Ear-worn tracking devices are becoming increasingly common. At CES, Bodytrak unveiled the first one that not only senses movement and heart rate, but real-time body temperature as well. It's quite a sensor package (much of it using Valencell hardware): core body temp, heart-rate, Vo2, speed, distance, cadence, as well as retaining audio capabilities. The data is sent via … [Read more...]
Qualcomm Life and UnitedHealthcare Extend Their Wellness Partnership: CES
Last year, Qualcomm and UnitedHealthcare started a pilot program in 12 states to pay people to stay active. This year, the companies say, they are extending it to 40 states and broadening the number of fitness trackers the program works with. Under the UnitedHealthcare Motion program, employees can earn up to $4 per day if they meet distance, intensity, and frequency goals … [Read more...]
Motiv Introduces Activity Tracking Ring: CES
The wrist has become the most common place to put activity trackers, but it's not the only place. The start-up Motiv has unveiled the Motiv Ring: a simple device that tracks your activity and heart rate with a simple band around your finger. Motiv is hardly the first company to sell a connected ring, but one thing that separates it is the product's discipline. It's not a … [Read more...]
The Year Ahead: Wearables in 2017
If you read the consumer tech press or the general interest press, you may have come to the conclusion that Wearables are Over. 2017 will put the lie to that. It's true that last year was challenging, and it's clear that the wristband part of the industry has consolidated and stratified. But what we expect to happen in 2017 has very little to do with form factor and a great … [Read more...]
CT Band Adds Smarts to Dumb Watches: CES
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...]
The Year in Wearables 2016: Toldja So
Last year, in this space, we predicted that the biggest story in wearables in 2016 would be industry consolidation. We saw some prominent financial exits in 2015 – Fitbit chief among them – and Apple’s entry into the market, and realized that smaller and less-committed companies would get squeezed out, closed, acquired, or just absorbed. That’s exactly what happened. The … [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...]
Sensor Makers Combine, as TDK Buys Invensense
If your knowledge of TDK stopped at cassette tapes, your thinking is way out of date. The company is a market leader in magnetic sensors and actuators -- particularly in the automotive and industrial markets -- and is a big player in wireless charging. And today, it bought Invensense, which makes a very popular line of motion and environmental sensors. Invensense is an … [Read more...]
Valencell and STMicro Team For a Biometric Dev Kit
STElectronics is one of the big boys in the MEMS sensor world, and Valencell is an emerging leader in biometric sensors. (If you own earbuds that feature any kind of biometric sensor, it probably includes Valencell tech.) The companies announced today a development kit for biometric wearables. The ST SensorTile is a 13.5mm square module that comprises a microcontroller, a … [Read more...]