Pebble's own apps on the Time series of watches have had the ability to respond to voice commands in a limited way. Now, the company is opening that capability up to third-party developers through a new Dictation API. Pebble underlines, by the way, that the dictation is powered by the very popular voice recognition company Nuance. … [Read more...]
Itsy-Bitsy Solar Panel to Power New Google Lens
First smart glasses, now smart contact lenses? How are they going to get all that info on something the size of your thumbnail? Not to mention using solar power? Google thinks it can be done. The company has been granted a design patent for a wearable communication device shaped like a contact lens, including sensors, memory and a microprocessor. Power would be provided by … [Read more...]
Sensoria, Orthotics Giant Partner to Prevent Falls
Medical professionals will tell you that patient noncompliance is one of the main reasons treatments and medication don’t work as well as expected. Obviously, doctors have to depend patient reports to determine whether the patient is using a drug or other therapy correctly, and just as obviously, not every patient is going to tell the whole truth. This may be truer of orthotics … [Read more...]
Throwing Your Money into the Ring
London-based startup Kerv is Kickstarting its smart ring into the contactless payment arena, as Europe prepares to go completely contactless by 2020. Although the U.S. is well behind in new payment technology, the Kerv ring is expected to be available—and work—in both markets. It just might take longer for the U.S. to come up to speed. The Kerv ring design is slick and … [Read more...]
Microsoft Buzzes with Project X Ray and HoloLens
Although it seems clear that Microsoft’s HoloLens is geared more to the real, grown-up world, Project X Ray is a sure sign that they remember the rest of us. It’s an AR (Augmented Reality) game that uses the HoloLens to bring 3-D images into play, with images a player can grab, wear, and use to blow up things. You can designate any object in your house as your weapon. (Let’s … [Read more...]
Biometric ID Maker Nymi Gets New CEO
Nymi, which has been working for years to bring a heartbeat-driven identity band to market, has brought in a new CEO and board member to drive enterprise adoption of its product. John Haggard, the new CEO, comes from Yubico, which makes two-factor authentication keys and related software; Haggard was Chief Business Officer there. The new board member is Ram Varadarajan, who … [Read more...]
Holo Headgear From Google?
Google glasses set a lot of imaginations on fire, while leaving the real world relatively unscorched. Now Google has applied for a patent for marrying holographic displays to Google Glass. The company applied for the patent for “Lightguide With Multiple In-Coupling Holograms For Head Wearable Display” in early 2014. According to TechCrunch, this will let Google use AR … [Read more...]
What’s on Your Finger?
One ring to bind them all, one ring to ... check your email? Apple has applied for a patent for “Devices and Methods for a Ring Computing Device.” That’s right; an iRing, a touchscreen device that you can wear on your finger, complete with a battery and the ability to communicate with other iDevices. It might also have a camera and a biometric sensor for Apple Pay. There … [Read more...]
Swatch Joins Connected Watch World with Touch Zero One
We've beaten up Swatch a bit over the past couple of years for its stated rejection of the smartwatch business. The Swiss time giant is now taking a tentative step into that world with a connected activity watch built around (of all things) beach volleyball. There's a degree of method to that particular madness; Swatch is the lead sponsor of a global beach volleyball tour -- … [Read more...]
Making Fashion Work
The intersection of high tech and high fashion is well getting closer, if you believe what you could see at the September 2015 London Fashion Show. In fact, some in the fashion industry are predicting that within 10 years—possibly as few as 5—we’ll be wearing our phones and cameras on our sleeves as well as our hearts. Or, more accurately, in our sleeves, since the devices will … [Read more...]