If you've got a subscription to the journal Chemistry of Materials (the link requires a free registration), there's an interesting article about stretchable electronics, which are key to development of any kind of advanced wearable tech like clothing or skin patches. The article (also reported in GigaOM) doesn't move the science itself forward, but may be valuable by putting … [Read more...]
How the FuelBand Was Built (Updated)
In light of the recent layoff of Nike FuelBand hardware engineers, a friend pointed us to this recent post from Whipsaw, who did the FuelBand's industrial mechanical design. It's a good refresher course in how hard it is to design good hardware -- especially when the specifications and timeframe are as demanding as the FuelBand's were. Here in 2014, it's a little hard to … [Read more...]
Amazon Adds Wearable Tech Store
Amazon's edging into building a lot of consumer tech, but not (as far as we know) wearables. On the other hand, the retailing giant today launched a specialty shop devoted to wearable technology. The page lets Amazon promote new and featured products, presumably backed by co-op dollars from manufacturers. There's also buying guides (text and video), and sub-stores for … [Read more...]
Ringblingz’s Mullen on Why Nike Folded on Fuelband
Jenniey Mullen, the co-CEO of Ringblingz, has a smart post on LinkedIn about why Nike's getting out of the wearables hardware business. The nub of it: Nike's a great marketing company. But with the Fuelband, it doesn't have the product to back it up and other companies do. Nike would have to reinvent an entire division to play here, and Nike belongs in the wearable tech … [Read more...]
Wearable Tech Crowdfunding Infographic: Shipping is Hard
The folks at Crowdfunding Productions have put together an infographic that illustrates the amount of money that wearable tech companies have raised on Indiegogo and Kickstarter -- and the success rate of funding attempts. It turns out that Kickstarter campaigns are more successful: they raise more money, have more completed campaigns, and deliver more product. It's possible … [Read more...]
Stalking the Stylish with Wearables
Here's an interesting idea: putting chips in fashion goods so total strangers can buy what you're wearing. It sounds creepy, but the tech from Awear Solutions does solve a problem -- albeit a high-order problem: how do you find out where that immaculately turned-out clothes horse got that awesome bag? You could ask, but that's sometimes awkward. But if the bag/dress/blouse … [Read more...]
How Will Wearables Change The Olympics?
The 2020 Summer Olympics will be in Tokyo, and people are already talking about how wearable technology might play into a Games located in one of the world's most tech-forward cities in six years. There was a very provocative discussion about that recently at a wearables conference in Tokyo. The upshot: don't focus on the devices, focus on the data the devices throw … [Read more...]
FirstBank Pokes Fun at Glass
FirstBank, a regional bank with branches in Colorado, Arizona, and California, is out with an ad that touts its "old-fashioned" banking app at the expense of a family that's a little too plugged into its Glass. Because families that only have smartphones are all completely engaged with each other at the dinner table, … [Read more...]
Bill Gates Patent To Cloud Men’s Minds, Deter Paparazzi
We just learned about a patent awarded to Bill Gates a few months ago that appears to be designed to keep you safe from cameras around you. Patent 8,600,110 describes A system for detecting and responding to an intruding camera, comprising: an electronic media display device having a screen configured to display content; a sensor; and a processing circuit configured to: … [Read more...]
Walgreens’s Mobile App Connects to Wearables, Rewards Healthy Behavior
People who use Walgreens's iPhone and Android apps have long been able to renew their prescriptions with the app, and the company opened up its API to third parties last year. We're now seeing that the app connects to a wide range of wearable devices -- and the company is paying customers for healthy behaviors. The Walgreens Balance Rewards app will pull data from devices … [Read more...]