If you still think that tech valuations will always grow the sky, you need to start paying attention. Troubled tracker/speaker/headset maker Jawbone just raised $165 million at a valuation about half its previous round. At the same time, the company confirmed that its president, Sameer Samat, was returning to Google. The new funding round valued the company at $1.5 billion. … [Read more...]
About Dan Rosenbaum
What’s Apple Doing With Healthcare, Anyway?
Buzzfeed has noticed that Apple's put out some job postings for people who know about biosensors and non-invasive measurements. Does that mean Apple is planning new products in the healthcare market? Yes. No. Maybe. (Pick one.) CEO Tim Cook told the Telegraph late last year that he doesn't want the Apple Watch to get so sophisticated that it draws the attention of the FDA … [Read more...]
Security and Price Hold Back the Wearables Market, Accenture Says
Every year around CES, Accenture releases a big global consumer survey about the consumer electronics market, asking about things like purchase intent. (We've written about it in years past.) If you're in the consumer wearables business, they say, 2016 may be a bumpy ride. John Curran, the managing director of Accenture's Communications, Media and Technology group, briefed … [Read more...]
L’Oreal and MC10 Team Up on Beauty Tech: CES
The cosmetics firm L'Oreal is not one you'd expect to see at a CES, which skews heavily to the electronic. Yet here is Guive Balooch, Global VP of its Technology Incubator, sitting with MC10 Co-founder Roozbeh ("Rooz") Ghaffari, both of them sporting blue heart-shaped stickers on their hands. Those stickers, they explain, track exposure to the sun, but do it in two … [Read more...]
Valencell Sues Apple and Fitbit for Patent Infringement
Valencell makes biometric sensors, which it licenses to makers of finished goods. Today, it accused Apple and Fitbit of stealing its technology. In particular, the federal lawsuit filed in District Court in Raleigh, NC (Valencell's home town) said that Apple got Valencell to disclose propriety information under false pretenses, and then incorporated the technology without … [Read more...]
Kopin Debuts Jaw-Dropping Noise Cancellation Technology: CES
If you know Kopin Corporation at all, you probably know them as a display technology company. At CES today, it demonstrated a noise cancellation chip with stunning performance. The Whisper Chip is a 4mm x 4 mm chip that draws 10mW and replaces a CODEC; it's agnostic to operating system, supports up to four mics and doesn't require a digital-to-analog converter. It would sit … [Read more...]
Fitbit Hit With Class Action Suit About Heart Rate Monitoring
As ships attract barnacles, as potholes attract politicians, so do successful companies attract lawsuits. The Verge reports the filing of a class-action suit filed against Fitbit, claiming that its heart-rate monitoring is <gasp> inaccurate by a "significant margin." The suit is looking for injunctive and actual damages. Fitbit denies the claims, also pointing out that … [Read more...]
Fossil Group Touts 100 New Wearables in 2016: CES
The Fossil Group, marketer of watches under 14 brands and recent purchaser of Misfit, said today that it plans to release "more than 100" new wearable devices this year. Do the math and it makes sense. The Fossil brand alone has three types of conventional watch-style devices -- one with a digital display, one with no digital display, and one with LEDs that act as … [Read more...]
Under Armour Teams with HTC and JBL on Integrated Fitness Hardware: CES Day -1
The fitness clothing maker Under Armour, already into the software business with its purchase of MyFitnessPal and Endomondo, is diving into the hardware business with a Healthbox suite of connected devices. Healthbox, developed with HTC (better known for its cellphones) comprises a band, a heart rate monitor, and scale, and is available for preorder for $400. (HTC previously … [Read more...]
Intel to Ship Curie Development Board (Finally) This Quarter for Less than $10: CES
As part of his CES keynote address, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said the microprocessor giant will finally ship the Curie button-sized development platform this quarter -- roughly a year after it was first announced. The Curie platform is key to Intel's position in the wearables and dev platform market; it's at the center of the company's upcoming "America's Greatest Makers" … [Read more...]