Basis launches health-tracking wristwatch and web service

Basis Science today launched a new fitness and health tracking wristwatch and accompanying web service for the health-conscience crowd. It joins an already crowded market of health and fitness gadgets, but Basis hopes to shake things up with its wristwatch that aims to get people to form better health habits.

The Basis watch also does far more than most health and fitness gadgets. It has an accelerometer to track movement, but it also has an optical blood-flow monitor for heart-rate tracking, a perspiration sensor to measure sweat, and skin and ambient temperature sensors. These different sensors help the Basis watch do things that other activity trackers can’t.

After it monitors and records activity, the watch takes the data and presents it to you in a useful way, allowing you to keep track of your health and fitness trends over time. The company introduced a web service to go along with the watch that lays out the data into a readable format. Users can also choose different habits related to their physical activity and sleep that they want to try and accomplish.

An interesting feature about the device is that it doesn’t track calories or anything to do with your diet. Furthermore, the device is launching with the internal Bluetooth radio turned off, but eventually Basis will enable Bluetooth syncing in the future. The watch costs $199, and it’s available now on their website.


Basis launches health-tracking wristwatch and web service is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Ziiiro Saturn Watch: Telling Time with Rings

I’ve gotten so used to Tokyoflash having a corner on the cool digital watch market, that I’m always pleasantly surprised when another company comes along with a nifty LCD watch. Up until now, the guys over at Ziiiro have focused on analog designs (and putting too many ‘i’s in the name of their company.) Now, they’ve released a slick digital watch that can keep up with the best of what Japan has to offer.

ziiro saturn black

The new Ziiiro Saturn tells time using a set of concentric circles. The 12 longer segments on the outer ring indicate hours, while the 60 smaller slivers on the inner ring tell minutes. The watch uses LCD tech for its display and offers a cool electroluminescent backlight for nighttime viewing as well.

ziiro saturn black lit

The Saturn is available in black, gunmetal or chrome finishes, all made from stainless steel. You can pre-order the Saturn now over at Watchismo for $229.99(USD), and they expect to ship the watches this December.

ziiro saturn colors


Tokyoflash Kisai Polygon LCD Watch: Telling Time with Triangles (and Hexagons)

If you’ve followed Technabob for a while, you know that we’ve always enjoyed the cool and offbeat modern watch designs coming out of Tokyoflash Japan. The latest digital model to find its way from the watchmaker is no exception.

kisai polygon 1

The new Kisai Polygon features an unusual display which uses a series of triangles and other polygons to indicate the current time. The triangles around the outer edge point to the current hour, while the next ring of triangles indicates 10 minute intervals of time. Then the large, hexagonal digit in the middle of the watch indicates individual minutes. It takes a minute to understand the display, but once you get used to it, it’s actually pretty straightforward. Plus, it’s definitely unique.

kisai polygon 3

If you’re still confused, check out the video demo below, and it’ll make perfect sense:

The display of the watch is an LCD, which comes in a black, mirror, blue or pink color schemes. It’s also got EL backlighting for easy reading in the dark.

kisai polygon 2

You can order the Kisai Polygon now in black or silver stainless steel with your choice of display color over at Tokyoflash now. If you order by Thursday, 11/29 at 4pm Japan time (2AM Eastern time), you can get the watch for an introductory price of $99(USD) – after which point the price goes up to $129.


Tokyoflash mixes time and geometry to make its Kisai Polygon watch (video)

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This week’s Tokyoflash watch will certainly tickle the fancy of those who sleep with a set square beneath their pillow. The Kisai Polygon has a ring of triangles representing the hours and the nearest 10 minutes, with the individual minute being shown as a single digit through the middle. If you’d like to indulge in some retail therapy, you can take advantage of the company’s pre-sale. Available in black, mirror, blue or pink, it’ll set you back $99 (€77, £61) until Thursday, after which it’ll cost $129 (€100, £80). Fancy learning how to read it from the team to built it? Head down past the break for the video tutorial.

