I've tried to iterate the fact that 2012 is going to largely be a year for accessories – specifically, ones that connect to your smartphone and make it more accessible or fun to use. The smart watch is one of the first the these trusty peripherals to hit the scene and I've already managed to get a little hands-on with them. The first of which is Sony's SmartWatch.
The Sony SmartWatch wirelessly connects to your Android device and allows you to control it without ever reaching into your pocket. You can check emails, Twitter, Facebook, text messages, calendars, RSS, weather and more, all from your wrist. And you can control your music from it as well. If that's not enough to do it for you, the rep at the table tonight says that it can store up to 255 widgets for use from an app store.
The face of the SmartWatch holds a tiny touchscreen display and a light sensor. Around the edges, you will only find a single power button. And on the backside, there is a spring-hinge clip, which hides the charging port. Overall, the design is simple and the device itself is super lightweight. The rep said that once it releases, there should be 7 different bands to choose from.
Being almost entirely buttonless and having such a small touchscreen, you can imagine that navigating isn't exactly straightforward. Swiping left and right will take you through the widgets screens and a swipe from top to bottom will bring up "Events" (or notifications). The part that's less intuitive is the two-finger tap to go back to the home screen. It's not a terrible implementation, but it seemed a bit unresponsive and two of my fingers were too big to fit on the display at the same time. Still, for a device so small and compact the functionality is quite high and impressive.
Actual specifications for the SmartWatch were next to none, but it's a neat little device, nonetheless. No official date was given, but you can expect to pay $149 once it is available.
Stay tuned for more CES coverage!