Wearable Computing & Fashion News - Page 31

The latest and most important Wearable Computing & Fashion news - Page 31.

Follow TweakTown on Google News

Intel unveils MICA smart high-tech, luxury smart bracelet to consumers

Michael Hatamoto | Sep 4, 2014 7:30 AM CDT

Intel has unveiled the My Intelligence Communication Accessory (MICA), a luxury smart bracelet that will be available at Barney's in time for Christmas. The bracelet has water snakeskin and semi-precious gems in a design that features a touchscreen display for wearers to interact with.

The only hardware features currently available from Intel is that it includes a 3G cellular radio. However, it will support SMS messaging, messages sent to the bracelet and calendar reminders from your mobile phone.

"The wearables market currently exists in two categories - sports wearables that track performance and wearables that are pretty much a cell phone crammed into a small space," said Aysegul Ildeniz, Intel new devices VP, in a recent interview. "We have to grow the pie collectively. We need to go after audiences not addressed currently by wearables and make them much more aesthetically pleasing."

Continue reading: Intel unveils MICA smart high-tech, luxury smart bracelet to consumers (full post)

ASUS makes its ZenWatch official, powered by Android Wear for $260

Anthony Garreffa | Sep 3, 2014 6:58 AM CDT

ASUS has finally taken the wraps off of its ZenWatch, the company's first wearable, at IFA 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The new ZenWatch is powered by Google's wearable OS, Android Wear, and features a 1.63-inch, 320x320 AMOLED touchscreen.

The body of the ZenWatch sports a curved stainless steel case which is surrounded by a rose-gold-colored inset, with the top of the smartwatch featuring a piece of 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3. It includes a genuine stitched-leather strap with a quick release clasp in the box, but this can be swapped out with your own 22mm band.

Inside of ASUS' first wearable is the same processor that powers some of the smartwatches from Samsung and LG: a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 SoC. We also have 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal flash storage, a 1.4Wh battery, Bluetooth 4.0, a microphone and a biosensor that can monitor your heart rate and activity. ASUS has splashed an IP55 rating on the ZenWatch, so you don't have to take it off if you're going to jump in the shower. The Taiwanese manufacturer has also ported some of its ZenUI elements onto the ZenWatch, with some pre-loaded functions making the cut.

Continue reading: ASUS makes its ZenWatch official, powered by Android Wear for $260 (full post)

Swatch tries to jump into smartwatch market on its own terms

Michael Hatamoto | Sep 1, 2014 4:09 PM CDT

Watch maker Swatch looks forward to launch its own smartwatches next year, with the aim of competing for a multi-billion-dollar industry that analysts expect Samsung, Apple, and other companies to dominate in the coming years. Swatch is the largest watchmaker in the world, and hopes its new Swatch Touch - scheduled for release in 2015 - will help shake up the smartwatch market even further.

"Our first message for customers is the watch," said Nick Hayek, Swatch CEO, in a recent interview posted on Reuters. "If they like it, they might also be interested in the extra functions. It is a problem if you only define a product by its technology. Technology alone doesn't sell, not in watches."

Analysts believe Swatch could take a two percent revenue and earnings hit from potential Apple iWatch growth with each 10 market share the iWatch can capture. Swatch and Apple would be able to offer a lucrative product, but Swatch wants to continue selling fashionable watches - and not just focus on technology.

Continue reading: Swatch tries to jump into smartwatch market on its own terms (full post)

Leaked photos of the purported OneWatch smartwatch from OnePlus

Anthony Garreffa | Aug 1, 2014 12:33 AM CDT

When OnePlus launched its One smartphone earlier this year, most were wondering when the company would release something else - were they working on the next version of One (Two?) or a wearable? Well, BGR India has an exclusive look at the OneWatch from OnePlus, something the company is reportedly close to launching.

The OneWatch will be build from some high-end materials, something that includes titanium for screen borders, leather for bands, and sapphire for the OLED display's cover. OnePlus kicks it up a notch with the OneWatch though, with Qi wireless charging capabilities, a circular screen like the beautiful Moto 360 smartwatch, and a curved battery. We should also see the OneWatch arrive with a user-configurable physical button on the side.

We don't know if OnePlus will use Android Wear on the OneWatch, or whether it'll feature a customized version of Cyanogen mod. OnePlus levied the custom Android-based OS for its One smartphone, so it might do the same with the OneWatch, too. The biggest selling point of the upcoming OneWatch will be its price, with OnePlus pricing its One smartphone incredibly cheap, at under half the price of the competition, with similar, if not better specifications inside of the One smartphone.

Continue reading: Leaked photos of the purported OneWatch smartwatch from OnePlus (full post)

Google's Larry Page clashes with Samsung over smart watch direction

Tamlin Magee | Jul 20, 2014 6:03 PM CDT

Google's CEO Larry Page has slammed Samsung for picking its own Tizen in its smart watches over Android Wear, according to a report.

The Information claims Samsung's chairman Jay Y Lee and the Google CEO held a "tense private meeting" at the Sun Valley Allen & Co conference. Page allegedly spoke to Lee about his frustrations Samsung was heavily pushing Tizen devices like the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo over the Android Wear enabled Gear Live, and told Lee how he'd prefer it if the company focused on Android Wear, particularly as the latter is compatible with a wider range of Android smartphones and tablets.

