When Asus enters the smartwatch market, the resulting wearable could well utilise voice and gesture controls.
Asus chairman Jonney Shih revealed over the weekend that his company’s first wearable device would complement a smartphone rather than existing as a stand-alone device. All of which points in the direction of a smartwatch rather than any other form of wearable.
But it’s how Shih claims that smartwatch will be controlled that’s of interest here. According to Focus Taiwan, Asus is considering new ways to interact with a smartwatch UI outside of its tiny touchscreen.
"There would be more natural user interfaces such as voice or movement controls," revealed Shih at a Taiwan University job fair, before admitting that "more breakthroughs are needed in these areas."
One major issue all smartwatch manufacturers are encountering is battery life. Put simply, we expect our watches to last significantly longer than our smartphones, which typically go a day or so in between charges.
According to Shih, smartwatches should last ten times longer than phones, regardless of their fancy voice and gesture inputs.
Back in January, Shih claimed that his company would launch a smartwatch in 2014. He referred at the time to the "many challenges in this area," which now appear to have taken form as battery and UI issues.
Expect to see the fruits of the Taiwanese company’s labour at this year’s Computex Taipei trade show, which is being held in June.
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