The US Commerce Department, in partnership with the Industrial Fabrics Association International, announced today that it will host a Smart Fabrics Summit on April 4, 2016 in Washington, DC. A release from the Commerce Department says that the day-long session will be designed to get fashion, technology, and policy players around the same table. Specific issues include … [Read more...]
Jabil Publishes Reference Platform for Connected Clothing
Jabil, the electronics manufacturing giant that bought connected fabric leader Clothing+ earlier this year, is starting to use its heft to establish itself in the smart clothing business. The company today published the Peak+ reference design for clothing, incorporating smart fabrics from Clothing+, transmitters and apps from Suunto, and analytics from Firstbeat. John … [Read more...]
Google’s Flexible Glass Patent
Nearly every day brings another rumor of what the next Google Glass will look like. This one isn't really much more reliable than any of them, but it is at least a Google patent. The company got a patent last week (9,195,067) for a lightweight visor with a flexible headband that can articulate at the ear, the temple, and the back of the head for precise fit and positioning. … [Read more...]
Jawbone Lays Off 15 Pct of Staff, Closes NY Office, in “Streamlining”
Jawbone, the fitness tracer/speaker/headset company, has reportedly laid off 60 people -- 15 percent of its staff -- in a general "streamlining of its business. The cuts came across the entire company, Techcrunch reports, and were not aimed at any particular part of the company or product. As part of the cutbacks, Jawbone closed its New York office, which was devoted to … [Read more...]
Top-Level Shakeup at Proteus Digital Health
Proteus Digital Health, the unicorn company that puts circuitry on pills to monitor drug compliance, has had a management shakeup, in what appears to be a push on the part of investors to drive revenues. A release on the company's site says that Molly O'Neill has been named Chief Commercial Office and Jonathan Symonds is the new chairman of the board. O'Neill had been the … [Read more...]
LG Kills the Urbane LTE, Citing Hardware Problem
LG today reportedly took the highly unusual step of canceling the launch of a product that was well into the preview window, citing unspecified hardware problems. The Urbane LTE was to have been the first untethered Android Wear watch, using a microSIM to connect to the Internet without the need for an intermediary smart phone. (There have been several other LTE … [Read more...]
APX Labs Closes $13 Million Funding Round including NEA, GE, and Salesforce
APX Labs, creators of the Skylight middleware for industrial wearables, says it's raised $13 million in its second institutional round, bringing its total funding to $29 million. This round was led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from GE Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, CNF Investments, and SineWave Ventures. The company did not disclose the company's … [Read more...]
Misfit Acquired by Fossil Group for $260 Million
Misfit, the pioneering maker of sleek activity trackers that couldn't break through once bigger brands entered the market, has been sold to one of those bigger brands, the Wall Street Journal reports Fossil Group has agreed to acquire Misfit for $260 million. The company, founded by Sonny Vu and which counted former Apple CEO John Scully on its board, was best know for its … [Read more...]
Technology with a Punch
There are plenty of wearable fitness devices that track what we might call the universals: speed, breathing, effort are part of every athletic experience. Now we’re beginning to see devices that are geared to professionals, and specific to individual sports. Hykso, a Montreal startup, is developing wearable tech for boxers that measures hits and blocks, and feeds the data to … [Read more...]
Mobetrics Gives Nuclear Workers Second Sight
UK-based mobile tech company Mobetrics has received funding to take wearables where none has gone before: into the world of nuclear decommissioning. Second Sight will give workers a real-time view of radiation doses, suit temperatures, and heart rates, as well as technical information and assistance. This, in turn, raises the safety level of the operation, providing … [Read more...]