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Asus says it will unveil the best-looking Android Wear smartwatch yet on Wednesday

Asus says it will unveil the best-looking Android Wear smartwatch yet on Wednesday

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The ZenWatch will reportedly sell for under $199

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Asus says that it's built the best-looking Android Wear smartwatch to date and that it plans to fully unveil it just two days from now, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. Called the ZenWatch, this will be Asus' first Android Wear smartwatch, and it'll reportedly be sold for less than $199 — potentially making it less expensive than competing watches from Samsung and LG. It's also reported to include voice control features in English and, eventually, in Chinese, but it's not clear how those would differ from the built-in commands that are already used to control Android Wear watches. Manufacturers are only able to modify Android Wear to a limited extent, so it's possible that these features will come through a custom app that the ZenWatch includes.

Though it's being announced this week, the ZenWatch won't actually be available until October, when it'll go on sale in the US and some additional markets, reports CNA. The watch will reportedly come in one size and can be used even without being paired to an Android phone, but that's about it in the way of details right now. Beyond that, Asus has just teased a quick first glimpse at the watch, so we have a basic idea of what it'll look like: it appears to have a gently curved watch face and a brushed-metal look akin to what Asus often uses on laptops. The watch is supposed to be revealed on Wednesday, just ahead of IFA — a huge tech show in Berlin — where we're almost certain to see some other new Android Wear watches all vying to steal the show. Asus won't have all that much competition by the way of style from Android Wear smartwatches that are currently available, but the yet-to-be-released Moto 360 and LG G Watch R will certainly be formidable competitors.