Acer apparently still thinks there’s life in the smartwatch market as it announced its latest wearable: the Leap Ware. The name is apparently not a typo, although the company didn’t share why it took on such an unusual name.
The Acer Leap Ware is powered by a MediaTek MT2523 chipset and MT2511 bio-sensing chip. According to Acer, it does all of the regular fitness tracking duties; but also includes the ability to track exposure to ultraviolet rays. Battery life is expected to be between three to five days; which is acceptable for a smartwatch.
Acer built the Leap Ware with Corning Gorilla Glass SR+ over the watchface to increase its resistance to damage. Ideally, this is to ensure that it survives outdoor trips from more active wearers. It’s also has a IPX7 rating; which means that it is able to withstand up to 1m of water for 30 minutes. That said, Acer does not recommend anyone actually going swimming with the smartwatch.
A new app called Liquid Life is also being introduced as the partner for the Leap Ware. It does the usual thing of providing a more complete picture of the information collected by the smartwatch. There’s also a gamification element added with the user receiving Power Coins for meeting certain goals like running for consecutive days or meeting a biking distance goal. These Power Coins can then be spent on the Liquid Life Market for avatar items or future planned discounts.
The Acer Leap Ware will be rolled out in stages with North America seeing it in July for $139 (about RM600). This will be followed by EMEA in the third quarter of this year, and Taiwan in August. There was no mention of any other region for the release of the smartwatch.