Continue reading Tokyoflash mixes time and geometry to make its Kisai Polygon watch (video)

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Radiation Detecting Watch

You might be living in a peaceful country, but bear in mind that there is always the threat of nuclear warfare breaking out at any time no thanks to some renegade failed states, insane regimes as well as established nuclear powers who are too jittery. For those who are paranoid androids, being totally afraid of a radiation fallout wherever you go, then the $1,500 Radiation Detecting Watch does sound like the perfect timekeeping device to own in these troubled times.

I suppose it would have sold particularly well for folks who wanted to visit Japan after the tsunami hit the Land of the Rising Sun in the first quarter of 2011, crippling a nuclear power plant in the process. Although the Japanese government did deem their country to be safe to visit, there were instances of sushi bars making available a geiger meter for customers to give them peace of mind, that they are not eating irradiated seafood. Well, 2011 might be a distant memory for you now, but at least you can use the Radiation Detecting Watch to pick up residues of unusually high radiation wherever you go – and perhaps detect some mutants along the way. The watch itself boasts of a durable ultra-lightweight Titanium case, an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and is water resistant to 330′.

[ Radiation Detecting Watch copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]


Leo GPS Wristwatch Watches Over Its Wearer

There are already mobile GPS apps that we can use to help locate a person, but that assumes that the mobile device is with the person. Which is why I’m quite intrigued by the Leo. It’s a GPS wristwatch meant to be worn by children that is supposedly very hard to remove.

Leo GPS wristwatch

According to inventor Jason Sullivan, the Leo has an optional locking mechanism and a tamper-proof strap. The locking mechanism is made of “titanium-woven steel” that is supposedly so tough that you’d need a pair of bolt cutters to take the watch off once it’s been locked. With respect to its tracking features, the Leo works with a mobile app that can be used to send a signal to the watch to send back its location.

The wearer can also press the Leo’s panic buttons to send a text message to a predetermined number – parents, guardians, etc – as well as place a call to 911. The watch can also be configured to automatically send an alert if the wearer leaves or enters an area or if the wearer exceeds a speed limit. Here’s Jason demonstrating the watch on the Ricki Lake Show:

Jason’s company Guardian Lion is currently raising funds for the Leo watch on Indiegogo. As of this writing if you pledge at least $119 (USD) you’ll be one of the first to get a Leo wristwatch. It looks like a very useful product, but I’m a bit concerned by a couple of things. First of all, the Leo’s official website contains banners and logos of media establishments, including Engadget and Reuters, implying some sort of endorsement or press coverage of the Leo:

leo reuters engadget

However, from what I can tell neither Engadget nor Reuters has talked about the watch. Engadget wrote about another Guardian Lion product back in 2005, but they have not released anything about the Leo. All I can find on Reuters is a press release from 2011. So why are the banners there? The other thing that makes me wary about the Leo is that Jason clearly states in the video above that the watch is also a cellphone. There’s also an image on its website that supports that claim. Note the send and end call buttons on the watch:

Leo GPS wristwatch 2But for some reason Jason and his company failed to elaborate on this feature, whether on their website or on their Indiegogo page, which seems strange because it should be a major selling point of the product. Let me make it clear: I’m not accusing anyone of anything and I hope all of this gets cleared up. But considering the company is already asking people for money without a final product on sale, I just thought I’d share my observations before you plunk down your hard-earned cash.

[Guardian Lion via CNET]


Sun And Moon Watch From Watchismo

Now here is a really fun way to tell the time with Sun and Moon Watch, and even better is, you need not look out and up at the sky to know whether it is morning or evening, and neither do you need to see whether it is in the AM or PM – with the Sun and Moon Watch from Watchismo, all it takes is but a glance, and there will be an image of the sky on the watch’s face, depicting visually whether it is night or day based on the position of the Sun or Moon in the sky that obviously, is on the watch’s face.

