Indian innovation unveiled on Day #1 of Asian Mobile Congress
From Vishnu  Anand
Shanghai, July 15 2015: At the Asian edition of the Mobile World Congress, which opened here today,  Indian  handset leader,  Intex Technologies,  reversed  longtime trends,  even while showcasing  India's  design prowess  to a global audience: the company unveiled   -- iRist -- the first  Android smart watch   from an Indian player.   
The  device  with a 3G SIM slot and a 5 MP camera is aggressively priced at Rs. 11,999 and will go on sale early August, initially through eBay.
iRist comes with a 3.9 cm screen providing a 240x240 resolution. Powered by a 1.2 GHz Dual-core processor and 512 MB RAM, the device runs on Android KitKat 4.4.2, with a 4GB memory expandable to upto 32GB. Running on a 600 mAh Li-Polymer battery, the iRist promises 240 minutes of talk time.
Armed with an in-built dialer and voice command function, the iRist comes with a full keypad and speaker headset out of the box. One side of the watch features a Micro SIM slot, while the other comes with a camera and feature buttons. iRist  is GPS navigation enabled and also functions as a health band that can monitor distance steps and calories. The device also supports HSPA, WiFi and Bluetooth.  IRist also has an app -- iConnect -- that syncs with your smartphone giving info on missed calls, unread messages and call logs of the phone.  
Water and dust resistant, the iRist is slated by Intex to be suited for Indian conditions and use cases.  
In a privileged input to IndiaTechOnline Keshav Bansal, Director Intex Technologies, said, "The iRist is going to disrupt smart phone usage in India. We expect existing smart phone buyers to initially use the iRist as a supplementary device, and get used to taking and receiving calls, sending messages, and surf the internet from a watch with a SIM in it. Going forward, Intex hopes to tap into a global market that will begin to use watches as a primary calling device."
The iRist is a true "Made in India" story. Bansal added, "The device is the brainchild of our India development centre team, end to end, with minimal hardware fine tuning from China. Integrating a full Android pack on a smart phone was a big challenge and we are the first Indian R&D team to realise a product of this nature. We strongly believe India is poised to be the next big source of  wearable technology  for local as well as global markets.  AT MWC Asia,  Intex  proudly showcased its wearable technology to prove that  we can 'make in India' --for the world."