Wearable Technologies

News, gadgets, magazines and everything about wearable technology is here

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How Wearable Tech Will Change The Business World

Wearable tech is being introduced into the technology world at an outstanding pace. We can run the majority of our life when we’re mobile whether that’s checking e-mail or booking a holiday. While technology is finding its way into the homes of many consumers, it seems that the business world is also ready to embrace the convenience that wearable tech is able to offer.

While wearable tech such as Google Glass and the Apple iWatch are still waiting to be unleashed officially in the public domain, many development platforms are coming forward with an aim directed at the business world. Salesforce Wear is one such platform that will be creating a number of different business apps for Android Wear, FitBit and Pebble among others.

One reason businesses are keen to adopt wearable tech as part of their day to day business is the higher productivity it can offer. Examples include specialist technicians wearing wearable tech so they are able to access information while keeping their hands free. A further example is how construction workers can use the wearable tech to their advantage. This includes seeing the inside of pipes and walls.

The retail sector could also an improvement in customer relations if they were to adopt wearable tech into its business model. A customer asking employees for the location of a certain product is often left standing alone while the employee tries to retrieve the requested information. Having technology such as Google Glass would allow the employee to stand close by while retrieving the information. Not only does this improve customer relations, it can also give a business the opportunity to upsell by advising the customer of other similar products they may find of interest.

It’s not only the sales viewpoint that can benefit from the introduction of wearable tech, productivity can be improved when it comes to payment processing. For example, a new app being introduced by PayPal allows consumers to pay for goods via their Samsung Gear 2 Smartwatch. This can be much quicker than cash or credit card and would see a larger number of customers dealt within in a shorter period of time.

To know how wearable tech will affect the business world, you only have to look back at how smart phones have impacted the business world. Smartphones have been able to offer a number of business promotion thanks to mobile social networking. Facebook has offered consumers to highlight when they are near to their favorite businesses and share the location to their family and friends. The same can be said for hashtags on Twitter, many businesses have secured sales thanks to some clever hashtagging.

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Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 Wearable Tech Review

The Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 is wearable tech that looks to offer some competition to Google Glass. The glasses are an augmented reality headset that ironically offers very little in the way of actual glass. The headset fits over a user’s ear lobe and works by connecting itself to a user’s Android smartphone or iPhone via WiFi or Bluetooth. A color screen is then projected onto the glass that is present and gives the user a screen that lays on top of their normal view.

The wearable tech also has an HD camera that is situated in front of the display that allows pictures to be taken while mobile, although its vantage point does question the point of the camera being present at all. Evidently, the addition will be of use to some users, just not all.

Another downside of the Vuzix Smart Glasses is that the image quality is very low. The devices show images at WQVGA, which means that the information the device relays isn’t the clearest. The wearable tech used a customized Android operating system that gives the user a fair bit of information on screen. The device has 4GB of flash memory, a OMAP4430 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

The enclosed Android computer within the glasses also serves a purpose. When users decide to embark on some augmented reality with the glasses, the time it takes for the glasses to send the information to the phone, and then for the phone to send it back again can take a fair amount of time. So much so, that without the enclosed Android computer, the user would be far behind viewing the information via the Vuzix Smart Glasses. The Android computer allows the user to view any augmented reality in real time as it will deal with the processing, as opposed to the connected device doing it.

The battery is a 550mAh rechargeable internal battery that is said to give around six hours of usage, which will of course differ dependant on what the wearable tech is used for.

The wearable tech is an obvious contender to Google Glass, but is it any better. There are areas in which it does perform better. For example, the Vuzix Smart Glasses can be controlled by voice app, buttons and gestures. Google Glass can be controlled via voice command, touchpad and app. So in this regard, the Vuzix smartglasses have more features than the Google Glass. However, the Google Glass is better when it comes to the RAM and the display.

Overall, the Vuzix Smart Glasses M100 is by no means the worst piece of wearable tech, if anything they can be seen as a very close forerunner to Google Glass. Some may take issue on how indifferent the Vuzix Smart Glasses actually are when compare to its competitors, but Vuzix themselves have said that the wearable tech will evolve over time.

