Microsoft is reportedly close to acquiring key wearables patents from the Osterhout Design Group, a US military contractor and research specialist, in what’s said to be a $200m deal to help take on Google Glass, Apple’s rumored iWatch, and more. The purchase – which could consist solely of patents and assets, or may involve key […]
Does the world need another fitness tracker? Polar believes so, and the Polar Loop is its offering, a wrist-worn “smart coaching” wearable that monitors both fitness and sleep. Reminiscent of Nike’s Fuelband, complete with an LED display for giving real-time feedback, the Loop supports Bluetooth Smart for low-power connectivity to your smartphone, as well as […]
We’ve tested our fair share of activity trackers and Polar is now adding one more to the fray. That’s not a Nike+ FuelBand you see, it’s the Polar Loop: a wearable for your wrist that keep tabs on activity, exercise and sleep patterns. Touting the “first waterproof” gadget of this sort, the company says the device can discern between activity levels, with alerts and motivational feedback along the way. The Loop syncs to Apple smartphones via Bluetooth with its companion app, Polar Flow. Similar to Nike’s wearable, Polar’s offering displays goal info, calories burned, steps taken and the time on an LED display. If you’re also after a heart rate monitor, the Loop can be combined with Polar’s H6 or H7 heart rate sensors for that purpose when it arrives next month in black with a pink version set for release in 2014.
Filed under: Wearables
In typical cases, monitoring a patient’s vital signs involves hooking them up to a variety of sensors, all of which end up inhibiting the patient’s mobility and causing a tangle of wires. Such isn’t the case with wearable sensors developed by researchers at the Liverpool John Moores University, however, who have received a patent for […]
Many running watches aren’t very interesting to… well, watch. You can’t say that for Garmin’s new Forerunner 220 and 620, both of which carry one-inch color screens that provide clearer visual cues and new run / walk alerts. Either device will sync data to a PC or phone through Bluetooth, and the 620 (pictured at left) can connect through WiFi. The 620 is also keenly aware of its wearer’s abilities. It can gauge peak oxygen volumes, and estimates race times based on likely endurance; an optional companion for the 620, the HRM-Run, measures gait with an accelerometer and suggests days off based on heart rate history. Interested athletes can pick up the Forerunner 220 and 620 this fall at respective prices of $250 and $400. They can also spend $50 more to bundle a heart rate monitor with the 220, or the HRM-Run with the 620.
Source: Garmin
You may remember the ParaShoot wearable camera we covered a few weeks ago, which had shattered its crowdfunding target with a month and change to spare. If you decided to sink some cash into the project, then you may also be aware it was suspended on Kickstarter a couple of days ago. Matt Sandy from the ParaShoot team has been in touch to share what little info he has — it’s claimed the suspension was out of the blue, and no communication has come from the funding site since. With “manufacturing plans” sorted, however, there’s no time to twiddle thumbs, so ParaShoot’s hit Indiegogo instead. Seeking $117,358 — the amount the Kickstarter campaign was frozen at — version 2.1 proposes a slightly different flat-fronted design (see above and try to ignore the ugly watermark), more choices of skin and a new time-lapse photo feature. Pledge levels are the same, although there’s now a “Distributor Pack” option if you want ten of the things. We’ve reached out to Kickstarter to see if it’s willing to tell us the other side of the story, and we’ll let you know if we hear back.
Filed under: Cameras, Wearables
Source: Indiegogo
An Explorer Edition of Glass is already a pricey piece of tech, and smartphone tethering plans required to give it a mobile internet connection have only made ownership that much more expensive. However, there’s good news for Google’s guinea pigs: the latest update to the headgear quietly implemented a way around the additional monthly fees. With XE9 loaded onto headsets, the companion Android app pipes data to and from the hardware, bypassing both the smartphone’s Bluetooth tethering settings and extra plan previously needed from some carriers. To match the change, the application’s notification icon sports two arrows to signify the flow of info. We doubt telcos will be fazed by this development for now, but we don’t know if that’ll hold once Glass arrives on shelves and hits the streets en masse. We’ve contacted Google to find out if the feature will make it to retail units.
This week the folks at Omate have released a series of photos as well as a sort of up-close handsy video of the TrueSmart smartwatch in what they’re suggesting will be the final working design. This device is still part of a KickStarter campaign, but has been funded well and above its original goal (surpassing […]
Smartwatches like Samsung’s Galaxy Gear and Sony’s multiple attempts to break the wearables market are trying too hard and missing the point, Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky says, arguing that simplicity is the right route to the wrist. “I think everyone is kind of ignoring the things that you need to do with a smartwatch” Kickstarter […]
Founder of smartwatch startup Pebble Eric Migicovsky took the stage at Disrupt, interviewed by our own John Biggs. He addressed head on the recently revealed competition from smartphone giant Samsung, and talked about what Pebble does that no other competitors out there have necessarily nailed down, and why he thinks their approach will continue to prevail despite mounting interest from top-tier, established hardware makers.
Migicovsky said that everyone seems to be ignoring the reason that Pebble was a success to begin with, which mainly has to do with identifying use cases for a wearable device. He argued that a smartwatch should “flow into the background” of a user’s life, and that the way to convince people to put one on is to show them how it can be useful to their life, but at the same time essentially become a background process, rather than something that requires major changes in how you live on a daily basis.
Asked directly about competitors, Migicovsky was quick to point out that OEMs have been making smartwatches for years, including Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola and many others. Once again, he argues that all those companies are ignoring the reasons that people are interested in smartwatches to begin with – they want something that will “mesh into your life,” have long battery life, and not have to be babied and coddled for fear of getting it wet or inadvertently smashing it up.
The overall vision for the Pebble is one of a “thin client,” Migicovsky says. “We think the best computer you have is the one sitting in your pocket,” he argues, referring to the smartphones most of us now carry. Those have great screens, touch input, 3G and 4G connectivity and more. There’s no need to replicate that, but instead the real opportunity is to build a control device not only for that phone, but for other connected devices in your life, too. He mentioned wrist-based thermostat control, as well as connection with bike sharing terminals, and pointed to the RunKeeper integration as a perfect example of how they envision Pebble slotting into people’s lives.
For those who haven’t tried it out, RunKeeper’s Pebble integration replaces the screen when you start the app and start a run from your phone, showing you distance travelled, pace and more. Ideally that’s how Pebble would work on a much broader basis, becoming contextually the most appropriate tool for whatever you’re doing, whenever you’re doing it.
That’s why when Biggs asked him about Pebble 2.0, or what the next-generation device would look like, Migicovsky demurred and said it’s the same hardware you currently have on your wrist. Software is the next stage for Pebble, he contends, with the ultimate aim being partnering with developers to build out that ecosystem and help Pebble work with plenty of sensor and new apps to become a more generally useful tool for any given context.
Migicovsky also dodged a second attempt to get details of next-gen hardware when Biggs framed a question in light of Apple’s rumored iWatch. The Pebble founder wouldn’t speculate as to how Pebble might have to change to compete with an Apple wearable, and reiterated that software is the future. Of course, it’s never good policy for a device maker with something currently on shelves to talk about next-generation products, but for now at least, Migicovsky and Pebble seem to be all about developing the software ecosystem to explore the full potential of what they’ve already built.
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