Hasta La Gadget!

We hope you don’t want to use a heart rate monitor while running with your Lumia 1020 — you’ll likely be out of luck. Nokia Australia claims that Bluetooth 4.0 support won’t be coming to existing high-end Lumias like the 820, 925 and 1020. There are “hardware limitations” that prevent an upgrade, the company explains. We’ve reached out to Nokia for clarification, but the company may have hinted at those limits when launching the Adidas miCoach app — it mentioned that only the Lumia 520, 620 and 720 would work with Adidas’ heart monitors. The restrictions will no doubt frustrate some owners, although we suspect that Nokia may improve its Bluetooth support with the next wave of Lumia hardware.

Update: Nokia Germany spokesman Ben Lampe says that Bluetooth 4.0 support will come to all Windows Phone 8-based Lumias through a post-Amber update. Clearly, there are conflicting responses; we’re hoping to get a definitive answer soon.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Via: Windows Phone Central

Source: Nokia Australia (Twitter), (2)

Tweaking your car’s electrical system can be downright scary, but one Kickstarter project hopes to make it a little easier. With Motobrain, you can control up to eight accessory circuits on your vehicle of choice (boat, car or motorcycle, basically anything with an engine) with a compact box and a Bluetooth 4.0 smart device. The power distribution unit’s app displays real-time feedback and information for all the accessories it’s controlling, and you can even adjust how much current each one gets. The refreshingly simple pitch page mentions GPS systems, heated clothing and dimmable LED auxiliary lights as controllable gizmos, but Motobrain could be killer for car audio, too. Some of these features may be redundant for owners of newer vehicles, but the possibilities for the automodding community are staggering. The discounted backer tier is already sold out, but as of this writing there are still 156 units left at the $260 pledge level. Now, where’s our soldering gun?

Filed under: Transportation, Mobile

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Source: Kickstarter

Nokia is planning to release a Bluetooth accessory for its Lumia lineup called the “Treasure Tag,” according to various sources. A report from The Verge tallies with a previous mention on Yahoo’s message boards that names the tag, which could be a reason Nokia’s adding Bluetooth 4.0 and LE support to Lumias via the impending Amber update. Apparently, the tag features NFC for easy pairing and can be set up and tracked using a Windows Phone 8 app that’ll incorporate Nokia’s LiveSight AR tech. It’s also said that a button on the Treasure Tag will reveal the location of a misplaced phone using an audible notification, if it’s in range of the accessory. It could look like the above diagram, is allegedly launching in “the coming weeks,” and is thought to be one of several planned accessories that’ll make use of the Bluetooth 4.0 standard.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Software, Mobile, Nokia

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Via: WMPoweruser

Source: The Verge, Yahoo message boards

Popslate’s much hyped E Ink case still isn’t available half a year after it was announced, and now it could be beaten to the punch by an upstart called Gajah. The latter company’s InkCase screen cover popped up at Computex 2013 and bears a Kirf-like resemblance to Popslate’s nifty creation, which achieved its funding goal on Indiegogo last year. Gajah’s iPhone 5 version will carry a 3.5-inch, 360 x 600 E Ink display, Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility and Popslate-identical $99 price tag, while the Galaxy Note II model will sport a 4.3-inch, 600 x 800 screen, BT 2.1 and $129 sticker. The latter model will roll out in China and Malaysia first, followed by the iPhone 5 model and a possible Galaxy S 4 model after that, if sales justify it. Having its crowd-funded idea “borrowed” before it even hits the market is probably a good sign that Popslate is on to something, but we’re not sure that they’ll be flattered by this imitation.

Filed under: Cellphones

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Source: Engadget Chinese (translated)

The state of Fitbit wireless syncing is far from ideal for Android users, but the company’s latest step is proof that it’s slowly getting better. Today, Fitbit updated its Android app to bring wireless syncing to the Galaxy S 4, which follows a previous update for the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. According to Fitbit’s blog, its difficulty in supporting more devices stems from software differences on various Android smartphones, which causes trouble regardless of whether the device includes Bluetooth 4.0. On the upside, just yesterday, the Bluetooth SIG announced that Android will gain support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the coming months, which Fitbit reckons will solve much of the compatibility issues that it and other device manufacturers have faced. So, if you have a Galaxy S 4, take the opportunity to get syncing your fitness data today — it won’t be long before other Android devices get to join in the fun.

Filed under: Misc, Software, Mobile

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Source: Fitbit