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The Polar Loop Wearable Tech Review

The Polar Loop is the latest addition to a long line of activity trackers. The wearable tech, like many others before it, is designed to be worn on your wrist daily. The wearable tech comes in one size and the is fitted to a user’s wrist by cutting it with the supplied tool. It may seem like a hindrance in the first instance, but once done it ensures that your Polar Loop is safe and secure on your wrist.

The wearable tech comes with a USB charging cable that is held in place thanks to the power of magnets, when connected users will be notified that the device is charging, meaning that you can always be sure when you have connected the cable properly. As it is the proprietary way of charging the Polar Loop, it can be somewhat of a hassle if you’re out and about and you need to charge the device. Granted, there may be some third-party device you can use, but this comes at the cost of the user.

The battery life of the Polar Loop is impressive, the device can last between four to five days before it needs recharging. So to go back to the previous point, it may be deemed useless taking out the device on the fifth day if you’ve not been able to charge it beforehand. The wearable tech uses an accelerometer to track a user’s movement, it will then estimate calories burned based on the movement’s of the user. The wearable tech is unable to tell the difference between walking and swimming, so although your activity will be tracked, it will only be counted as “very active movement.”

The Polar Loop has a basic, but descriptive red LED display that displays four different modes. These are Steps, Time, Calories Burned and Activity. The first three modes will inform the user of their numbers for the day, while the Activity mode shows a bar that fills up as the user edges close to their daily goals. The LED lights can be read in most environments under a variety of different lighting.

Users can track their goals and data by creating a Polar Flow account. When a user first registers for the portal, they will be asked to enter their height, weight and age, which are then used to calculate the user’s body mass index. The software can be downloaded for both Windows and Mac, as well as iOS user having access to an app. At present, there is no Android alternative, so unfortunately they are limited to using the web version of the portal. The portal displays a plethora of information that shows data recorded about a user’s sleep pattern, walking, running, sitting and standing. Although sleep patterns recorded, there is very little information on offer in how a user’s sleep pattern can be improved.

We have already mentioned that the Polar Loop lacks in some areas when it comes to exercise. If users do wish to track activities such as going to the gym, then they will need to purchase an additional heart monitor, meaning that two pieces of wearable tech now have to be worn, as opposed to one.

Overall, the battery life and built in display are impressive features on this bit of wearable tech, but it is let down by its patchy portal features and restricted charging features. It does have an attractive price point, but there are others that can do that little bit better than the Polar Loop.

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Misfit Shine Wearable Tech Review

When it comes to wearable tech, most people would prefer to have something slim on their wrist, as opposed to something that weighs quite a bit and makes the lifting of the wrist a much harder task than it should be. Fortunately, the Misfit Shine looks to evade any such instances, by providing a coin-sized sensor that fits snugly into a wrist strap.

The Misfit Shine is crafted from aluminium and only weighs 9g. As well as wearing the wearable tech within a wristband, there is also the option to fit it into a clasp that can be hooked onto almost anything. The Misfit Shine is around the same size of an average coin, is waterproof up to 50m and offers a very basic but sleek design.

The simple design means there is very little activity when looking at the device, you’ll only be greeted with 12 LED lights. These lights are used to inform you of your progress by pulsing. The LED lights also allow the wearable tech to act as a makeshift watch, with one solid light acting as the hour hand, and a blinking LED for the minute hand. While a handy addition, it can take slightly longer to ensure that you have the right time.

Unlike many other wearable tech, the Misfit Shine doesn’t rely on USB charging, it actually uses a CR2032 battery, giving the Misfit Shine an outstanding four months of use before a change is required. Granted, you will need to stock up on batteries, but they come cheap. Another impressive feature is that the Misfit Shine is compatible with both Android and iOS devices.

Shine allows users to record their physical activity, and if they choose, their sleep. One drawback in relation to this feature is that the watch has to be reset back to physical mode when you awake in the morning, and then vice versa when you retire and so on. While not an overly challenging task, it’s probably one that you could without. The Misfit Shine is supposed to be able to tell you which sport you are about to take part in, although we found this wasn’t always the case, in some instances we had to select the sport from the connecting phone app. The wearable tech won’t count any exercise done if the user is in the gym, so if your main workouts are done within the gym, you may find little use for this wearable tech other than a unique take on a watch.

