SALON - May 30 - The big money in wearables could come from the data they generate and not the hardware. Insurance companies are particularly interested, as the data would allow them to more accurately assess risk for health, car, and home policies. The groundwork has been laid, as the Affordable Care Act lets employers charge employees different rates based on diet and exercise. Failure to submit to screening and participate in wellness programs could incur up to a 30% cost increase. Similar programs could be implemented for home and auto insurance based on risk factors in the house, such as frequent fire alarms, and driving habits.
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HTC To Launch One Wear Smartwatch
KNOW YOUR MOBILE – May 30 – HTC has reportedly been showcasing its One Wear smartwatch in Taiwan, preparing for an August or September launch. Design is said to be similar to the Moto 360, with both a premium metal version and a plastic one. The One Wear name aligns it with the HTC One smartphone.
Dell Poised To Capitalize On Wearable Data
WSJ - May 29 - Dell is poised to capitalize on wearables by selling computers that manage and analyze the volumes of data they generate. As the number of wearables and IoT devices grows, the infrastructure that supports them must grow as well. Dell hopes to sell more servers, storage, networking gear and software to connect, secure and manage the devices. Retailers, insurance companies, and industrial companies are all interested in wearables and IoT sensors, according to Dell.
Pollution Detecting Wearables Improve Health
THE ATLANTIC - May 30 - Research shows that exposure to air pollution leads to increased mortality rates related to cardiovascular and respiratory incidents. Wearables could soon be used to monitor environmental factors like pollution to warn people of dangers. Quanttus is working on a smartwatch that measures and analyzes its wearer’s vital signs in response to exercise, sleep, air pollution and weather. Frog Design is developing smart clothes that change color in response to smog and temperature. These companies are working with academics and governments to develop and integrate the technologies.
Wearables Must Meet Gold Standards For Doc Approval
THE ATLANTIC - May 30 - To be clinically useful, wearables must meet the gold standards of medical devices. Samsung plans to create the Center for Digital Health Innovation, partnering with University of California San Francisco, in order to validate the sensors and algorithms produced within the Samsung ecosystem. Samsung hopes the research will transition wearables beyond “quantified self” into producing novel vital signs that are accurate enough for medical use.
NPD: Wearable Growth Will Slow After 2015, China Will Dominate Market
MOBI HEALTH NEWS - May 30 - According to a report by NPD, 48M wearables will ship in 2014 and 91M will ship in 2015, after which the market will slow as initial hype fades. They expect wearables to become a commodity, similar to DVD, LCD TV and smartphones, with cost-efficient manufacturers like Samsung and LG driving prices and margins down. NPD developed 3 scenarios: “Forward into the Past,” where wealthy consumers drive adoption, “Incidental to Essential,” where wearables purchased casually become essential, and “Persuasive to Pervasive,” where wearables become essential and provide medical and health benefits. China will dominate adoption in the first two scenarios.
Guardian Angel, Cuff Offer Fashionable Safety
SHINY SHINY - May 29 - The halo-shaped Guardian Angel can be worn as a necklace or bracelet. A button can be pressed to activate a fake call to the wearer's phone, while holding the button down sends an emergency text to a designated number. Cuff is a collection of bracelets, necklaces and key chains, anchored by the CuffLinc component, which acts as the alert system. Squeezing the Cuff sends an alert, via Bluetooth and a connected smartphone, to designated peoples' Cuff or smartphone. The Guardian Angel is $120 and Cuffs range from $35 to $125.
Forbes: Microsoft Prepping Smartwatch
CNET NEWS - May 30 - According to Forbes, Microsoft is prepping a smartwatch capable of syncing with iOS, Android, and Windows smartphones. The smartwatch will be similar to Samsung's Gear Fit, with a full-color touch screen and a heart rate monitor capable of continuous monitoring. MS is reportedly aiming for a summer release.
Survey: 30% More Americans Prefer Smartwatches Over Activity Trackers
PR WEB – May 29 – According to a survey by ON World, 30% more Americans prefer smartwatches over activity trackers. 20% of respondents have or will purchase a wearable by next year, 32% within two years. 40% were willing to pay at least $99 for a smartwatch with blood pressure, heart rate and activity tracking.
Intel Reveals Smart Shirt
NY TIMES - May 28 - Intel revealed its smart shirt, designed in partnership with AIQ.. The shirt uses conductive fibers and Intel's Edison microcomputer to track your heart rate and stream it to a smartphone via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The shirt could eventually include a 3G chip to transmit data to the cloud.
