Late last night, TechCrunch posted a story saying that Basis -- the heart monitor wristwear company -- was selling itself to Intel for $100 million. We suspect that the reality is a bit more complicated. At Mobile World Congress last week, we heard and spoke to a bunch of high-ranking Intel execs. We had the opportunity to ask Intel president Renee James about upcoming Intel … [Read more...]
Moto Teases A Pretty Wearable, But Not Much Else
Motorola, in a state of continual change for the last few years, says it's going to ship a pretty wearable. We don't know anything else about it -- like what it might do. Or when it might ship. Or what it might cost. We just have a promise that it'll look nice. The device part of Moto, one of the great brands in technology since the first car radio, was sold to Google in … [Read more...]
STMicroelectronics Demos Smart Headphones That Can Sense What You’re Looking At
We had an unexpectedly long and interesting conversation today with STMicroelectronics, a company you almost certainly have never heard of unless you're deep into digital componentry. They're a big ($8 billion 2013 revenue) chip maker, based in Switzerland, and their products are in -- among many other things -- the Pebble watch and Jawbone Up. As a tech demo, Marco … [Read more...]
Vuzix Looks Ahead: Hands-on With Prototypes
We've already written lots about Vuzix: how it's focusing on enterprise and industry instead of the consumer market, how it's the first actual commercially shipping eyewear wearable. Nothing in this business stands still, though, and Vuzix continues to move ahead. We caught up with CEO Paul Travers at Mobile World Congress. One new product the company's showing is a thin … [Read more...]
Samsung Updates Its Little-Loved Gear to Gear 2
The Samsung Gear was one of the most derided pieces of wearable tech of 2013. So the Korean tech giant went back to the drawing board with the wristwear and revised it to be pretty much more of the same. We need to say this up front: we haven't clapped eyes or even hands on the Gear 2 or the more plastic Gear 2 Neo. It was introduced Sunday in the run-up to Mobile World … [Read more...]
Cuff Tries Making Gear That Women Would Actually Wear
The gang at Cuff just launched some fashion-oriented tech gear that's both functional and attractive. What a concept -- and they pull it off well. The collection consists of five bracelets, a key chain, a sports bracelet, and two pendant necklaces. All of them contain a small piece of electronics called a CuffLink. Prices range from $30 to $120, and the CuffLink can be … [Read more...]
Basis Selling Itself to Whomever, says Techcrunch
Monday morning usually brings a spate of M&A news/leaks. Today, Techcrunch reports that Basis -- the heart monitor wristband company -- is either trying to sell itself or raise a Series C round. The acquisition candidates include Apple, Google, Samsung, or maybe Microsoft. The Basis tracker has the reputation for being one of the more accurate products on the market, but … [Read more...]
NYTimes says Apple Execs Met with FDA, Signaling a Heath-Related Device
The New York Times reports Friday evening that a bunch of high-ranking Apple executives met last month with some top folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency that regulates health devices. According to the Times, Apple was represented by Bud Tribble (VP of software), Jeff Williams (SVP Operations), and Michael O'Reilly (former chief medical officer of … [Read more...]
Plastic Logic White Paper: Flexibles Will Be the Killer Tech
The British flexible electronics company Plastic Logic has issued a wonderfully cold-eyed white paper about the wearables market. Largely devoid of cheerleading, the paper sees the most growth in the fitness and healthcare businesses. Smart watches are the start, they say, but are useful mostly as thought experiments. The real breakthroughs will be in flexible displays … [Read more...]
Apple Adds MedTech Execs to Wearables Team
One way to figure out what a company is up to is to keep an eye on who they hire or promote. The increasingly authoritative site 9to5Mac spotted a couple of key hires at Apple not just in the wearables area but in the very specialized area of MedTech sensors. This goes way beyond routine iWatch rumors. Something is up at Apple; when the iWatch finally does come out, there … [Read more...]