Nothing like fighting over scraps of a dead company. Buzzfeed reports that a former bookkeeper at the augmented reality company Skully is suing the company, alleging that founders Marcus and Mitch Weller misappropriated corporate money for their personal use. Isabelle Faithhhauer says the Wellers forced her into practices that defrauded investors. Those investors are … [Read more...]
Philips Debuts Connected Health Platform
Philips, the Dutch electronics powerhouse, is dipping into the connected health business with a line that includes a body monitor scale, blood pressure cuff, in-ear thermometer, and motion-monitor wristband. The company hopes to use its strong brand and FDA approval to help differentiate itself. The company (disclosure: I worked for a small obscure division of Philips … [Read more...]
Intel Pulls Plug on Basis Fitness Tracker; Will Shut Down Hub at Year End
Intel appears to have thrown in the towel on its Basis fitness trackers, telling all users to send them back and saying it will turn off the server they need at the end of 2016. Basis was an early and fairly successful wearables startup, with a wrist device that was one of the first dedicated to serious athletes. Intel, which had never been in a consumer-facing business … [Read more...]
Wearables AR Pioneer Skully Hits the Wall
We're seeing reports that Skully -- the company that made an augmented reality motorcycle helmet that was one of the first high-profile wearables startups -- has fallen apart. And those reports indicate that the end is not peaceful. Skully's helmets were essentially heads-up displays mounted inside the visors, giving wearers views of their bikes controls as well as … [Read more...]
Smartwatch Sales Plunge, says IDC, and It’s All Apple’s Fault
IDC is out with its latest quarterly numbers for the smartwatch industry, and it shows a whiplash kind of decline. Overall, shipments fell 32 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared to a year previous, with Apple's sales dropping by 55 percent. Even at "only" 1.6 million watches shipped, Apple remains far and away the market leader, with 47 percent of the market. … [Read more...]
Pokémon GO Plus Wristband Went Fast
You’d have to be living in a fallout shelter not to have heard of Pokémon GO, Nintendo's augmented reality game, over the last few days. But lost in all the hype is Pokémon GO Plus -- the Poké Ball-shaped device that vibrates and flashes to alert the wearer to any Pokémon in the immediate vicinity. Press a button, and the Pokémon is yours. Pokémon GO Plus sells for $34.99 … [Read more...]
A Blast from the Future of Baseball
Some foolish people have been known to say that 21st century baseball is slow and boring. We’re willing to bet, however, that even those guys get a thrill when the ball hits a bat’s sweet spot and is outta here. We can all agree that anything that makes that happen more often is what's technically referred to as a "good thing." Major League Baseball recently made multi-year … [Read more...]
SmartTrack: A Touchpad Within Arm’s Reach
Smartwatches put a powerful computer on your wrist, but at the cost of a little bitty screen and keyboard. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute’s Future Interfaces Group are working on that, turning your arm into an interactive surface. SmartTrack turns your forearm into a swiping, touching input device from wrist to elbow. Unlike … [Read more...]
Canalys Predicts 7.5M Cellular Smartwatches This Year; 54M by 2020
The market research house Canalys is projecting that 53.6 million cellular smartwatches -- ones that don't need to be tethered to phones -- will be sold in the the year 2020. At first blush, that looks like a pretty enthusiastic prediction, particularly in light of the company's wildly optimistic count of 7.5 million being sold this year. The underlying logic, though, … [Read more...]
I Spy with My Little Wearable Monitoring Device
Do you think the government uses our wireless devices to keep tabs on us? Well, we’ve found proof that you’re right—if you work for the U.S. government. ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) is developing MOSAIC (Multimodal Objective Sensing to Assess Individuals with Context): a project to help “U.S. intelligence firms” pick people who are spy material. The … [Read more...]