First Sign Smart Hair Clip Designed To Save Lives
Q13 FOX - May 28 - First Sign has designed its Smart Hair Clip to safeguard its wearer. It knows when you are pushed or thrown, when you're running, and your phone's location. In the event of an attack on the wearer, it notifies authorities and a list of contacts, as well as producing a loud alarm. The device is $50, or $75 with 1 year of monitoring, and will be available this fall.
by Kate Yeager
See full article at Q13 Fox
Researchers Developing Future Wearables Interfaces
IEEE – May 29 – Researchers at a number of institutes are developing technologies to greatly enhance our interaction with wearables. At Carnegie Mellon University, Chris Harrison is developing advanced touch and gesture controls which recognize natural hand movements, as well as projectable interfaces. At Georgia Institute of Technology, Clint Zeagler is designing interfaces for smart clothing using conductive thread for touch. Brain-Computer interfaces are also being developed, which allow devices to react to thoughts and emotional responses.
More iWatch Rumors: Round Face
MASHABLE - May 28 - In the latest Apple iWatch rumor, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Brian Blair, claims supply chain sources revealed a round face design, similar to the Moto 360. Blair also said there will be various models of the iWatch, which will supposedly go into production in July/August with a September/October debut.
Samsung Previews Simband Concept
MASHABLE - May 28 - Samsung offered a sneak peak of its Simband, which is a next-generation health tracker. The Simband uses different wavelengths of light beamed at your skin to continuously track blood pressure, respiration, heart rate, hydration level, and CO2 in your blood. A shuttle battery charges the band while you sleep, so it may be worn 24/7. The band is designed around a new platform called Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions (SAMI), with APIs available for developers by year's end.
Jawbone Raising Funds Among Rumors And Executive Churn
MOBILE HEALTH NEWS - May 28 - Jawbone is hoping to close a $250M round of funding at a $3.3B valuation, while rumors are circulating of a possible acquisition by a big tech company. Mindy Mount resigned as president in February, and former BodyMedia CEO, Chris Robins, left this month. Jawbone may be changing its exit plan or merely building investor interest. They have also filed a patent for a likely body fat % device and app.
LG Previews G Watch, Summer Launch
THE GUARDIAN - May 28 - LG gave a sneak preview of its Android Wear powered G Watch, with an expected price of £180 and July availability. Google will unveil more details of the Wear software on June 25, stating that it will do more than just replicate smartphone features. LG is reportedly working on SIM-enabled watch capable of making calls.
CogniVue Apex ICP Enables Groundbreaking Wearables Applications
PR WEB - May 28 - CogniVue has announced its Apex Image Cognition (ICP) core that delivers high performance at low power levels of ~1mA, enabling vision apps to run for many days. The ICP can support gesture recognition, and face and eye detection for wearables. NeoLAB Convergence used CongniVue's ICP in its Neo 1 smart pen, which operates at 120 fps to render hand writing and drawings wirelessly, in real time, to a phone, tablet or server.
Wearable Services Developing Smart Nails
PSFK - May 28 - Wearable Services are developing sensor-embedded nails capable of a number of functions, including bio feedback, behavior modification, reminders, and haptic feedback. The creators' key discovery, beyond embedding sensors, was realizing the need for new services based on customizable wearables.
5 Industries iBeacon Could Disrupt
VENTURE BEAT - May 27 - Introduced in 2013, Apple's iBeacon enables iOS phones and tablets to communicate with other devices via Bluetooth, providing hyper-location and alerts. In education, apps like BeHere can augment student-teacher interaction and educational content. Dating apps like Mingleton can use iBeacon to facilitate connections at venues, improve speed dating, and share profiles of singles participating in events. Apps like LaunchHere allow your iOS device to respond to iBeacons placed around the home. SXSW used iBeacon to speed check in and get attendees involved in sessions. The technology could benefit other events as well, with improved networking and content delivery. Major League Baseball used iBeacons to let fans check-in to the ballpark and let teams push content to them. Other features are possible, such as polls or purchasing available upgraded seats.
by Bobby Gill
See full article at Venture Beat
Wearable Computing Conference, Glazedcon.com
WEARABLE.AI - May 29 - Wearable computing is the next step on from mobile, and it's far more confusing. The best way to start getting your head around it is to go to Glazed Conference next week in San Francisco.
I'll be attending and moderating a session at Glazed. I'll be speaking with the Global VP Innovation Strategy for the legendary design company, Frog Design.
Here's a special discount for Wearable.ai readers. 40% off.
- Mark Brooks
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