smartphone brands, but triggers more rapid development of the whole smartphone market.”
Shanda’s new smart gadget brand Modou also released two smart routers and a smart button last month. The company disclosed that Modou router has shipped more than 20,000 sets since its debut on June 5.
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