The Misfit Shine app doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table, but it doesn’t fall by the wayside either. It does what is supposed to do, no more, no less. The app can be downloaded via Google Play and the iOS App Store and you can connect the Misfit Shine by either placing it on the device you wish to pair with, or via Bluetooth. Once connected you will see a point-based system that sees you collect points for the section of your goal you achieve. The display will also advise you how many hours of walking you have left. We found this feature to be encouraging and you can easily find yourself heeding the watches advice if there’s nothing else to be getting on with. The sleeping feature of the app offers very slim pickings, with an announcement showing how long you’ve been sleeping, partnered with a graph that doesn’t really elaborate.

The Misfit Shine is a stylish piece of wearable tech with its heart in the right place. The app gives accurate readings of what it is supposed to, although with regards to information collected about a user’s sleep, it was hard to know what to do with it.  The wearable tech comes at a very affordable price, which only makes the aesthetics of the wearable tech all that more attractive. The battery life was also a massive push. While not the best piece of fitness tech available, it certainly gives some new ideas as well as fitting in with those who may not have the budget for a premium smartwatch or fitness band.

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Acer Liquid Leap Wearable Tech Review

It seems that everyone wants a bite of the apple that is wearable tech, so while Acer aren’t the most obvious of companies to showcase their entry into the wearable tech market, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Acer tends to release products such as laptops and tablets, and although the price point is lower than that of its competition, they tend to be of good quality and are actually the fourth largest computer vendor worldwide.

The Liquid Leap is Acer’s entry into the wearable tech market and it is billed by Acer as being the smallest touch device ever. The Liquid Leap has a touchscreen measuring one inch and it sits comfortably inside a rubber wristband. The device is very lightweight, especially in comparison to other fitness tech available. The design of both the band and the Liquid Leap itself is not going to raise any eyebrows, but it is comfortable and isn’t ugly by any stretch of the imagination. It’s also worth noting that the Liquid Leap is much cheaper than its wearable tech rivals.

The screen offers a clear view of the icons, although they can be quite pixilated. The design of the Liquid Leap also means that it has very simple design, with input only being entered via touchscreen, as the Liquid Leap is minus any physical buttons. The Liquid Leap is water resistant, but how water resistant is yet to be determined, so until told otherwise, we would recommend against using it in the bath or for swimming.

The wearable tech performed quite well when finding our way round the watch, although getting into the icon carousel could be problematic for new users on the first few tries. Simply tapping the wearable tech only revealed the time, it actually requires a long press on the screen to access the menu.  Once in the menu, users can look around the features by swiping left or right on the device. Battery life is said to last around seven days, and when using the Liquid Leap we have no reason to dispute Acer’s claims, testing the smartwatch inside and out may have taken an impact on the wearable tech, but it was still going strong five days on.

The Liquid Leap wearable tech comes with fitness tracking, wireless music control and will deliver notifications to the user when they receive a phone call or SMS on their paired device. Paired devices must be running Android 4.4 or above as well as Bluetooth 4.0. The wearable tech constantly monitors the fitness of the user by calculating how many steps they have taken, the calories burned and how long the user has slept for. All these details are displayed in the accompanying app which can be downloaded from the Google Play store. The app itself doesn’t go into much detail, but it does show what you need to know in a clear and concise manner.

Overall, if you’re looking for the next bit of wearable tech that’s going to set the world on fire, than the Liquid Leap isn’t for you. That said, if you’re keen to get hold of some wearable tech that won’t break the bank and will do the basics of what you expect a smart band to do, then for the price point it’s being offered at, the Liquid Leap may be a worthwhile choice.

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Wearable Technology For Heart: Detecting and Preventing Heart Conditions

One of the most important things in life is our health. Without proper health, your life will be limited and you won’t be able to do the things that you enjoy doing. This is especially true when it comes to heart problems where they cause a lot of damage not only to our overall health but also quality of our life. Heart conditions have been very common in today’s society and for many reasons: improper diet, lack of exercise, and stress. All of these things contribute to cardiovascular issues that are very often irreversible. It is very important to detect and prevent these types of health problems before they do a major damage to our overall health and quality of life. Fortunately enough, improvements in technology give us a lot of benefits that were impossible to achieve before. Today, there are many devices that can monitor your overall health in order to prevent certain health conditions. Few of these devices are considered to be a part of wearable technology that serves the purpose to monitor your body and prevent any sort of health issue that you might be developing. These type of devices are very useful as a preventive measures to heart related problems. That being said, let’s take a look at the role wearable technology plays on detecting and preventing heart conditions:

