There are all kinds of useful wearable tech that replace or supplement stay-at-home gear. Now NEC has ARmKeyboard, a device that isn’t even corporeal; it’s a virtual keyboard that runs up your arm. The keyboard/software coordinates glasses with a camera display and smart watches. Wearing the glasses and looking at the watch gives the software the coordinates of the devices; … [Read more...]
Football Roundup: IoT meets NFL
Every NFL uniform has changed this year, although not so’s you’d know it by looking. As of the start of the 2015 season, every player’s uniform includes two RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) sensors, about an inch in diameter, embedded in right and left shoulder pads. In addition, every NFL stadium is now has receivers that pick up the unique player frequencies, tracking … [Read more...]
Lumo Raised $10M in Series B; Touts Platform Play
Lumo BodyTech, maker of the Lumo Lift posture tracker and Lumo Run sensor-enhanced running clothes, has closed a $10 million Series B funding round, the company says. The money will go toward building a platform and ecosystem based on body positioning. One thing that's always made Lumo interesting is its use of sensors not to count steps but to understand movement and … [Read more...]
Intel Introduces “Wearable Smart Gateway” for First Responders
It seems like an obvious market opportunity: body-worn technology and first responders. Turns out, though, that the first-response industry is extremely demanding and conservative. It spends limited taxpayer money, procurement cycles are long and competitive (and not-infrequently clubby), interconnectivity is a must, and system failures can literally cost lives. Civilians … [Read more...]
Two of the Three Wireless Power Standards Merge
The wireless charging standard groups A4WP and PMA have consummated their merger into the far friendlier-sounding AirFuel Alliance. It competes with the Wireless Power Consortium, which promotes the popular Qi standard, used by (among others) the current Samsung Galaxy and Note product lines, as well as IKEA's charging pad. AirFuel and WPC are not compatible, even though … [Read more...]
Thalmic Labs Opens App Store for Myo Armband
Even the best hardware is useless without apps. Thalmic Labs, maker of the Myo gesture-control armband, has publicly opened an app store with more than 100 applications. Among the apps is one that will let a user control Parrot drones by gesture; others control Spotify or Netflix. It may be the ultimate couch potato experience to wave your arm to pause or fast-forward a … [Read more...]
Fitbit’s 3Q Beats Estimates; Company to Float More Stock
Fitbit, the top pure-play maker of fitness trackers, said today it sold $409 million in trackers in the quarter ending September, up 168 percent over the year previous, earning a profit of 24 cents per share. Pre-report consensus had expected earnings of 10 cents per share. For the current quarter, the company said it expected to earn 20 to 25 cents per share on sales of $620 … [Read more...]
MasterCard Wants to Turn Wearables Into Payment Devices
It's hardly a secret that MasterCard is hot on wearables; the company's been talking about it for years and has even published an API to let programmers access its tokenization and payment systems. But earlier this week, MasterCard started to get very specific, showing wireless payment systems in Nymi authentication wristbands, Ringly jewelry, TrackR device locators, and GM car … [Read more...]
Bionic Eyes Are Smiling
What would you say to better than 20/20 vision, without having to worry about glasses or contacts—ever? Now what would you say to having a lens implanted in your eye? Dr. Garth Webb, a Canadian optometrist, and founder and CEO of Ocumetics Technology Corp., thinks he can do away not only with corrective lens, but also with cataracts. He and his team have developed the … [Read more...]
Toilet Training the World
Everything is getting smarter: running gear, watches, jewelry, fashion, you name it. Now from Japan, there's a smart device that reminds you to do what bears do in the woods. Dfree is a device from the Japanese company Triple W that fits (or sticks) on your underwear and warns you when you are going to need to get to a bathroom. "This device predicts faecal excretion. The … [Read more...]