Tag: wearable

Garmin Launched its Fitness Tracker ‘vivofit’ on Flipkart for Rs. 9990

Garmin, satellite navigation provider, just announced a new fitness tracker called vivofit. The plastic tracker is set on a rubber wristband that will be exclusively available on Flipkart in black and slate colour options.

The fitness tracker’s design seems inspired by the Nike+FuelBand. It comes equipped with all the basic features needed to track ones activities – a step counter, distance travel meter, calories burnt, sleep tracker, basic clock, date and time, and is capable of syncing with Garmin’s Heart rate monitor.

“Garmin has been providing fitness monitoring devices for over a decade, and with vívofit we say hello to the fitness band that knows your potential,” said Tony An, Sales and Marketing Director, Garmin Corporation, “Being able to monitor the quality of rest after retiring for the night, being challenged by personalized daily goals and doing so without having to charge it every few days, makes vívofit a fitness band that should be on everyone’s wrist.”

The Garmin vivofit keeps an eye on everything from your sleep patterns and steps to calories burned and distance traveled. It’s water resistant and durable, and syncs with your smartphone.

But where vivofit really sets itself apart, is its ability to let you completely forget about charging it. This fitness band can keep chugging for a full year before you even have to think about swapping out its power supply.

To sync this data to your mobile phone you need to download the Garmin Connect application from the App store for Apple devices and Play Store for Android devices and connect with Bluetooth. This tracker along with smartphone sync, can also be synced to any computer using the ANT+ dongle, which is included in the box and Garmin express software, syncing it to Garmin Connect.

You can buy Garmin vivofit exclusively on Flipkart for a mere Rs. 9,990.

August 6, 2014
Lenovo is Working on a Google Glass Competitor

Lenovo recently confirmed that it is working on a device similar to Google Glass. The device is said to a five-megapixel camera, voice recognition and gesture control, and around 12GB of internal storage.

The Google-Glass look alike will have a battery attached down at the neck of the user. The Chinese computing giant said that more information will be revealed in October. However the company said that they are looking for partners to foray into the wearable market. It has reportedly created the “NBD” platform, which is Chinese for “new bench”.

Vuzix M100

“Right now there are too many devices you can develop for the Internet of Things. It is too rich. Not a single company can do it all,” Chen Xudong, senior vice-president of Lenovo was quoted saying. The NBD platform is geared towards the Chinese market, but it may soon turn its attention to the rest of the world. “We hope to use Lenovo’s advantages to combine with innovators,” Chen added. “This platform can help them quickly start selling products, and create a supply chain for the market.”

In a bid to achieve its goal, the company has launched the NBD platform. With NBD, Lenovo wants to “offer funding, manufacturing, hardware research and other logistical support to partners”, the report added.

Prototype of Lenovo C1

The device, called C1, will support NBD platform that aims to make connected devices like web-enabled air purifiers more inter-compatible, by providing a framework, R&D, manufacturing support and will even provide funding to third-party firms.

Lenovo has also partnered with German company called Luftmed which manufactures an affordable air purifier that can be controlled with a smartphone. Lenovo also announced that the company has partnered with Vuzix to launch M100 smart glasses in China.

Lenovo now has two smart glasses in production, the M100 and the Google Glass-like C1. According to the report, the M100 uses Android 4.0.4 and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor. It will first go on sale to developers for 8,000 yuan ($1298) in August or September 2014, but its ultimate target is the business market.

July 30, 2014
Apple’s iTime Patent Strongly Hints Their Entry into The Wearable Market

While iPhone 6 is making rounds on the internet with new renders and rumours everyday, Apple’s much-awaited smart watch seemed to have gotten lost in the crowd. But recent evidence of Apple’s interest in wearable devices surfaced on Tuesday with the publication of the company’s latest U.S. patent.

Apple has never publicly acknowledged that it’s working on a smartwatch, although it’s widely expected that an “iWatch” could be introduced as soon as this September. On Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Apple for a smartwatch concept referred to as ‘iTime’. The documents was first spotted by AppleInsider, disrupting the secrecy code regarding company’s wrist-based ambitions at least a little bit.

