The idea of adding a sensor pack to regular watches is not new. Nor is the idea of expanding regular watch functions with a smart band quite new. But the French startup RIFFT has what appears to be a particularly smart approach, and they're unveiling it at CES. The CT Band comes in seven colors of leather (stitched or unstitched) and 11 colors of silicone. There are three … [Read more...]
Google to Build Its Own Android Wear Watches: Report
The Verge is reporting that Google -- possibly taken aback by the cooling of the smartwatch business and the evident lack of enthusiasm for Android Wear 2.0 -- will build two models of an Android Wear watch early in 2017. Jeff Chang, Google's product manager of Android Wear, told the site that the watches will be sold and branded by a third party, which he did not name, and … [Read more...]
Pokemon Go Comes to the Apple Watch
We're not sure that this is an improvement, and it's not as important as it would have been six months ago, but Niantic has just released its version of Pokemon Go for the Apple Watch. Now, you can see people stumbling around city streets looking at their watches like their parents did, instead of staring at their phones like their kids do. Pokemon Go, in case you've been … [Read more...]
Moto Says No New Smartwatch Anytime Soon
Once upon a time, the Moto 360 was the best Android Wear smartwatch on the market, which is not unlike calling someone "the world's tallest midget." But as Google got busy with other projects and consumers failed to warm to the attractions of the platform, sales appear to have leveled off. A couple of months ago, Google said that the next version of Wear, anticipated for 2016, … [Read more...]
Osterhout Raises $58 Million for AR Glasses
The Osterhout Design Group has finished its first fundraising round, picking up $58 million to develop its line of augmented and virtual reality glasses, the company said. ODG is an interesting company. Its roots are in military heads-up displays, and it first hit the media radar in 2014 when it sold a pack of patents to Microsoft for a reported $150 million. So while the … [Read more...]
Knit Picking Your Music with Cyberknitics
The first knitted socks date to Egypt in the 1100s. (They must not have fit or they would have worn out instead of surviving all those centuries.) And hand knitting is still popular today, even though the cost of yarn frequently means it is much cheaper to buy ready-made; but, you know, arts and crafts and all that. Knitting has longevity. It has not yet been ousted by … [Read more...]
Hey, Dude, Answer Your Phone, You’re Drunk!
There’s a new entry in the rapidly expanding wearable tech category of "Who Would Buy This?": a patch that sends your phone a text when you’re “too drunk.” What’s your phone going to do, call a cab? If you’re that drunk, you probably can’t even focus on a text message. And chances are pretty good that you know you’re drunk, although “too drunk” is a relative condition unless … [Read more...]
Wearables Moving from Tracking Fitness to Fighting Chronic Disease
At a time of rumors that the fitness wearables market might be slackening, there is a continuing increase in the use of the technology in helping people with far more serious problems than getting their 10,000 steps. Intel and Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva, for example, have recently agreed to collaborate to develop a wearable to track disease progression in people with … [Read more...]
Female Runners Rejoice: OMbra Smart Bra Now Available
We were impressed with Montreal-based Omsignal’s smart running bra when it first surfaced at CES 2016. It’s well designed, both as clothing and technology, and you can’t help believing that something hugging your chest is going to get a more accurate breathing and heart rate data than something on your wrist. OMsignal recently completed a $10 million funding round, and the … [Read more...]
Flexible Thermocell Battery Brings in the Volts
Batteries are the one part of your wearable device that still seem old school. Although we’ve seen improvements in size and endurance, the chemistry and physics of batteries are just plain hard. A lot of scientists are investigating the alternative of energy harvesting or scavenging; that is, producing usable energy from natural sources, such wind, sun, or human … [Read more...]