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Wearable Technology

Watches

Fossil Shows Off Upcoming Smartwatch & Wearables

August 19, 2015

Fossil Intel Android Wear Smartwatch

We have heard that Intel and Fossil were working together on some wearable devices, but we finally caught of first peek of them this week at the Intel Developer Forum. Fossil will release 3 devices in total: a connected bracelet, a connected watch, and a smartwatch. The smartwatch is (obviously) powered by an Intel chip and is stylistically similar to the original Moto 360 watch; it is fairly large and thick with a round face that has a flat part at the bottom. It will run Android Wear and is expected to hit the market sometime around the Holidays. Beyond that, very little is known about the 3 devices. Fossil has promised to release more information closer to launch.

The reveal of Fossil’s first smartwatch closely follows news that US watch sales fell the most in seven years. The NPD Group, who conducted the survey, found that smartwatches, especially the Apple Watch, were a large cause of the sales erosion. The segment of the market hardest hit was the mid-tier level where Fossil resides. Unless Fossil has something more up their sleeves, I am not sure this is going to be the success they are hoping for. Already an uphill sales message (after all, what exactly does Fossil know about technology), it is going to take more than a seemingly recycled year-old design running a stock Android Wear OS to get people excited. It will be interesting to see how the market receives the watch, but I would guess “me too” products, as this appears to be, are not the correct path forward for traditional timepiece makers.

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by Doug Parker
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Misfit Speedo Shine
Wearable Technology

Misfit Partners With Speedo For Swimming Tracker

August 19, 2015

Misfit Speedo Shine

Misfit has announced a partnership with Speedo for a new swimming tracker. Well, it’s not totally new; the tracker is actually a variant of the aluminum Misfit Shine. Available in a raw aluminum color, the tracker retains the original Shine’s 50m waterproofing and 6 month battery life. For a $10 premium over the standard Shine, the Speedo version is able to track laps and swim distance in addition to the device’s standard activity tracking. You may recall, we recently took a look at the Misfit Flash (the Shine’s plastic sibling) and found it to be competent activity tracker but we were not in love with the app. So we were pleased to see that while the Speedo Shine will sync your swim and activity data to the Misfit app, you will also be able to use Speedo’s Speedo Fit swim tracking app. It will be interesting to see how Misfit’s new tracker compares to the upcoming and comparably priced MOOV Now. The MOOV Now allows you to wear two trackers to gain more detailed tracking information and is able to do things such as recognize your stroke and track your stroke rate / count.

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by Doug Parker
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Wearable Technology

Samsung Details Samsung Pay Launch And New Wearable

August 13, 2015

Samsung Pay Gear S2

Besides announcing some very large phones today, Samsung used their Unpacked 2015 event to offer up details on the upcoming Samsung Pay launch and show off a new smartwatch. The smartwatch is called the Gear S2. It is a metal, round faced watch that appears to run on the company’s custom Tizen OS platform. If the watch does run Tizen, it likely will not be compatible with non-Samsung devices. From the short glimpses shown today, it appears that Samsung is trying to improve the look of their wearables and corresponding software. Interestingly, we aren’t sure whether or not the Gear S2 is supposed to be a follow up to the original Gear S; it shares very little stylistically with its namesake and likely doesn’t have the S’s internal cellular connection. Samsung has promised to release more details about the wearable next month at IFA.

Samsung Pay also received some stage time today. With CurrentC exclusivity expiring, Apple Pay and other NFC based mobile payment systems are ready to make big leaps. Android Pay is expected to launch this Fall and we now know when Samsung Pay will come the US. The official US launch of Samsung Pay is September 28th, but select users will be able to beta test the service beginning August 25th. Slightly different from its competitors, Samsung does not require a NFC enabled pay terminal. Instead their technology also allows you to transmit a magnetic signal from your phone to swipe-based credit card readers. It will be interesting to see how practice the technology proves to be, especially since some pay terminals have a touch time reading cards that are actually physically swiped. Samsung hopes to bring its mobile payment service to the UK, Spain, and China next.