The crescent shaped sky that is shown on the dial represents 12 hours, where the hours will run from left to right: Whenever the sun is next to the leftmost marker, it would mean it is 6am. As the sun climbs to the sky slowly until it arrives at the apex of the crescent, it would be midday – lunchtime for all of you execs at the office! Following that, the sun will then gradually make its descent until it reaches the right hand marker at 6pm. Once 6pm is over, the Sun will ‘set’, and it disappears from view, letting the Moon segment of it takes over.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Satellite watch lacks hands or digits, Futaba flexible OLED watch may lead the charge for flexible displays,

Tokyoflash Kisai Maru: Hard to Read, or Not?

As cool as their displays look, there are just some modern watches that will just leave people staring blankly at the watch face – kind of like the new Tokyoflash Kisai Maru. However, it’s really not that tricky once you get the hang of it.

tokyoflash kisai maru

The time is displayed along a simple curved path, with the dots mimicking the positions of traditional watch hands. The watch is LCD, and comes with an EL backlight. The inner-facing hand points to the hour while the outer-facing hand points to the minutes.

tokyoflash kisai maru time display

The display idea for the watch originated from Sam, a fan who submitted a pocket watch design to Tokyoflash last year. It is the eighth watch that was fan-submitted and produced by the Japanese watchmaker. The Kisai Maru is made from high-grade aluminum, making the watch quite lightweight. It weighs only 80 grams. It’s also water-resistant.

It’s available now for $149(USD) in black, silver and sienna colors over at Tokyoflash. And no, it’s not named after the rotund internet cat video star of the same name.


Paper Blade E-Ink Watch Concept Offers a Refreshingly Different Design

I think E-ink display watches are some of the most underrated timepieces out there. They have cool, modern and easy-on-the-eyes displays, with the only downside being their lack of self-illumination. While there aren’t a ton of E-ink watches on the market, I’d love to see this cool design concept get produced.

paper blade watch concept 1

Conceived by UK designer Devindh, the Paper Blade watch would feature a unique geometric grid for its face, which creates a stencil for the E-ink display underneath. At first glance, the time seems a little tricky to read, but once you read the description of the display, it’s not too challenging: “The grid divides the paper into 4 ‘cells’. Upper and lower cells show the day, month, and year, and the central ‘cell’ shows the time in 24 hr format (the smaller digits showing minutes, and the larger digits showing hours).” So the watch above shows the time “23:53″ (or 11:53 pm). Make sense?

paper blade watch concept 3

The day and date display mimics the geometric forms of the watch face, completing the look. Devindh envisions the watch coming in a variety of color combinations, but I have to say my favorite is the copper-cased design up top. You don’t frequently find watches in copper – at least not good looking, modern ones.

paper blade watch concept 4If you like its style, and would like to see the Paper Blade go from concept to reality, head on over to the TokyoFlash Design Blog and vote for the design.


Tokyoflash launches the Kisai Maru watch, lets you live out your Tony Stark fantasies (video)

DNP Tokyoflash launches the Kisai Maru watch, lets you live out your Tony Stark fantasies video

It’s that time of the week when Tokyoflash launches another one of its charming, barely-decipherable timepieces. Except, this time out, the face is eminently readable — with the only baffling addition a ring that joins the minute and hour hands. While it’s available in black and silver, the sienna variant with its reddish-brown casing go hand-in-hand with the bracelet’s chunky stylings to make it eerily reminiscent of Tony Stark’s superhero outfit. If you’d to indulge your own arc reactor-infused fantasies, the company is selling the timepiece for $109 (€85, £68) until 2:00 AM ET Saturday, after which it’ll set you back $149 (€116, £93). If you want to take a moment to see it in action before you order a cheeseburger and declare yourself Iron Man, head on past the break.

Continue reading Tokyoflash launches the Kisai Maru watch, lets you live out your Tony Stark fantasies (video)

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Tokyoflash launches the Kisai Maru watch, lets you live out your Tony Stark fantasies (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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