Thalmic Labs, which makes the Myo gesture-sending armband, has raised another $120 million from Intel Capital, Amazon Alexa Fund and others. VentureBeat notes that this is the first fundraising round since 2013, which yielded $20 million. Intel Capital led that round, too. The Myo band is a particularly interesting product. It fits around your forearm and senses -- and … [Read more...]
Pokemon Go Plus Reappears
Pokemon Go Plus, the wrist-worn device that notifies Pokemon Go players when they’re around Pokemon or Pokestops, and allows capturing without a visual cue, originally sold out before its official release date. Now Niantic Labs, the developer, has announced the $35 gadget will be back on the market “in most countries” on Sept. 16. Pokemon Go Plus communicates with both Apple … [Read more...]
Samsung’s WELT: A Terrible Thing to Waist
Samsung, while it's not putting out fires, recently announced that the WELT, the company’s e-belt product, has met its Kickstarter goal and is ready to go to market. What, one might reasonably ask, is an e-belt? The WELT is basically a fitness tracker in a (men’s) genuine leather belt, with at least one unique feature. Like wrist-based trackers, WELT tracks data such as … [Read more...]
AmazFit’s New Tracker: Fitness as a Fine Art
AmazFit, manufacturer of the Equator and Moonbeam fitness trackers, is owned by Huami, one of the top wearable companies worldwide, and has sold 24 million fitness trackers in China through the company’s partnership with Xaiomi. Xaiomi’s Mi Band, originally sold only in China, is second only to Fitbit in global market share. The AmazFit Equator marks the company’s expansion … [Read more...]
Dubai Runners Will Move to the Light
Athletes wearing LED-enhanced gear seem to be trending since Team Britain’s shining shoes at the Olympic closing ceremony. Now they are about to light up the wrists of runners in the 5K nighttime. In the Electric Run 2016 in Dubai on Nov. 4, 10,000 race entrants will receive Pixmob Electrobands as part of their registration packets. Electrobands are like technologically … [Read more...]
Epson, DJI Ink Consumer AR Drone Deal
DJI, the maker of consumer drone aircraft, and Epson, which makes the Moverio augmented reality visor, have partnered to give customers a first-person perspective on what their aircraft is doing. The Moverio BT-300 binocular visor -- significantly smaller and lighter than previous models -- was introduced earlier this year at Mobile World Congress and is expected to ship in … [Read more...]
IDC Says Basic Wearables Growing Fast; Fitbit, Xiaomi, Apple, Garmin Top Vendors
IDC is out with its quarterly count of the fitness tracker market, and it's finding that basic models are growing fast, while more advanced gadgets aren't. The market researcher breaks the world down into "basic" and "smart" wearables; the latter supports third-party apps, the former doesn't. If you accept those definitions, and we think it's a little simplistic, IDC's count … [Read more...]
Apple Debuts Waterproof Watch Series 2 with GPS, a Nike Version, and Pokemon App
Apple introduced its follow-up to the original Apple Watch today with the Watch Series 2, which is waterproof, includes a GPS radio, faster processors, and a brighter screen. The new watches are available in aluminum (gold, rose gold, silver or space black) or stainless steel (stainless or space black). Pricing starts at $369. There's a new Watch Edition in white ceramic for … [Read more...]
Team Britian Shoes Are Shining
Not only did Team Great Britain have reason to dance at the closing ceremonies for the 2016 Olympics, they had the perfect shoes to do it in. The record-breaking team that garnered even more medals that at the London games four years ago were wearing custom-made trainers—Brit-speak for athletic shoes—that lit the way. LED lights along the soles of the shoes lit up red, … [Read more...]
Former Employee of Bankrupt Skully Sues Founders & Company
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...]