We wrote in August about Google's publishing an SDK to keep track of health and data; the company announced today that a Google Fit app is now available. Android only, of course, although there'll be a web interface that's not quite working as of this writing. The Google Fit app consolidates all your health tracking data into a single place associated with your e-mail … [Read more...]
CNET Gets Hands-On with Fitbit Charge; Two Other Products Won’t Ship Until 2015
Details about the Fitbit Charge fitness tracker have been oozing out over the last couple of weeks. CNet briefly got its hands on one, along with word that the Charge HR (with heart monitor) and the Surge running watch won't come out until next year. The Charge is more or less a replacement for the ill-fated Force, which suffered from a hard-to-secure clasp that caused … [Read more...]
On Second Thought, Maybe I Don’t
The Washington Post has a mercifully brief piece out of the recent Wearables + Things conference in Washington, D.C. At the inevitable fashion show, designer Ean Williams showed a bridal outfit that included Google Glass and a Fitbit concealed in a necklace. Nice necklace, actually. We get that live-streaming a wedding might be a nice thing, although we have our doubts about … [Read more...]
Why the Puls Is Impressive: An Analysis
In the normal course of business, most product launches are one-day stories. Two days, tops, if they're really big and they're not from Apple or (sometimes) Google. In truth, that's fine; it's the rare product that deserves more. Will.i.am's Puls wristware deserves more, because the thinking behind it is so uncommon. First of all, the Puls cuff is unapologetically … [Read more...]
Apple Announces Watch SDK for November
If you want people to develop for your hardware, you'd better have an SDK. Buried inside today's announcements from Apple was word that the company will publish its WatchKit SDK for developers next month. There's still no definite word about a ship date for the Watch, other than "Early 2015." But by inviting the masses for develop for it, Apple is allowing outsiders to beat … [Read more...]
A Flexible Battery, But You Can’t Buy It
We've written about curved batteries, which are pretty cool. But Samsung is now showing flexible batteries, which not only bend, but can be bent repeatedly. The claim is that you can bend it around a cup and it will work just fine. The implications for wearables should be clear: batteries that can conform to whatever shape they need to, and that can flex along with your body … [Read more...]
Wearables Hit the Zeitgeist with Morris the Cat
Readers of a certain age will remember Morris the Cat, the world's most finicky cat who would only eat 9Lives cat food. Well, Morris (or rather, some other orange tabby who kind of looks like the original long-departed Morris) is back, and the agency EVB has strapped a visor on him in a new line of commercials. https://youtu.be/Df1qxtJuUmw Wearables selling cat food. … [Read more...]
Thync and Thync Again
There's this company called Thync that's building some kind of gadget to zap the negative thoughts out of your brain. Snicker all you want, but Bloomberg says they've raised $13 million. A Bloomberg reporter tried it out, thought it was kind of freaky, but also that it kind of works. BetaBoston got wind of it, too; Thync does some of their data gathering and baselining in … [Read more...]
Jawbone Publishes Sleep Data; Confirms That WTI Needs More
A couple of months ago, Jawbone took the sleep data it collects from its UP users and concluded that people are woken up by big earthquakes. Now, they've looked at their computers to see who goes to sleep when all over the U.S. It's a great post, full of interactive maps. Turns out that Brooklyn, home of Wearable Tech Insider, goes to sleep later than any other county in the … [Read more...]
Intel Announces “Make It Wearable” Finals Judges
Intel's "Make It Wearable" challenge is reaching its climax, and the company just announced the roster of judges who'll award the $800,000 at stake. Of the 10 finalists, the top winner will take home $500,000. Second place is worth $200,000, and third pays $100,000 The 10 finalists will need to impress: Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Best Buy President and CEO Hubert … [Read more...]