Unlike the all-in-one smartwatch devices already revealed by Samsung and LG, the iTime will actually feature two main components: a smart strap, which can apparently be swapped out to change functionality, and a small touchscreen media player reminiscent of the sixth-generation iPod Nano, which is mentioned by name in the patent. Although, you can certainly expect the display technology used on the iTime to be vastly superior to the old Nano.

Based on the patent, Apple envisions a smartwatch with a range of functions, including notifying the user of incoming messages and allowing a user to remotely control other devices. “An incoming phone call, a text message, a social network post, or a news feed directed to a user’s electronic device (e.g., mobile phone) can cause a notification to be provided to a nearby electronic wristband of the user,” the document said. The electronic wristband can also “provide remote controls to a user.”

Apple is widely expected to introduce a wearable device with functionality very similar to that described in the patent. According to the most recent speculation, Apple’s first attempt into the wearables game may sport a “slightly curved” 2.5-inch OLED display and could come in three sizes. The device is also said to have a heavy focus on health and wellness, with possible fitness tracking functions built-in.

Based on what Apple told us at WWDC of company’s plans for health, fitness and home automation, a new wearable (or wearables) could fit perfectly into the its grand scheme of things. And if this patent is any indication, they’ve already been devising that scheme for years.

July 23, 2014
Xiaomi Announced a Super Cheap Mi Band Along With Mi 4

Since the Xiaomi Mi 3 sold in India like hot cakes, we’re keeping our eyes on any and every device the company might soon offer. Yesterday, Xiaomi not only introduced the new flagship phone Mi4, but also a fitness tracker. The band looks quite simple with no display. It is a bold step for the company to enter the wearable market, but with their aggressive pricing strategy they are mostly likely to sell out within hours.

The Mi Band tracks your movement (walking or running) plus sleeping pattern, and you can also use it as a smart vibrating alarm to wake up feeling better. Interestingly, a single charge on this waterproof device will last up to 30 days, which easily beats its competitors that tend to last for a week or less.

Just like Xiaomi’s smartphones, the band is super-cheap compared to the ones available in the market priced at CNY79 (approximately Rs 789). At this price point, the Xiaomi could take the reach of wearable tech to a new level, in case it is launched as a standalone device that works with other devices too. However, there is the possibility that it may work only with Xiaomi phones.

Equipped with an aluminium surface with a micro laser perforation and no display screen, the Xiaomi Mi Band is water resistant (IP67). Once paired with the smartphone, the Mi Band can be used to unlock the user’s smartphone without typing a password or patterns. The Mi Band will be available in range of colour variants including Blue, Pink, Brown, Black, Purple and Grey.

There is no word on the availability of the device in India. We wonder if Xiaomi plans to bundle it with the Mi 4. While, Xiaomi is little known in the West, where it does not yet sell devices, there is an emerging popularity of the company in India. Furthermore, the firm disclosed that its first batch of Mi 3 went on sale in India and sold out within 38 minutes earlier.

July 23, 2014
Apple is Gearing Up For The iWatch Launch

Apple’s iWatch is one of the most anticipated wearable of the year. Apple seems to be gearing up to release its new iWatch which will undoubtedly be the first of many wearable devices Apple will launch in the coming years.

Recently, Nike discontinued FuelBand product line to concentrate on the software letting go more than 80 employees of Fuelband. While the product is still being sold, the company had decided to working on wearables. Now reports have surfaced that are some of the important members of the FuelBand team have been poached by Apple. According to rumors, former FuelBand team members Ryan Bailey and Jon Gale were both hired by Apple in June.

Nike Discontinues the Nike + FuelBand Production

Bailey was formerly Nike’s Senior Test and Validation Engineer for the FuelBand, and his LinkedIn profile now lists him as Mechanical Design Engineer at Apple. Gale had been Nike’s Senior Firmware Engineer focusing on the FuelBand line of wrist-worn fitness trackers, and he is now Apple’s Sensing Systems Engineer.