Introducing Pre-Emptive Medicine Up to right now, majority of diseases were treated once they became serious enough to cause symptoms. In many cases once symptoms are developed it is too late or a lot of serious damage has been already done to body. Medical advances are pushing us towards new type of medicine called pre-emptive. Instead of waiting for visible symptoms to start the treatment, medical technology is being developed that detects the disease before it becomes a big problem. Detection of a health condition at the early stages, before any symptoms are present, is what many devices are build for. This is especially crucial with heart disease, where early detection can save millions of lives and prevent any serious damage. It is not surprising that the popularity of these type of devices is projected to grow at a rapid rate in the next few years. Especially when, health market is very lucrative and constitutes as much as 10% of the economy of developed countries.

Wearable Technology For Heart Attack Detection

Heart bracelets for early detection of heart attack.

Up to now wearable devices were used to count number of steps you are taking and amount of calories you are burning, but things are advancing at a rapid rate. There are multiple of products that are being developed to help detect and prevent heart disease. One of them are heart bracelets with the purpose of monitoring heart rate for any anomalies. Since four minutes after cardiac arrest is crucial to saving the live of a person, anything over that decreases the chances of survival and increases possibility of having long term negative effects. If cardiovascular abnormalities are detected, device sends warning messages to control monitor and the nearest hospital for help. The device can be used in professional sports and in military where people are under a lot of stress and demanding physical conditions.

In addition to heart bracelets, Google is in the process of developing cancer and heart attack detecting pill. The pill is said to be 10,000 smaller than width of a hair and contains antibodies that detect the presence of “biomarker” molecules. As soon as pill is swallowed by the person, it will be able to find molecules in the body that indicate development of disease such as that of heart attack. There is still a lot of testing that needs to be done in order to make sure that the pill won’t cause any health complications, but if everything goes well it can mean millions of saved lives.

Final Words Development of wearable technology to detect early signs of disease is projected to grow at a rapid rate. The need for technology to assist in medical fields is crucial in order to prevent a lot of deadly diseases. Although there are a lot of devices that perform basic monitoring functions, the life changing wearable technology is under the development as of now.

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Epson Moverio BT-200 Smart Glasses Review

Epson Moverio BT-200 Smart Glasses are a new generation of wearable technology that is projected to revolutionize computer market. Created by the industry leader in projection technology, Moverio BT-200 is pushing limits of how we interact and use computers on a daily basis. With it’s binocular and transparent display, you can take advantage of entertainment and basic computer functions right in front of your eyes without losing sight of the real world. With it’s new smart glasses, Epson ensures that the next generation of augmented reality is already here, ready for you to take advantage of.

Where Wearable Technology Meets Art

Wearable technology revolutionized by Epson with Moverio BT-200 smart glasses

At first Moverio BT-200 might seem as an uncomfortable way to view and interact with the digital content, but reality is much different than that. With floating 80-inch perceived screen that is set on both of the lenses, Moverio BT-200 adapts to your vision and your surroundings. It is very comfortable to wear and not that much different from wearing regular eye glasses. With Moverio BT-200 you can enjoy digital content at your own privacy while performing your daily activities without any complications.

What is unique about these smart glasses is that they need to be connected to an Android device at all times in order for you to enjoy wireless connection. This has few benefits such as long battery life that lasts all the way to 6 hours and impressive technical specifications such as 1.2 GHz dual core processor. When you take a look at product it is difficult to imagine how powerful it really is. Impressive 3D video, dolby mobile surround sound, and removable memory that supports up to 32GB microSDHC card make Moverio BT-200 a leader in smart glasses.

Pros and Cons Epson Moverio BT-200 works by projecting images with a resolution of 960 x 540 to transparent lenses that lets it’s user enjoy digital content. Although there are many advantages of using it, it also have some disadvantages. Below you can find pros and cons of this revolutionary product:

PROS

Extremely low price compared ($699) to other alternatives such as Google glass.

Runs Android 4.0.

Easy to wear and use.

CONS

Can be uncomfortable when worn with glasses.

Not compatible with Google Play yet.

