Samsung announced today that it's going to invest $1.5B into IoT research and ventures over the next four years. Half of the money will go toward internal efforts in Silicon Valley, but the other $750 million is being earmarked for acquisitions and startups. The Wall Street Journal points out that the investment -- a small part of Samsung's annual R&D budget of $14.1B -- … [Read more...]
AR Visor Maker Lumus Scores $15M Funding at $300M Valuation
The Israeli AR visor startup Lumus has closed a $15M funding round from two Chinese companies. We met with Lumus earlier this year, at CES, and were impressed by its technology. The binocular visor -- more like an Epson Moverio than a Vuzix M-300 -- uses optical waveguide technology and is therefore comparatively thin and lightweight. What was particularly impressive, … [Read more...]
French Startup’s Wearable Not Horsing Around
Horse racing, the sport of kings, is an expensive business for owners, It's also dangerous for the horses; some 500 horses die from racing-related injuries a year in the U.S. and another 150 die in the UK, including Guy Fawkes, a horse belonging to Queen Elizabeth. The French have an answer to this, as they have to so many things. A Gallic startup, Arioneo, has developed an … [Read more...]
Xiaomi’s CEO Announces Launch for Mi Band 2 — in China
It’s a good news, bad news kind of thing. Good news is that the Mi Band 2 fitness tracker will be available with an LED screen to consumers June 7, according to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. Bad news is that it will be available only to Chinese consumers. However, other Xiaomi products have launched China-only and were seen in other markets within months of the Chinese launch. The … [Read more...]
Wearable Technology on the Fly
We’ve covered some pretty outré tech directed specifically at the fairer sex to keep them on top of certain bodily functions that should remain private and unseen. Now there’s a product to covers the ups and downs of that most terrifying male social faux pas: the unzipped zipper. Noti-Fly pants buttons can tell you, via your smartphone, that your privates may be all … [Read more...]
Aricent Announces Kids’ Wearable Platform Based On Snapdragon Wear 1100 Chip
Yesterday, we had news that Qualcomm introduced a low-function chip for simple wearables. Today, we're seeing news about how it'll be used. Aricent announced at the big Computex show the ADAPT wearables platform for children, a reference design that will help companies quickly build products around Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 1100 chip. That chip includes motion detectors as … [Read more...]
LG’s Untethered Android Wear Smart Watch is Pretty Rough, Says The Verge
The road to market for LG Watch Urbane Second Edition LTE has been as long and rocky as the product's name itself. The first Android Wear watch to be able to operate untethered from a mobile phone, it was supposed to ship at the end of last year but was held back for unspecfied technical problems. Now that it's out, The Verge has a review, and it's less than wildly … [Read more...]
Qualcomm Launches Purpose-Built Snapdragon Wear Chips
At Mobile World Congress a few months ago, Pankaj Kedia, Qualcomm's top exec for its wearables business, told us we should expect the company to ship many different variants on a single platform. Qualcomm is starting to pay off on that strategy, launching the Snapdragon Wear 1100 processor at the big Computex conference this week. The Wear 1100, Kedia told VentureBeat, is … [Read more...]
Reports have Jawbone Either Pivoting or Circling the Drain
Something's up with Jawbone. The wearables/Bluetooth speaker/earbud maker was in the news today, and not in a good way. TechInsider reports that the company, which raised $165 million in a down round a few months ago, has stopped producing its UP2, UP3, and UP4 fitness trackers, selling existing inventory to liquidators. And Fortune says that Jawbone is exiting the Bluetooth … [Read more...]
Clothes Make the Man and Woman Feel Better
How would you like clothing that would not only make you look, but also feel, like a million bucks? Microsoft—the original grey suit people—is thinking about doing something about that. The company recently applied for a patent for a shirt that can detect your “affective state” and if it’s a downer, send you feedback to perk you up or cool you off. There is so much room for … [Read more...]