The report, if true, could be indicative of a larger debate about the future of smart watches. As we reported earlier this year, there was some controversy when Samsung appeared to favor its own software rather than Android. Consumer wearable tech, specifically smartwatches, is very much in its infancy - with some of Samsung's own efforts largely being considered a swing and a miss to date. Although Samsung is the top Android manufacturer at the moment, tensions over which direction to take the emerging market could well cause conflict. That is, of course, reliant on if smart watches take off at all.

Continue reading: Google's Larry Page clashes with Samsung over smart watch direction (full post)

Scientists patent a new flexible nano-pixel bendable screen technology

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh | Jul 14, 2014 5:24 AM CDT

Scientists were able to invent a nano-pixel ultra high definition. The researchers at the Oxford University were able to achieve this by using a very small layer of a phase-change material which also allows you to be bend while maintains thousandths of a millimetre thickness.

Phase change materials are used for heat management purposes, and is used in rewritable DVDs. The layer is kept between two transparent electrodes and were able to produce pixels are as small as 300 nanometers which is smaller than the width of a human hair.This technology and has a lot of usefulness especially for wearable technology that benefits from foldable or flexible screens while having minimum thickness, such as smart contact lenses.

This implementation will still time take to appear as ready-to-use products. As of now, they aren't able to use it to display movable pictures but it is able to produce different colour changes. Professor Harish Bhaskaran explained,"The cool part about this is that the functional part is very thin. Because of that you could actually have displays that are non-intrusive, because you can keep the electronics far away."

Continue reading: Scientists patent a new flexible nano-pixel bendable screen technology (full post)

Google orders a pizza on the Android Wear-powered Moto 360 smartwatch

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 25, 2014 12:16 PM CDT

Google I/O 2014 - There's a meme here, surely? I don't always order pizza, but when I do, it's from my smartwatch. Well, Google did just that at Google I/O when it showed off the Moto 360 smartwatch.

The Moto 360 smartwatch is powered by Google's upcoming Android Wear OS, which has some nifty tricks up its sleeve. Whenever you update an application on your smartphone, the smartwatch will update the counterpart app on your smartphone. But ordering a pizza from what your watch? Now that is something I've never seen before.

The Moto 360 will be available for sale later in the summer, but Google also took the time at the event to announce that LG's G Watch will be available to order later today from the Play Store.

Continue reading: Google orders a pizza on the Android Wear-powered Moto 360 smartwatch (full post)

Google updates Glass hardware, doubles the RAM to 2GB

Anthony Garreffa | Jun 24, 2014 9:03 PM CDT

Google only just announced it was launching its Glass Explorer program in the UK, but now we have news that the Mountain View-based search giant has refreshed the hardware in its Glass headset.

Glass now features 2GB of RAM, double the RAM from its previous iteration. The company has been pushing out constant software enhancements that have been slowly increasing battery life, but the refreshed Glass headset also sports a slightly larger battery. Google says that with the blend of software enhancements and the increased battery, we should expect an additional 15% charge on Glass.

The extra RAM on the other hand, according to Glass' Product Manager, Steve Lee, "will allow for more Glassware [apps] to run in parallel and for each Glassware to start more quickly. You'll notice the device generally feels a bit faster and more reliable". The new software baked into Glass will pave the way for a voice-activated viewfinder that will help users frame photos better - something that has been needed since Glass was released.

Continue reading: Google updates Glass hardware, doubles the RAM to 2GB (full post)

Samsung, Pebble control more than 90 percent of smartwatch market

Michael Hatamoto | Jun 11, 2014 10:14 PM CDT

Samsung and Pebble became early supporters of smartwatches, and that decision has paid off with both companies controlling the estimated $96 million market. Samsung has 78 percent of market revenue with its Gear smartwatch, as Pebble is in No. 2 with 18 percent revenue share.

The smartwatch market is poised to explode in popularity, as one in 5 consumers have expressed interest in the technology, according to the NPD research group. The average price of a smartwatch is $189, with prices varying from $160 up to $257 - and 25-34 year olds are most interested in smartwatches.

"The smartwatch market is poised to continue to grow in 2014," said Ben Arnold, NPD executive director of industry analysis, in a statement. "With nearly $100 million in U.S. sales in less than a year, the category is off to a promising start with just two major brands."

Continue reading: Samsung, Pebble control more than 90 percent of smartwatch market (full post)

Ringly smart ring alerts users of calls, texts, and email

Shane McGlaun | Jun 11, 2014 5:22 AM CDT

There are plenty of smartwatches on the market today that will give the wearer alerts for emails, texts, and calls. The problem for some people is that smartwatches are often not that attractive. A new wearable device has turned up that brings some of the notification features of a smartwatch to users who don't like the looks of a smartwatch.

The product is called Ringly and it looks like some sort of fashion ring that people would wear normally. The big difference between Ringly and normal fashion rings is that Ringly has tech inside to sync with your smartphone. Ringly can alert the wearer of smartphone app notifications, texts, phone calls, and emails. It's aimed mostly at women.

Ringly will work with iOS and Android devices and will be offered starting at $145. Eventually the device will sell for $195. Ringly will be offered in four styles that all feature gold plated bands with different square semi-precious stones set inside. Power in the battery for the ring will last up to three days. When the user taps their pointer finger and thumb together, the ring lights up and a combination of lights and vibrations tell the user what notifications are active on the phone. A tiny flashing light is also on the side of the ring.

Continue reading: Ringly smart ring alerts users of calls, texts, and email (full post)