Race against time: Apple Watch or Nextbit Robin?

MUMBAI, INDIA: Six months after its global launch, Apple has finally decided to launch Apple Watch in India.

While this may excite the Apple loyalists, and Apple may humour them with the traditional fanfare, serious contenders in the wearable industry are also closely monitoring yet another launch—Nextbit Robin, which has also announced a launch date closer to Apple.

Let’s take a closer look at the two:

Apple Watch: The smart watch will be available in two sizes (38 mm and 42 mm) and three variants: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Sport.

The first two come with sapphire crystal to protect the screen from cracking, whereas the sports version has a strengthened Ion-X glass on the display.

Apple Watch Edition features cases made from custom rose or yellow 18-carat gold alloys developed to be twice as hard as standard gold, a Retina display protected by polished sapphire crystal and a choice of uniquely designed straps and bands with 18-carat gold clasps, buckles or pins.

Among the key features of Apple Watch are always-on Siri, tracking users' fitness, third-party app support and it receives phone calls as well as iMessages and SMSs. It can act as a walkie-talkie and operate the iPhone camera as well as Apple TV. There is no camera but the iPhone's photos can be seen on Apple Watch.

The watches will feature force touch and digital crown. While Force Touch, which has inspired iPhone 6S' new 3D Touch feature, can differentiate between a tap and press, the latter can be turned to scroll or zoom on the screen; or press on this crown to return to the previous page.

Apple Watch also has a built-in mic and speaker using which one can complete a conversation as long as the iPhone is connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The Apple Watch collection comes with a choice of three different leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, and a black or white Sport Band.

However, there is no mention of the Apple Watch's price on the official website. It is expected that the smart watch will start at approximately Rs 30,000 in the country. In the US, the Apple smart watch, which is compatible only with iPhones, costs $349 for the base model.

Additionally, this year's WatchOS 2 update brings native apps to Apple Watch, which means that users will not have to wait for developers to allow app-compatibility for Apple Watch in their iPhone apps. Instead, users can now download apps directly on the smart watch.

Nextbit Robin: Nextbit is a company that was formed by former employees of HTC, Google and Apple.

The device features a rectangular form factor. Some other specs include 5.2-inch 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 2,680mAh battery and 13-megapixel rear snapper. It also includes USB Type-C charging port and fingerprint scanner.

Nextbit has its own OS running on top of Android and is designed to learn your habits. It automatically pushes unused apps and services onto the cloud. However, getting things back onto the system is made convenient with a single tap.

But the highlight of this device is unlimited storage, thanks essentially to cloud connectivity. But there is a glitch as well. Users can access cloud storage once the 32 GB on-board storage runs out. It will start freeing up space on the device by offloading your content to the 100 GB cloud allotted to the handset.

Further reports suggest that the company plans 100 GB storage space for every user that can be further adjusted in case the user requires more space.

It is up for pre-order on its Kickstarter page. The Robin can be pre-ordered for $399 (approx Rs 26,000) and you can ship it to India at an additional $70 (approx Rs 4,600).

CIOL believes that while Apple as an established brand in India enjoys customer loyalty, it would not be an easy run for Apple Watch only if Nextbit Robin plays its cards right. For the product is good, comes at a right price, and what's more? Offers unlimited storage!!!