Qualcomm makes a timely entrance with full-featured Toq Mirasol smartwatch (hands-on video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/qualcomm-toq-smartwatch/

Qualcomm's certainly made a name for itself in the mobile chipset space, but the company's past attempts at creating a fully baked consumer device have not been tremendously successful. Take FLO TV, for example. The pocketable television receiver had potential, but a botched execution left the firm with an embarrassing failure. It's this legacy that leaves us cautiously optimistic about today's product introduction, a full-function smartwatch called Toq.

Why is Qualcomm designing, marketing and selling a smartwatch, you ask? The answer lies in a troubled display tech called Mirasol. We got our first good look at this low-power color display technology at CES back in 2010. Since then, Mirasol has had a hard time catching on, with manufacturing costs a likely culprit. We've seen new iterations each year, mostly in the form of prototype e-readers, but a decision to shutter production last summer seemingly marked the final straw for the inventive concept. Then, we regained hope following this year's SID Display Week, where two new high-res panels made their debut, including one in a smartwatch. Curiously, that wearable we saw in May bears little resemblance to the product we're meeting today, which you'll find detailed in full after the break.%Gallery-slideshow73561%

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: Qualcomm