Moverio BT-200 definitely offers more functionality, better display, and lower price than it’s competitors. The only drawbacks to it is that it is not compatible with Google Play yet, which means that many applications are not available to use such as Netflix or Sony Camera, and that for some it might be uncomfortable when they are worn with glasses.

Where You Can Buy It And What Do You Get Smart glasses by Epson come with many impressive accessories such as front facing camera, microphone, compass, projectors, a motion sensor, a built-in Dolby Digital Plus for sound, and GPS. All of these things improve user experience, comfort, and possibilities of what you can do with them. You can purchase Epson Moverio BT-200 Smart Glasses either from company’s website or through Amazon.com. They come in with the following items:

AC adapter

USB cable

Carrying case

Intraoricular earphone with microphone

Shade x2 (light and dark)

Inner frame for optical lenses

Ear Hook

Quick Setup Guide

User Manual (CD Rom)

Conclusion Epson Moverio BT-200 provides perfect solution for smart glasses considering the functions and price it offers. With up to 6 hours of battery life, impressive specifications, and outstanding visuals, Moverio BT-200 is by far the best option available on the market.

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The Intel Corp. Chip Will Be The New Engine That Drives Google’s Wearable Tech

The Intel Corp. Chip Will Be The New Engine That Drives Google’s Wearable Tecext instalment of Google Glass will feature an Intel chip rather than a Texas Instruments Inc. chip as seen in previous incarnations. Intel will also be looking to push the wearable tech into more sectors as it looks to promote Google Glass to hospital networks while looking at other scenarios as to how Google Glass could be used within the workplace.

The wearable tech was first introduced in 2012, and although it was originally seen as something of a novelty, it has slowly won over the tech community. Google has launched a program called “Glass Art Work,” where it hopes to promote the benefits of Google Glass to companies such as APX Labs LLC and Augmedix Inc. Companies such as these have a workforce who work mostly with their hands, but could benefit from having information delivered to them automatically as they work.

The general partner of Emergence Capital Partners, Kevin Spain, called Intels input into Google Glass a positive signal, although representatives of Texas Instruments Inc., Google and Intel have yet to voice any comments in relation to the deal.

Although the wearable tech is being promoted to other industries, Google do still view Google Glass a product for consumers. The workforce behind the wearable tech is approximately 300 people, with only 5 percent of these people focusing on the Glass at Work spinoff. A source close to Google also says that the involvement from Intel won’t change Google’s focus on the products being marketed towards consumers.

The next version of Google Glass is rumored to have an elongated battery life, something that will undoubtedly be welcomed by interested consumers, as the original version was lucky if it lasted a day without the need for charging. Intel entered the mobile market at such a late stage, that its chips was sidestepped and rival companies were used. Brian Krzanich, Intel’s chief executive, is keen for Intel not to suffer the same fate in the wearable tech sector.

There has been no confirmation as to what chip will be used in the next instalment of Google Glass, but it is understood that it will have a focus on power conservation. Devices like Google Glass sees its power drain quickly because the wearable tech has very small batteries in order to keep them mobile. Intel’s Xeon chips have been used in other products, such as Google’s driverless car.

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Sony SmartBand SWR-10 Wearable Tech Review

The Sony SmartBand SWR-10 was first unveiled at CES 2014, and while it was billed as wearable tech focused on fitness, Sony’s CEO Kunimasa Suzuki added some confusion by stating it was actually “smartwear” and was able to be connected to the Lifelog app to help people with communications and ideas. So the end result is effectively a product that looks to record much more than just how fit a person is, and the goals they need to acquire to sustain their fitness.

The Sony SmartBand SWR-10 has a design similar to that of the Fitbit Flex, in that the Core fits into the silicon wristband. We found the device to be incredibly light as well as very straightforward. The Core has a single button on the side, a Micro USB port and three LED lights on the side. The band itself has three pinholes for the LED lights to shine through as well as a bulge to accompany the Core’s button.

The aforementioned button is what switches the wearable tech between different modes,  these modes and day and night. The top of the device is controlled by tapping the wearable tech, so if you’re controlling music , you’ll do so by tapping the SmartBand. Evidently the daytime mode will be recording all your physical activity, while the nighttime mode will be recording your sleep patterns.

