It's not actually shipping, except to some selected blessed few. It costs about as much as an annual gym membership. It makes you look like a dork, and it doesn't actually do very much. So how can Google Glass be called a Product of the Year? Because in many ways to many people, fairly or unfairly, Glass defines wearable technology in 2013. From most companies, something … [Read more...]
Pebble Watch: Product of the Year — Part 2
The Pebble watch may have been the first big hit of the consumer wearables space and the first big hit of Kickstarter. When Pebble's campaign hit in 2012, it was hugely oversubscribed -- a big vote for a technology and product that was, well, kind of uncertain. People put down their money anyway. The watch shipped in early 2013, and it was ... OK. A geek totem, certainly. … [Read more...]
Fitbit Force: Wearable Product of the Year — Part 1
The Fitbit Force is the fitness tracker that the earlier Flex should have been: more solid, with an actual (hi-res) screen and a switch that allows for user input. But what puts the Force ahead of its competition (particularly the Nike Fuelband) is its companion software. Where most mass-market wristwear is content to simply track movement, Fitbit's software tries to get at … [Read more...]
“Reality Mediator”: Worst Idea of the Year
We saw a lot of indifferent ideas in 2013. That's not too surprising in any tech field, but it's entirely predictable in something as new and fluid as wearables. But we were kind of shocked (if you'll forgive the unfortunate pun) to see one idea that genuinely carried the potential for evil. The "reality mediator" prototype -- a chilling euphemism right there -- built by … [Read more...]
Reebok Checklight: Best Ideas of 2013 — Part 3
Football is a violent sport. It took the intervention of President Teddy Roosevelt to keep it from being banned in the early 20th century, and the medical evidence about the damage it does to athletes's brains continues to pile up. Concussions aren't limited to football, of course: hockey leagues are being careful about them, and it's been a problem even the limited-contact … [Read more...]
Zackees LED Turn Signal Gloves: Best Ideas of 2013 — Part 2
Our enthusiasm for the Zackees LED turn signal glove is not news to regular readers; we loved it since we first heard about it. You did, too, apparently, because our first post and another from Zackees founder Zach Vorheis generated strong traffic and good comments. More than that, the Zackees Kickstarter campaign hit its $35,000 funding campaign in just 10 days. … [Read more...]
Mind Rider Helmet: Best Idea of 2013 — Part 1
One of the joys and frustrations of following the wearables beat is seeing a lot of half-baked ideas that have a germ of something exciting but haven't quite been thought all the way through. You see a lot of them at Maker Faires -- projects that are thoughtful and intriguing but can't possibly scale to become more than science fair projects. But that doesn't mean they're … [Read more...]
Yearenders
A fine journalistic tradition has reporters at the end of December writing what the trade calls "year-enders": articles summing up the year just past and anticipating the year to come. It's also a great way to fill posting schedules when the news slows down and the parties and family commitments pile up. It's pure coincidence that most year-enders can be written in advance and … [Read more...]