14 DAY TRIAL // Just yesterday, Google announced the new Android Wear 2.0 for smartwatches and two new devices to feature the mobile OS out of the box. But smartwatches shouldn’t be used only for making mobile payments, tracking your steps and answering calls.
There's a project on Kickstarter for a smartwatch designed entirely for gaming. Gameband features some powerful specs, like Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 and a 1.6-inch AMOLED display with 320 x 320 pixel resolution.
The smartwatch will be provided in two versions, one with a sleek red body and band. The Atari smartwatch would include games like Pong, Crystal Castles and Asteroids. The other version would have a mini-game based on Terraria.
Gameband will come with a dedicated app
While the smartwatch is mainly designed for playing games, it can also be used for transferring music and pictures, as well as full games that will be played from a dedicated app called PixelFurnace. Moreover, it will have 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, with the option to add up to 256GB using a microSD card.
Gameband will include a 3-axis accelerometer, a gyro sensor and a light sensor, it will have Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity option, as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Dual Band. Gameband will draw power from a 400mAh battery and feature USB Type-C port.
The watch can be plugged to a PC and will feature 20 mini-games, aside from standalone productivity apps for notifications, contacts, dialer, weather and calendar. It will connect to iOS and Android smartphones using Companion Apps, and it runs its own version of Android.
Prices for the three Gameband variants start at $99 and might reach up to $179, depending on availability. The estimated delivery of Gameband smartwatches is September this year.
The project already surpasses its initial pledge of $75,000 with 36 more days to go, meaning that there’s a market for this gaming smartwatch.
