Huawei is coming to MWC with a pretty unusual smartband, the TalkBand B2, that is worth noticing in the ocean of fitness bands. Knowing that a lot of people stop using their activity tracker after a couple of months, the Chinese manufacturer decided that it was necessary to add more value to this type of device.This is indeed a conversation that we have on a regular basis on the Wearable Tech panels that I moderate: how to add more value to wearable devices so people really want to wear them every day?
Keeping only smart watches would be the easy route, however, Huawei had the great idea to add a removable bluetooth headset featuring a HD monochrome Touchscreen to its new TalkBand B2, the successor of the TalkBand B1. The second part of the challenge is to make the all package look great so people will really want to wear it, and on that side, Huawei has put significant efforts.
According to Clement Wong, VP, Global Marketing at Huawei, the Huawei Aesthetics Center team in Paris created the “very premium design” that aims to appeal to a broader range of people, who would enjoy wearing the TalkBand 2 during their holiday or at the office. With this design strategy, the company hopes to “expand the target audience” beyond the “sporty people”.
Designed with fashion in mind and made of high end materials such as the high strength, lightweight aviation aluminum used for the bracket, the TalkBand 2 is targeted to the “on-the-run business executives who are athletically active”. It comes in two wristband options, one made of environmentally professional TPU and one made of leather.
The 6-axis sensor tracks motion and monitors sleep, the application provide health tips to improve sleep patterns. The TalkBand 2 is equipped with a dual-microphone, and features noise reduction technology. The smart detection is able to recognize when the Bluetooth earpiece is on the wristband or not, to make sure the audio (music/call) is pushed either on the TalkBand 2 or on the Smartphone when needed. A search and locate features allows to locate the smartphone using vibration or ringtone.
The TalkBand 2 has a five days estimated battery life, and, according to the manufacturer, supports up to six hours of continuous call time. The headset activity tracker is compatible with Android 4.0 devices and iPhones with IOS 7.0 or above. it will be available in three colors: black, silver and gold.
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