When you're as big and aggressive as Samsung, you can afford to place big bets on several different things (although that strategy didn't work out so well for Nokia, did it?). Yoon Han-kil, the senior vice president of Samsung's product strategy team, told Reuters that his company will ship wristwear based on the Android Wear operating system later this year -- even though … [Read more...]
Pando Calls Shenanigans on Healbe Indiegogo Pitch
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the Healby GoBe Indiegogo campaign. The GoBe claimed to be able to monitor hydration and blood glucose levels through a wristband without using a blood stick. This didn't comport with any science we were familiar with and raised a couple of eyebrows, but there's lots of science that we don't know so we wrote about it anyway. PandoDaily jumped … [Read more...]
Israeli Startup Has a Device That Sees Something, Says Something; Intel Invests
GigaOm and Ha'aretz report on a $15 million investment from Intel into an Israeli startup OrCam, which makes a wearable camera that tries to interpret the world around its wearer and describe it via bone conduction. Sounds cool -- and very useful to the blind or low-vision sufferers. The camera clips onto your glasses. You gesture to tell the OrCam what you want to … [Read more...]
Techcrunch: Osterhout/Microsoft Deal Was for IP, Cost Up To $150 Million
Way back in September, we wrote about a report that Microsoft was talking to the secretive Osterhout Design Group about buying the company and its portfolio of wearables patents for $200 million. Techcrunch managed to get a very rare interview with Ralph Osterhout, who says he sold a portfolio of patents and not his entire company; another source put the value of the deal at … [Read more...]
Intel Buys Basis; Enters the Consumer Market
We didn't think they'd do it -- and in truth, it still doesn't make a lot of sense to us -- but Intel and Basis announced today that the former company has bought the latter. No price was stated, although TechCrunch put the price at $100 million. Intel, of course, wants very badly to be in the wearables chip market. Basis makes one of the better heart-rate sensor watches, … [Read more...]
Oakley, Ray-Ban to Sell Google Glass-based Eyewear
Finally, there's a sign that Google really and truly wants to turn Glass into an actual business. The search giant has signed a deal with Luxottica, one of the world's biggest eyewear companies, to develop and sell Glass-based eyewear. It's possible that you've never heard of Luxottica, but you know its brands. Luxottica, an Italian company, numbers among its many luxury and … [Read more...]
Can’t Google Stick With Anything? Why To Be Wary of Android Wear
We may be approaching End Times, because this is now the second time in recent memory that we've agreed with Robert Scoble. This time, Scoble has an opinion piece on Huffington Post, questioning whether Google has the ability to stick with anything beyond its core search products. His evidence is scant -- Larry Page wasn't wearing Google Glass at TED this week, therefore … [Read more...]
Pebble CEO Talks About the Android Wear World
So let's say you're the CEO of a highly touted startup that's just clearing the runway, when Google announces that it's creating an ecosystem in your product category that you're not part of. What do you do? One thing you and your investors do is give an optimistic interview to a publication that's as high on the journalistic foodchain as you can manage. Say, Fortune … [Read more...]
Google Enters the Real-World Wearables Market with Android Wear
Now we know for sure: Google Glass was a toy. Google announced today its entry into the practical world of wearables, with Android Wear. This version of the Android operating system will essentially expand on notification devices like the Pebble watch or the Samsung Gear. Where those devices drive information from a phone to a wearable device like a wristwatch, Android Wear … [Read more...]
Google to Ship Wearables SDK Soon
At this past weekend's SXSW Interactive conference, Sundar Pichai, Google's senior VP of Android, apps, and Chrome, announced that his company will ship a wearables SDK within two weeks. Translation for those who don't speak Geek: Google is about to make available tools (an SDK is a "software development kit") that will make it easier for developers to build software that … [Read more...]