Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung’s smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, didn’t exactly prove to be a hit this year but that doesn’t mean that the company will drop support for it just yet. Two of the biggest issues that were voiced after its release were the dismal battery life and the inability to display notifications from all applications. Samsung addressed both issues through a software update earlier this month, the update has finally been released in the U.S. Build V700XXUAMK7 for Galaxy Gear improves battery life as well as the notifications.

Apart from that, the latest Galaxy Gear update also improves range, connection and the overall performance. It also features a faster S Voice. The enhanced battery life would no doubt be well received, users will also be stoked about finally being able to receive notifications from all built-in as well as third-party applications on their smartwatch. With support for the Galaxy Gear slowly being added to a variety of Samsung devices, its about time that these issues were addressed so that potential customers wouldn’t hesitate in making a decision about picking one up. The update is being rolled out over the air, so Galaxy Gear owners in the U.S. should receive a notification shortly if they haven’t already. Alternatively, the smartwatch may also be updated through the Samsung Kies software.

Galaxy Gear Update Improves Battery Life And Notifications original content from Ubergizmo.

Today, Pebble announced its app store and we are very happy about this news, this will make the process of finding and installing the applications more friendly for new users. When I tried the Pebble, I found it a little complicated to find good applications easily.

Right now, there are many places where you can download Pebble apps and watch faces besides within the Pebble app, the Google Play store and the Apple App store. PebbleBarn and MyPebbleFaces.com are the most popular third party app and face stores and they are recommended on the Pebble Support Center.

The Pebble App Store will go live early next year alongside the SDK 2.0 that was announced a month ago. According to the company, the app store will include 7 categories for Daily, Remotes, Games, Notifications, Tools & Utilities, Sports & Fitness and Watchfaces.  In each category, users will find a selection of the best apps.

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Pebble App Store Announced original content from Ubergizmo.

Foxconn is a huge company, but given their affiliation with Apple, many have associated them to be mainly the manufacturers of Apple’s iOS products. Perhaps hoping to break away from that image and reducing their reliance on Apple for business, Foxconn has entered into other ventures, and according to a report by Bloomberg, the Chinese company is looking to start up an investment fund in which it will focus on developing new kinds of wearable technology. Foxconn’s foray into wearable technology is not new as the company has demonstrated their own brand of smartwatch earlier this year.

Foxconn unit, Syntrend Creative Park, will be administering a $6.8 million fund and will be selecting candidates for trial come Q1 2014. It is unclear what sort of products or innovations that would be a result of this investment, so we guess we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for more info. This is not the first time Foxconn has reportedly ventured into other areas of business. We had also heard that the company was looking to bid for 4G spectrum in Taiwan, and will also be working with the folks at Mozilla at creating Firefox OS devices.

Foxconn Reportedly Looking To Invest In Wearable Tech original content from Ubergizmo.

With the trend of wearable gadgets catching on, we’re bound to see some great products come out next year. These products will obviously depend upon breakthroughs in technology, and today Vuzix announced a major optical breakthrough that will radically improve glasses-based wearable devices. With the announcement of Vuzix M2000AR HMD, the company is showing off its new Waveguide optics engine developed in collaboration of Nokia. Waveguide enables smart eyewear technology to be fitted into standard glasses frames.

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Vuzix M2000AR First Smartglasses To Use Waveguide Optical Technology original content from Ubergizmo.

The Wearable Technologies Conference Europe is coming up fast and will be hosted at the same time as the ISPO MUNICH, the leading sports business trade show. Last year more than 81,000 people from over 109 countries visited the ISPO in Munich. From January 26 to 29, exhibitors from around the world will be presenting everything sports-related – from footwear to performance sports – on more than 100,000 sqm of exhibition area.

Ubergizmo is a media partner of the Wearable Technologies Conference, and Ubergizmo readers will get a 20% discount on the registration fee on this page by using the uebergizmo_WT discount code. This code will be valid from Dec. 05 9am (CET) to Dec. 12 2013 9am (CET).

Hear about and see the future of wearable technologies

With conferences on three continents and more than 1,000 attendees, 2013 has been an amazing year. In Munich the original Wearable Technologies Conference Europe will offer two days (January 27 and 28) of exciting new technologies, case studies, and experts. In short, the complete value chain will be present.

One Highlight will be the award ceremony of the Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup on Jan. 27 at around 5p.m. During the award show, the finalists of the categories Sports & Fitness, Healthcare & Wellness, Security & Prevention, Gaming & Lifestyle, as well as the special categories “Evolve Insurance Award”, “Smart Clothing”, “blukii® App 2.0”, and “Phone as a Wearable Hub Award” will present their solutions and products, and the “WT Innovator of the year” will be announced.

On an extra exhibition area of roughly 3,000 sqm around the conference venue, reserved only for wearable technologies novelties,  attendees can speak to pioneers of this rapidly evolving, billion-Dollar market and get their hands on the newest wearables.

Since 2006 Wearable Technologies Conferences have been the leading events, showcasing cutting-edge innovation, focusing on decision makers, experts and developers from commerce, production and research, in particular from the fields of Health, Wellness, Active Life, Lifestyle Computing, Communication, Security/Safety, and Fashion. These unique events aim to encourage a dialogue between the respective industries to bring forward new solutions and applications for a rapidly growing target group. Attendees experience the most comprehensive line-up of technology innovations, discuss the latest trends, and meet thought leaders as well as new start-ups in this area. But convince yourself and take a look at our conferences in 2013.

Often copied, never equaled – the Wearable Technologies Conference is back in Munich on January 27 and 28! original content from Ubergizmo.