The fact that Apple is hiring former Nike FuelBand employees heavily indicates that the mysterious iWatch may finally grant us its presence. Apple is rumored to launch it this year sometime around October. It is also been said that the iWatch may be announced with iPhone 6.

July 11, 2014
Microsoft Rumored to Launch its Own Smartwatch This October

We start this new week with a fresh rumor about Microsoft’s plans to come up with a new Smartwatch. After Google and Apple, its arch-rivals, investing huge in the wearable technology, Microsoft also may enter this segment with the launch of a Smartwatch this October.

Though there are hardly any details about the device Microsoft is coming up with, Tom’s Hardware, an online publication, has reported “trusted source with knowledge of the development has verified some of that information and provided us with additional details about the device.”

Microsoft’s watch is ditching the popular chunky appearance wand has gone with a slim band design.

For starters, the source confirmed the earlier rumors about Microsoft’s plan of preparing a cross-platform Smartwatch with the ability to continuously track your heart rate and sync the data to your devices.

It has also been said that the device might be dropping the popular chunky appearance we’re seeing on the current Smartwatches like the Gear and the G Watch. Instead, Microsoft will go for a slim band design that is said to resemble a thinner, flatter version of the Nike Fuel band. Details about the hardware are less, though it is said that there are 11 sensors under the hood and a mix of chips including some from TI and Atmel.

Like the rest of the rumors, the timeline for the watch’s release date isn’t too certain. But it is said that Microsoft could be targeting for an October release. Also the Smartwatch won’t just tie in with Windows Phone devices, but will also work with both iOS and Android smartphones.

The market is just starting to explode with wearables, with Apple announcing its first iWatch later this year and Samsung expected to launch a Smartwatch in the summer that can independently make calls. Google is also aiming big in this segment with the launch of Android Wear at this year’s Google I/O.

June 30, 2014
Barclays Introduces Wearable Credit Cards

The horror of losing our credit card haunts us every day. If you are anything like me, you surely have lost your credit cards number of times. The aftermath is even terrible with tedious process of form-filling and standing in long lines to apply for a new one. Well, Barclays, the London-based multinational banking and financial services company, found a solution for that. A wireless wearable device that can act as your virtual wallet and give cashless transactions a boost.

Called the bPay band, it is a part of a revolution where wearable technology will allow consumers to pay for a variety of services, such as coffee, travel and even gym memberships, with the single swipe of an arm.

Barclays’ bands are efficiently laden with money by users from their bank accounts, which can then be used for little purchases up to a single transaction value of £20 by swiping them over a pay point. The new bands are rubberized, waterproof and enclose a computer chip and micro-aerial to correspond with transaction terminals. Wearable 24 hours a day, bPay bands operate faster than usual plastic cards as they don’t require a four-digit pin.

The bPay bands have been already used at public events such as London Pride, where they were used to get entry and buy food and drink. The company is planing to bring the bands to the mainstream so that they can be used at 300,000 terminals and incoffee shops and newsagents , that already work with contactless debit cards.

The company is still working with various retailers, merchants and consumers for the greater acceptance of the technology. Company website mentioned that, it will be possible to pay for journeys on all buses, tubes and trains inside London by swiping bPay bands across terminals from later this year.

June 11, 2014
Google Glass No Longer Requires Tethering Plan, Gets App-Based Data Sharing

Explorer Edition of Google Glass is continuously being updated with new tricks, In a normal case scenario to use internet on the Glass, one needs smartphone tethering plans which adds more expense to the ownership of the Glass.

However, the latest update to the device shows a way to save this additional cost. With XE9 loaded onto the device, the Android app stores data to and from the hardware, overcoming the smartphone’s Bluetooth tethering settings and extra plan needed from some carriers.

Google Glass is currently only on the faces of a small number of early adopters, so this is not suppose to massively disrupt any carrier incomes. Once the device becomes available to the general public, this firmware update could see some push-back from carriers.

September 16, 2013