Garmin is far from new on the smart wearable scene and the company does have its own signature twist. When it comes to such tech, Garmin makes sure to build on its extensive expertise in outdoor activities and fitness.

The latest additions to its Forerunner device family are definitely no exception. Garmin just introduced three new models, specifically geared towards runners – a top-of-the-line Forerunner 630 model, as well as the more affordable 235 and 230.

The Forerunner 630 is the successor to the 620 and it is now packed with even more sensors for data collecting and analysis. This includes things like stride length and vertical ratio, expanding on the existing cadence and oscillation metrics. All the data is put to good use, calculating recovery times, lactate thresholds, the all-important VO2 metric and even giving warnings for runner condition to limit the risk of injury.

Interestingly enough, the Forerunner 630 has forgone the optical heart-rate sensor in place of a chest strap one. That does make sense, as the latter is a lot more accurate and if you are truly after pro-level performance, the sensor shouldn’t really be a deal breaker. The tracker has also gotten a lot more useful while not exercising thanks to notification visualization from a connected smartphone, running the updated Garmin app.

And if you really miss the handy wrist heartrate sensor, the Forerunner 235 has you covered. It has it built in, just like its predecessor, the 225, but there are small differences between the two – the updated model has ditched the Mio sensor for an in-house one, dubbed “Elevate heart rate technology”. The 235 also has the aforementioned notification features and can estimate VO2.

Last comes the Forerunner 230. It is mostly identical to the 235 model, minus the optical heart-rate sensor. It was replaced with a conventional chest strap one instead.

All three watches are already up for purchase, but they do have a hefty price tag. The Forerunner 630 will set you back $399.99 for the tracker alone or $449.99, bundled with a heart-rate monitor. The 235 and 230 are priced at $329.99 and $249.99, respectively.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source…

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The winner is: Mandeep S.

The lucky winner of your ZUK Z1 giveaway has been drawn! Congratulations to our lucky visitor from India, to whom we’ll soon send a brad new ZUK Z1, courtesy of HonorBuy.

We’d like to thank everyone for taking part in this awesome giveaway. Over 7,000 people signed up for our inaugural giveaway, totaling nearly 25,667 valid entries.

We hope to see even more of you get into the action in our upcoming giveaways. You can bet there’ll be more like this one in the near future, so stay…

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Microsoft’s Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL was announced just recently and should to hit the shelves in November. The PR campaign on those devices is now full steam with various commercial videos and tutorials on the Windows 10 features.

But today we can give you a different kind of teaser – a video showing the Lumia 950 XL torn down and another one where it is put back together.

Apparently the Lumia XL, and most probably the Lumia 950, won’t be difficult to disassemble and assemble again, so if something bad happens – the repairs should be easy enough.

Enjoy the videos.

The Lumia 950 and 950 XL are scheduled for worldwide launch this…

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Sony has announced plans to open up a new smartphone factory in the Pathum Thani Province in Thailand. The company already own a large production site there which has been suspended following the massive 2011 floods.

The initial investment of several billion yen will give Sony the opportunity to start mass producing smartphones there starting in fiscal 2016. Initially the factory will have an output of several million units per year.

Sony hasn’t put up a new plant specifically for mobile devices since 1995. Twenty years ago, the company built a mobile communications factory in Beijing with three local partners. Back then, it participated with 51% of the investment, but now Sony fully owns the new Thai plant. Hopefully, this will make for more agile business decisions.

In the beginning of October, the company CEO Kazuo Hirai gave the mobile division a year to start bringing in a profit, before resorting to “alternative options.” Building a brand new factory to handle just mobile devices is an optimistic sign, which should breathe a sigh of relief to fans and investors alike.

And that’s exactly what Sony needs after its mobile communications business posted an operating loss of $1.82 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2015. Through streamlined marketing, reforms and payroll cuts, the company has expressed its hope to turn to profit by March 2017.

Source |…

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Like the HTC One A9 design? Good, because you’re about to see a lot more of it. “Starting with the One A9, our design language will enter a different and fashionable phase,” says Jack Tong, president of HTC North Asia.

Both the One M series (the flagships) and the Desire series (which covers anything from entry-level to upper mid-range) will adopt the sleek look of the A9, which is an evolution of the HTC One design.

Mr. Tong didn’t say anything on the topic of material though. Much of A9’s cool factor comes from the aluminum unibody and the One M series will almost certainly stick with metal. We’re curious to see what will happen to the top dogs in the Desire lineup though.

The fate of other design elements like the 2.5D glass over the AMOLED screen is unclear as well. We do hope HTC makes stereo speakers work with this new design though.

Source |…

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Apple has unloaded a bunch of new commercials for the Apple Watch. The commercials are shot in the same new 15-second format that we saw for the previous set of Apple Watch commercials, set against a monochrome background.

The new videos, named Dance, Kiss, Style, Play, Travel, Skate, and Move, run through various features of the Apple Watch, such as ability to control music playback through the watch using Siri, dismiss notifications easily, mix and match the design with various straps and body styles, get important notifications on your wrist without having to pull out the phone, quickly scan your eticket from your wrist at the airport, buy things using Apple Pay, and track your fitness, respectively.

You can check out all the videos…

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Huawei has replaced Xiaomi as China’s largest smartphone manufacturer in Q3 2015, according to market research firm Canalys. This is the first time that Huawei has claimed the top spot in its home country.

As per the market research company, Huawei’s saw its year-on-year smartphone shipments increasing an impressive 81%, while Xiaomi’s sales declined compared to the same period last year, something that has happened for the first time in the five-year-old company’s history.

Although Canalys did not share the exact shipment numbers for the quarter, the research company did say that all the details will be made available in a report towards the end of the…

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The Galaxy Note5 has been around for some time now it’s only natural for updates to start flying in. Despite its limited international availability, the Note5 is still the latest and greatest in the OEM’s signature productivity line, so it is a good idea to keep an eye on software changes.

Android 6.0 might still be some time off, but the Note5 did receive a new Android 5.1.1 OTA just recently. Users are reporting that the package (N920IDVU2AOJ4) is seeding in Singapore for all CSC codes – XSP, SIN, STH, and MM1. It weighs 144.2 MB and according to the changelog brings improvements to call stability and battery usage optimization.

This all sounds great, but there is one more thing worth noting. Among other things, the firmware update claims to bring security improvements. Users are already reporting that this is accompanied by a KNOX update and does trigger an eFuse – a flag that used to be 1A is now 2A.

Going by Samsung’s track record, one direct consequence of this is most likely an inability to downgrade after the update, or at least without tripping KNOX, which could be problematic for some users, as it is essential for some secure features like Samsung Pay and…

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We’ve seen a number of Samsung Galaxy-based Nooks, but now Barnes & Noble unveiled a new e-Ink reader. And it’s waterproof, something that was Kobo’s domain until now. Here’s the GlowLight Plus, coming two years after the original.

The chassis got a surprise premium treatment, it’s made out of aluminum. The screen is guarded by fingerprint and scratch resistant polymer (which has been coated against glare, naturally).

The e-Ink screen boasts 300dpi of pixel density, B&N’s sharpest. The GlowLight Plus uses the company’s lighting technology for reading in the dark.

The Barnes & Noble GlowLight Plus is priced at $130 (10% off for B&N members). For comparison, Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi, built-in light) is $120 and the flagship Voyage is $200. They aren’t waterproof or with metal bodies…

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