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by Doug Parker
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Jewelry

Omate Teams Up With Ungaro For Luxury Connected Ring

August 11, 2015

Omate Ungaro Smart Ring

Last Fall we took a look at a smartwatch designed for women by Omate. The company is back, this time with a high-end connected ring. Recently Apple has seen tremendous success with their higher-end watches, Olio can’t seem to produce enough, and TAG Heuer has indicated their smartwatch with cost close to $1,400; luxury wearables are starting to find an audience and Omate has decided it doesn’t want to be left out. The company is working with French design house Emanuel Ungaro to launch the aptly named Ungaro ring.

The ring costs between $500 and $2,000 depending on your choice of materials; you can choose from onyx, ruby, blue topaz, or opalite stones mounted to a 18K gold or silver plated ring. As far as features, well, there aren’t many. In fact the only thing the Bluetooth connected ring does is vibrate when you receive a notification from one person of your choosing (and only that person). No other notifications will cause the ring to vibrate. Omate’s Ungaro ring has one large competitor in the “connected ring” market, Ringly. Despite some initial mixed reviews, Ringly offers a much larger feature set, including a colored LED, at a much lower price point, $195 to $260. The Ungaro ring launches for iOS this November and in early 2016 for Android. As with other Omate products, the ring will be sold through Richline Group retail partners.

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by Doug Parker
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Jewelry

Business Insider Finds Ringly Doesn’t Live Up To Hype

August 5, 2015

Ringly

Business Insider recently got their hands on a Ringly and have just posted a review. Originally announced in 2013, Ringly was one of the first wearable devices to specifically target women. The device features your choice of one of 5 precious and semi-precious stones set in an 18K matte gold setting. Depending on what type of notification you receive and whom it is from, you can set the ring to vibrate in one of 4 patterns and a small LED on the side to illuminate in one of 5 colors.

Browsing the Business Insider review, the first thing that jumps out at you is that the device does not look like a $260 ring. The matte gold makes the setting look like cheap plastic and the thing is huge. According to the site, Ringly is around 3/4″ tall – a far cry from the discreet device that was originally spoken about by the company. In practice, the notifications are reported as being useful but since most of them came from users that you haven’t assigned specific notifications for, you are constantly pulling your phone out to see who was trying to communicate with you. To that end, when out to dinner, the reviewer found the ring more distracting than setting your phone out. Business Insider ultimately concluded that dollar for dollar, they would rather pay more and purchase an Apple Watch. Please check out their full review!

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by Doug Parker
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Eyewear

Google’s Next Version Of Google Glass Isn’t For Consumers

August 5, 2015

Google Glass New Enterprise Work Version

If after our report of a new FCC filing you had gotten your hopes up regarding an imminent release of the new Google Glass, you should have a seat. Turns out there is a new version of Google Glass being released this fall but it is only for Google’s enterprise partners’ development teams. The new version is not the reimagining of the product fans had been hoping for, but instead a refinement for people who depend on the device for their work. According to the WSJ’s sources, the completely redesigned consumer version is still a ways off – at least a year. In the meantime, let’s check out what the new enterprise version features. Google apparently has made the device more durable and more water resistant so that it holds up better to the abuses of a work environment. In addition to a faster processor, Google Glass has added better wireless connectivity and longer lasting, replaceable battery packs. Apparently the display now can be adjusted left and right or up and down and the device is hinged so that it can be folded like a pair of standard glasses. The new enterprise version of Google Glass is expected to ship this fall to partners and is reported to cost well below the Explorer’s previous $1,500 price point, which is a fantastic bellwether for the pricing of the forthcoming consumer version!

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by Doug Parker
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Wearable Technology

Wearhaus Ships World’s First Social Headphones

August 5, 2015

Wearhaus Arc Headphones

Walk around any city or college campus and headphones seem to be standard issue. You see them in every shape, size, and color with more and more of them being wireless. While wireless Bluetooth headphones can be very convenient, all they are really doing is loosing the cord. The co-founders of Wearhaus sought to find a way to utilize the Bluetooth connection to make headphones more connected. The result is Arc, the world’s first pair of social headphones. The idea is pretty clever; when you listen to music through the Arc app, a “radio station” of sorts is created which anyone with Arc headphones can listen to. Simply double tap on the side of the headphones and you will connect to the nearest station or use the app to browse what people near you are listening to. Arc is designed to connect you to the music around you. Currently 6 of the $200 headphones…  

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by Doug Parker
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