The Bluetooth SIG, the organization that controls and maintains the Bluetooth standard, has some big plans for 2016. The group said today that it will be increasing the range of Bluetooth Smart (which used to be called Bluetooth LE, or "low energy") by a factor of four, beyond its current top range of 330 feet. Moreover, it was planning a doubling of bandwidth without … [Read more...]
Tag Heuer’s $1500 Connected Watch Goes on Sale; Android Wear and Titanium
The much-teased smartwatch from Tag Heuer went on sale today. The bottom line: it's got a huge titanium case, a vulcanized rubber wrist band, customized watch faces, and a $1500 price tag. If you like petite timepieces, this one is not for you. The watch is 46mm in diameter, the same size as a Moto 360. It's 12.8 mm thick, which is 1.4mm thicker than a Moto360, and a solid … [Read more...]
Technology with a Punch
There are plenty of wearable fitness devices that track what we might call the universals: speed, breathing, effort are part of every athletic experience. Now we’re beginning to see devices that are geared to professionals, and specific to individual sports. Hykso, a Montreal startup, is developing wearable tech for boxers that measures hits and blocks, and feeds the data to … [Read more...]
Mobetrics Gives Nuclear Workers Second Sight
UK-based mobile tech company Mobetrics has received funding to take wearables where none has gone before: into the world of nuclear decommissioning. Second Sight will give workers a real-time view of radiation doses, suit temperatures, and heart rates, as well as technical information and assistance. This, in turn, raises the safety level of the operation, providing … [Read more...]
Virtual Arms Race
There are all kinds of useful wearable tech that replace or supplement stay-at-home gear. Now NEC has ARmKeyboard, a device that isn’t even corporeal; it’s a virtual keyboard that runs up your arm. The keyboard/software coordinates glasses with a camera display and smart watches. Wearing the glasses and looking at the watch gives the software the coordinates of the devices; … [Read more...]
Football Roundup: IoT meets NFL
Every NFL uniform has changed this year, although not so’s you’d know it by looking. As of the start of the 2015 season, every player’s uniform includes two RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) sensors, about an inch in diameter, embedded in right and left shoulder pads. In addition, every NFL stadium is now has receivers that pick up the unique player frequencies, tracking … [Read more...]
Power Dressing with the ION Belt
Smartphones have become pretty much indispensable, but no matter which brand you have, you have to return them to a mothership periodically to charge up. Now a Kickstarter product, the UK-based ION Belt, solves the problem of all those interruptions in your high-speed life. ION Belt is a leather belt, with a built-in 3,000mAh battery—enough to charge an iPhone 6 1.5 … [Read more...]
Lumo Raised $10M in Series B; Touts Platform Play
Lumo BodyTech, maker of the Lumo Lift posture tracker and Lumo Run sensor-enhanced running clothes, has closed a $10 million Series B funding round, the company says. The money will go toward building a platform and ecosystem based on body positioning. One thing that's always made Lumo interesting is its use of sensors not to count steps but to understand movement and … [Read more...]
Intel Introduces “Wearable Smart Gateway” for First Responders
It seems like an obvious market opportunity: body-worn technology and first responders. Turns out, though, that the first-response industry is extremely demanding and conservative. It spends limited taxpayer money, procurement cycles are long and competitive (and not-infrequently clubby), interconnectivity is a must, and system failures can literally cost lives. Civilians … [Read more...]
FDA Asks for Comments About Wearable Tech in Trials
One of the promises of wearable tech has been the possibility of making wearers' data available for clinical trials. There are have been about a million obstacles to that goal. A recent two-day seminar at the New York Academy of Sciences discussed this very issue, with opinions ranging from "it's too complex so it'll never happen" to "here's how we're doing it today." But … [Read more...]