It's not exactly news that batteries are a limiting factor for wearables: size, density, and flexibility are all problematic. But there's news that Applied Materials -- one of those technology infrastructure companies that are critical to the tech business but that no one outside it has ever heard of -- has made a breakthrough in the way batteries are made. Technology … [Read more...]
Google Fit SDK is Now Available
This one goes out to the programmers: Google says a preview SDK for Google Fit is now available for download. The company announced Google Fit at its I/O clambake earlier this summer. It's the pre-fab plumbing that connects Android devices to sensors, smooths the recording of data on smart devices, and helps store of historical data. You could do it all without an SDK, but … [Read more...]
APX Labs Hires Away Google Glass Exec
One of the cooler demos we saw at the Glazed conference last month was by APX Labs, a Virginia startup that's building neat industrial applications for Google Glass and Epson's Moverio. Now comes news that APX has hired Eric Johnsen, most recently the head of Google's Glass at Work initiative, as its director of business development. We reported a few months ago that APX … [Read more...]
Quote of the Day: Sonny Vu
“Why should we cling on to a dying business?” -- Sonny Vu, CEO of Misfit Wearables, maker of the Misfit Shine fitness tracker. Quoted in the Wall Street Journal about his company's deal to license its software to Pebble. … [Read more...]
Glass Roundup: New Frames, New Market, New Boss?
We're probably going to hear a lot from Google this week because its I/O developers conference kicks off this week. But before the balloon goes up, there are some small Glass-related items to report on. The long-expected Diane von Furstenberg frames for Glass are now available. For $300 above the $1500 base price, they're actually not bad, especially if you like the hipster … [Read more...]
Google Picks Its First Five Glass Software Partners
There's more signs of Glass's life in the enterprise: Google has selected five software companies as its first Google At Work Certified Partners. We met the guys at APX Labs at Glazed earlier this month, although they were demoing their enterprise data application on Epson's Moverio. Aside from its hooks into enterprise data of all kinds, what's interesting about APX is an … [Read more...]
Salesforce Brings Wearables Into the Enterprise with Salesforce Wear
We've long believed that the most exciting thing about wearables isn't the Quantified Self movement as much as it is how wearables can change the relationship between people and entities. (It's much the same as early personal computers: standalone computer were much less interesting than computers connected to the Internet.) Salesforce -- the world's top CRM platform -- … [Read more...]
Apple Touts Wearables With New TV Ad
Apple doesn't have its own wearable device (yet), and the iOS version with HealthKit software won't launch until the Fall. But it's started doing the groundwork to get the market ready. We were watching the first game of Stanley Cup finals last night -- go Rangers! -- and this ad showed up between the first and second … [Read more...]
Acer Shows Liquid Leap Wristband
Only serious techies will remember that the big Computex show is going on in Asia right now. Acer released a raft of new products today, including the Liquid Leap wristband that it teased a little while ago. Engadget's got a good hands-on. Short version: it looks like the Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit, but will for now work only with Acer's Liquid line of phones. Availability in the … [Read more...]
Intel CEO: We Missed Tablets But Won’t Miss Wearables
Intel execs were showing off a sensor-laden shirt this week at the Code conference. The company won't make the shirt and doesn't yet make the sensors, but it makes the processors, and they want people to buy lots of both. Mike Bell, Intel's head of new devices, showed off a prototype of the sensor shirt that it expects to ship later this summer. At another session, CEO Brian … [Read more...]