iOS 27 Wireless CarPlay Glitches are a Nightmare
Drivers testing the initial iOS 27 developer beta are warning about severe wireless CarPlay bugs that cause infinite crash loops and broken app menus.
Montreal’s ‘Neptune Pine’ Smartwatch Hits $209K in Funding on Kickstarter
It’s a race to become the best in the smart watch industry after we all witnessed the success of the Pebble, which was created by Canadian Eric Migicovsky. Now, another Canadian looks to repeat the Pebble’s success but on a completely different level.
Enter the Neptune Pine smart watch, which does not rely on any connection with a smartphone but rather takes a micro-SIM card to become fully functional independently. You may recall we covered the watch briefly back in January of this year, but three days ago it launched on Kickstarter and as of writing, it has already surpassed $209,000 in funding, easily passing its goal of raising $100,000.
19 year old Simon Tian, based out of Montreal, is the co-founder and CEO of Neptune Computer; Tian dropped out of his pre-college program in Quebec to start Neptune, getting funding from friends and family and told Quartz his close connections in China helped him make this watch a reality.
The watch runs Android and its specifications blow away any other watch out there (because it’s actually a small phone):
Check out the promo video below:
This isn’t even a watch—it’s a full blown miniature smartphone on your wrist which may seem big to some, but Tian thinks otherwise, in an interview with The Globe and Mail:
“Obviously the initial reaction will be, ‘Oh, it’s big for a watch!’ but we think a paradigm shift is going to be required in the future.”
If funding reaches $300,000, the company will build a CDMA version of its watch to support carriers such as Verizon, Sprint and even the legacy networks of TELUS and Bell.
The Neptune Pine will have a suggested MSRP of $335 but backers can still nab one on Kickstarter for $229 which includes shipping to Canada and the USA.
The Neptune Pine looks like a powerful smart watch (err, smartphone on your wrist) and clearly some people see the market for this based on its funding achieved in just three days. But how easy or difficult will it be to type and read on a 2.4″ touchscreen on your wrist long term?
Would you be interested in buying something like the Neptune Pine?
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
Other articles in the category: News
Norway Imposes Ban on AI Chatbots in Elementary Schools
Norway is imposing a strict near-ban on generative AI tools for primary school students in a sweeping effort to protect core skills like reading and math.
Here’s Why Your Apple Watch Won’t Get New Siri AI
Apple has confirmed its new Gemini-powered Siri AI works best on the wrist, but older Apple Watch models are being left behind due to hardware limits.
Looks cool, but too big.. Not fashionable. and also – I’d rather have a watch that pairs with my phone rather then a watch that ‘is’ a phone. I don’t see a lot of people who will want to either give up having a normal smartphone in favour of making their watch phone their exclusive phone – or have a second sim and phone number for their watch phone. I bought the Martian smart watch and it’s pretty neat. Looks good with the stainless steel band option, and works well enough. A few bugs and lack of usefulness, such as while the Pebble can now display all notifications the Martian is still limited, had to do a restore in order to fix the tap to repeat function, and the bluetooth connectivity is really weak. With my phone in my right pocket and my watch on my left wrist in order to make a phone call or use siri I need to bring my watch down to my chest – holding it up to my ear isn’t an option because with the phone in my pocket the bluetooth signal is muffled by my skin and the audio on the watch distorts. It’s also not water resistant – which hasn’t been a problem yet, but I have to be extra careful. Still, it’s the only smart watch that actually looks like a fashionable normal watch. Of course, even on that point I have to say that if it didn’t have the little screen, the design of the watch face wouldn’t compare in quality and fashion to any other watch of even half the cost.
I’ve zero interest in having a tiny, tiny, tiny phone on my write. Can you imagine typing on that thing? What a nightmare that’s gonna be.
Much happier with a Pebble to suppliment my actual smartphone.
I don’t see people paying for another cellphone plan to support this tiny watch.
Nor I. I don’t have a 3G iPad for the same reason… I already have one cell bill – the last thing I want is another monthly bill… for my WATCH.
Look too bulky and like others have said, I don’t want another cell plan just to use it. I pre-ordered the Kreyos while it was on Indiegogo. I like its ability to answer/make calls.
As a Montrealer myself , I can guarantee that there is no such thing as pre-college in Quebec. He was either in college or university
He is a high school drop out.
If that’s the case, it only furthers the proof that he could not possibly be in “pre-college”.