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Alcatel looks to undercut everyone with cheap new smartwatch

Alcatel looks to undercut everyone with cheap new smartwatch

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Alcatel has announced its first ever smartwatch, a device that it claims will create "a new market segment: the affordable smart watch." The budget phone maker says that its imaginatively named Watch will be available "at a fraction of the cost of competitors" — although the company has yet to specify any prices or, indeed, any hardware specs.

Watch will offer standard features: notifications, activity tracker, music controls

With its conventional round face, the Watch looks similar to the Moto 360 and Alcatel claims it has the "same look and feel as a traditional watch." But while Alcatel has avoided the 360's problem of a display with a small divot cut out of the bottom, the Watch's screen doesn't appear to fill the entire watch face. Instead, there seems to be a fully functional inner display surrounded by a semi-active ring.

Alcatel says the Watch connects to Android smartphones, monitors daily activity (the render above shows a heart rate monitor in action), controls music, takes photos (presumably acting as a remote shutter button for your cameraphone), and receives notifications. The company also says it will offer "choices and styles" for the Watch, with the promotional render showing what looks to be a plastic sports strap and a more formal metal version. Until we know more, it's not quite clear how the Alcatel Watch will match up to the best smartwatches available, but we'll be keeping our eyes open at CES 2015 for any new details.

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