During the recently concluded CES 2016, Samsung promised to give attendees at the tech exhibit a sneak peak into the innovations they’ve been doing at the Creative Lab, their innovation program that lets employees come up with creative, business ideas. One of the three that they unveiled is the TipTalk, a smart watch strap Bluetooth replacement for those who may have become either bored of or annoyed at all the current smartwatches available in the market.
The smart strap barely has a screen but is rich in sensors that you would actually need to be able to track certain activities, and that includes a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer. It has an IP56 certified waterproof body, has a Bluetooth radio and has a 180mAh battery which should apparently last you seven days of stands, if you just have it on standby though. It has a button and a row of LEDs that represent the various functions of the device. Tapping that single button actually cycles through the other features, like the pedometer count.
And yes, you can actually take calls through the TipTalk. When a call comes in, it will vibrate, and then you need to press your fingertip to your ear to hear the sound. But don’t worry, no one else will hear the call except you of course (and a microphone on the strap too!). Of course it’s not as clear as when you’re using a Bluetooth headset and how well you hear the call depends on how you hold your finger to your ear. Of course this is still just a prototype and has a lot of room for improvement.
The team who created the TipTalk are still looking for ways to improve the product before finally settling on the final specs and details. That’s the purpose actually of having them on display at CES 2015 and that is to test their viability, marketability, and to get the feedback of consumers as well. They said they are looking at a sub-$100 price tag to make it a little bit more affordable.
VIA: SlashGear
