There's been no lack of activity in wearables at Berlin's IFA consumer electronics show, but Android Wear was notably absent until Fossil unveiled two new devices with their first full-round screens. The Fossil Q Venture and Q Explorist have always-on AMOLED touchscreens -- 42 mm for the Venture and 44 mm for the Explorist. They're both based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1200 … [Read more...]
Garmin Shows Three New Fitness Bands at IFA
Garmin, which has shown great skill at micro-segmenting the fitness band business, announced three new mid-range devices at the German IFA consumer electronics show. At the higher end, the vivoactive 3 is a GPS smartwatch with NFC payment capability licensed from FitPay. Featuring a heart-rate monitor and an always-on touchscreen, the vivoactive 3 includes auto sensing for … [Read more...]
Fitbit Ionic: Minimal Acceptable Product?
Apple aside, Fitbit may be the most recognizable name in the fitness band business. Then why do its products seem to just barely clear the bar? It's tough to judge something before we get out hands on it, so we're willing to give the Fitbit Ionic the benefit of the doubt for now. But its announcement this week did little to make our pulse race. Its major new features -- a … [Read more...]
Eyes F.lashing Before Your Life
We really really really don't like writing about Kickstarter projects, no matter how successful the funding is. But sometimes, you've just got to pay attention. Like when we hear about something like F.lashes: a digital eyelid accessory that sticks on like fake eyelashes (eyelash adhesive) and blink in various patterns. If this still sounds like a great idea, consider this: … [Read more...]
Smarty Pants: Nadi X Yoga Leggings
Even with all the hype about the “intersection of fashion and technology,” you don’t often run across clothing that gets written up in Vogue, WWD, and Wired. However, Nadi X yoga pants from Wearable X seem to tick a lot of boxes for both the fashion-forward and technology junkies—and even some yogis. The company calls their product “Nadi X Pant & Pulse,” and its … [Read more...]
Rings: How Smart Can They Be?
A couple of years back, smart rings looked like they might be the coming thing. We checked out the Neyya ring from India, London-based Kerv, and there were even rumors of an elusive Apple iRing. And while none of them—with the possible exception of the iRing—seems to have had an appointment with Mount Doom, consumer response was and remains underwhelming. Into this … [Read more...]
Swatch’s Hayek Gets Smartwatch Religion, but Barely
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek is saying that the time giant is working on its own operating system, and expects to have something on the market next year. Cautious as it is, Hayek's comments late last week on the eve of the Baselworld watch show are his company's biggest step yet into the emerging market. Hayek's correct objection to the existing generation of smartwatch OSes -- … [Read more...]
First Reviews of Android Wear 2.0 Don’t Set the World on Fire
If you're in the smartwatch business and were hoping that Android Wear 2 was going to turn around your lagging fortunes, first reviews indicate that you ought to be dusting off your Plan B. The point of Android Wear, of course, is to provide a near turnkey operating system for hardware makers, freeing them up to do what they're supposedly best at. The downside is that the … [Read more...]
EZ Tags for Humans in Transit
Anyone whose commute involves a toll road will attest to the convenience of EZ tags that let your car whip through the toll areas without stopping—or in some places, even slowing down. Garmin and the Chinese company Watchdata Technologies, in conjunction with EZ-Link, have come to the rescue of the footsore in Singapore by adding am NFC chip to their fitness trackers. The … [Read more...]
The e-Skinny on Xenoma’s Smart Shirt
Tokyo-based Xenoma has incorporated its Printed Circuit Fabric into e-skin shirts that can track movement and gestures—bending, twisting, stretching—analyze your breathing and remind you to sit up straight. It also has possibility as a game and AR controller. All this, and it’s machine washable. The shirt’s fabric has flexible wires and sensors hidden in it and the company … [Read more...]