The Wove Band, designed by Chicago-based Polyera, attempts to solve two main problems with wearables like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Gear. Both are strong markers in the move towards wearable technology, but suffer from limited battery life if used heavily, and relatively small screen space afforded by the wrist.
Chicago Inno, reporting on September's launch of the new Wove Band, announced that the first of those challenges will be solved through the use of e-ink technology, which will allow the Wove Band to "remain on for long periods of time without draining the battery." One of the main criticisms of other first-generation wearables has been the fact that they don't perform as good replacements for watches due to the incessant charging. The lack of a power-draining screen avoids this issue for the Wove Band.
The most impressive feature of the Wove Band is the ability of the screen to bend effortlessly around the wrist without damage. This allows a large amount of information to inhabit the Wove Band, and Android Authority were able to experiment with the Wove Band to see how that might work. The Wove Band was able to run maps and navigation apps, recipe apps, and media playback.
Currently, the Wove band is in the early stages of testing, and it is reported that the Wove Band isn't expected to be in the hands of developers until December. With the Wove OS being a derivative of Android, it's hopeful that a number of useful apps from the existing diverse Android ecosystem can be ported to the Wove Band, making it highly functional on launch. The expected Wove Band release date is 2016.
