We saw a lot of wearables products promising a holiday delivery. Here's a big one that missed: Jawbone won't ship its $180 Up3 fitness band until after Christmas. Ouch. Bloomberg has a lot of background about Jawbone and its position among venture capitalists (but doesn't mention that Fitbit far outsells it). When the UP3 was announced in November, the company said it would … [Read more...]
Apple Watch Reportedly Set for January Production
If you're going to start selling 5 million units of a new product in February or March, you'd better start building it in January, if not earlier. After months of rumors, Apple reportedly has worked out manufacturing bugs for the Apple Watch, which has been rumored to hit the streets in late February or so. Sourcing on this article is a little bit like a game of Telephone … [Read more...]
Luxottica Seals Wide-Ranging Development Deal with Intel for Glasses; Doesn’t Rule Out Google
Luxottica, the world's largest maker of eyeglasses, has a deal with Google to make Glass-derived products. But that's not keeping the Italian optical goods giant from working with other companies, like Intel. Intel and Luxottica announced today a particularly wide-ranging development partnership. The two companies will establish an R&D lab in California, the New York … [Read more...]
New Bluetooth Version 4.2 Published; Allows Faster Speeds, Direct Connections to Internet
The Bluetooth SIG has published the specs for version 4.2 of the widely used Bluetooth standard, and the news is actually more exciting than it sounds. The latest spec promises data speeds about 2.5 times faster than the current version, and will allow devices to connect directly to IPv6 networks, instead of using phones or other devices as an intermediary. This means, for … [Read more...]
Misfit Lands $40M Series C, Eyes China Expansion
Misfit, maker of the Shine wearable, has closed a $40 million round of funding, including the first US investment from Chinese cellphone maker Xiaomi, TechCrunch reports. Sonny Vu, Misfit's chairman, told TechCrunch that his company didn't need the money; it still has $15 million from its last raise and is breaking even on hardware sales. More important was the partnerships … [Read more...]
Amanda Parkes on the Importance of Fabrics and Fashion
Amanda Parkes is one of the smarter people standing at the intersection of technology and fashion. An MIT-trained designer, she's the chief of technology and research at Manufacture NY, a fashion think tank in Brooklyn, NY. Parkes gave an excellent and enlightening interview to the site Business of Fashion, in which she talks about how wearable tech is less about the gadget and … [Read more...]
Next-Gen Glass Will Use Intel Chips, says WSJ
The WSJ reports that the next version of Google Glass -- you mean there's going to be a next version? -- will use Intel processors instead of TI's. The article then goes into great detail on a point that no reader here will be surprised about: that the visor business will find success not with consumers but in enterprise applications. At least the reporters name-check two great … [Read more...]