Smartwatch Race: Pebble vs Toq

We've had a number of smartwatch updates this week. The most anticipated was the Samsung Gear. And I'm scratching my head... what do they think at Samsung? Do we really want a fully fledged smartphone on a wrist? I'm really disappointed, the Gear is thick, heavy and barely lasts a day. And they even haven't thought about some clever charging options... just the brute force solution: carry two chargers and two cables.

I'm keeping my Pebble. It is thin, perfectly visible in sunlight, and lasts a week on charge. What Pebble understands and Samsung doesn't is in a watch less is more. My verdict is the Gear will share the geeky niche with Sony. I've had Sony smartwatch and dying battery in the evening completely ruined the experience.

We have to wait for Apple. They may show something unique, but judging by the iPhone 5, the battery life in the iWatch won't excel in this area.

Which brings us to the unexpected contender in the smartwatch race: Qualcomm. The Toq (pronounced "talk") is built around Qualcomm's Mirasol technology, which seems to be the perfect fit for a watch. Full colors visible in sunlight, ultra low power, capacitive touch and probably the slimmest on the market. Lasts for days and charges without wires. Qualcomm seems to have the hardware right. Hopefully the software will be even better. You know, hardware may be very good but ultimately it is software that really matters. And Pebble is pulling away in this area with many dedicated apps in the stores already.

The only thing I do not understand is why Qualcomm did not put the Toq on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. I could have bought one long before it ships. And now I have to wait... And this by the way tells me my own secret device we've been busy developing at wiho.me should go to Kickstarter too.