Setting up the Sony SmartBand SWR-10 requires not one, but two apps to be installed on a paired device. The apps will require both Android 4.4 and Bluetooth 4 Low Energy, so if you’re without one or the other, or both, than the wearable tech is probably going to be nothing more than a bland accessory. The two apps in question are Sony’s SWR-10 connect app and the aforementioned Lifelog app. As you would expect, you connect via Bluetooth, and it has some pretty unique features. One such feature is that you receive a vibration on your wearable tech should you loose connectivity between the SmartBand and your phone, ideal for those who can be forgetful when it comes to your phone or device. That said, it can be somewhat confusing as to what the vibrations relate to, so you could be checking your phone over and over for irrelevant updates depending on your settings.

One nifty feature of the Sony SmartBand SWR-10 is that it allows you to bookmark special events throughout your day, these are known as Life Bookmarks. This is done by double-pressing the button on the device which will allow it to record the date, time and weather of your special event. While it not’s necessarily a game changer, it is a nice novelty feature that some users will adore.

The Lifelog app will monitor a number of categories that include music, camera and browsing. This is in addition to what you would expect the wearable tech to do, which is recording information of calories burnt and steps taken. The Lifelog app will break down each activity and inform you how long has been spent on each one, the app makes for some interesting reading when you discover how long you actually do spend in front of the television. The app can also give a complete rundown of where you have been courtesy of its connectivity to Google Maps. Should users have a Sony Xperia device, the SmartBand will also vibrate to make you aware of any alarms you have set for that device.

The battery life on the Sony Smart Band SWR-10 lasted for around five days, but we weren’t overly surprised by this as there is very little going on to drain the battery. Although the wearable tech goes out of its way to record a number of events and fitness goals, you only receive the aforementioned vibrations and flashing of LED lights, with all the information garnered being displayed on your mobile device.

It could be argued that the Sony SmartBand SWR-10 is trying to be too clever, and in some respects that’s true. As a smartband there are better alternatives available, and as a fitness band it doesn’t really offer anything new, it really is an amalagantion between the two. Granted, this is probably the ideal wearable tech for some people, but it doesn’t have enough features on either side to win the popularity vote hands down. Sony is rumored to be looking at improving features in the future, and as it stands, we are still in a beta stage when it comes to what works and what doesn’t in relation to such wearable tech, so the device could shine brighter in the future.

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The Pebble Steel Smartwatch Wearable Tech Review

For those who are abreast with news within the smartwatch world, Pebble should be a name that resonates above all overs. The wearable tech first started life as a Kickstarter campaign that went on to raise $10.3 million. Best Buy, an American electronics corporation, started selling the smartwatch in July 2013 and it was out of stock within five days. The Pebble featured a white e-paper display, light sensors and an accelerometer, allowing the wearable tech to be used as an activity tracker. So is the Pebble Steel an upgrade to what’s been offered before? Well, not quite.

Users who were hoping that the Pebble Steel was the all-new color touchscreen next-generation wearable tech they’ve been waiting for will find themselves disappointed. But to be fair, that’s not what the Pebbel Steel’s ambitions are, it is designed for consumers who wish to have a more aesthetically please smartwatch, and this is where the Pebble Steel does deliver.

The Pebble Steel is coated in CNC-machined stainless steel, and its screen is reinforced with Gorilla Glass. So its mission to be a more elegant version of the original Pebble is very much successful in this regard.

As previously mentioned, this is not an upgrade of the original Pebble, so all the specs of the Pebble Steel match that of the original model. There is some difference in relation to the size, The 39×36.8×10.25mm Pebble Steel is shorter, wider and thinner than its predecessor. It’s also much heavier than the original Pebble smartwatch. It is 16g heavier if you decide to opt for the leather strap, and 59g if you opt for more heavy metal strap.

The wearable tech is available in silver or black and it includes both the mental and leather straps. The black versions of the Pebble Steel are coated with Physical Vapor Deposition, so it is protected from day to scuffs and bumps.  The silver version of the wearable tech has the Physcial Vapor Deposition applied to the bezel only.

When wearing the Pebble Steel, we found it to be very comfortable. Other smartwatches sometimes feel like they’re balancing on the wrist, where the Pebble Steel felt safe and secure. We also found it went well with different attire, so whether you’re going for a casual walk or hitting the town, you can rest assured that the watch will be discreet enough not to stand out as a smart watch, but attractive enough to be a talking point.

The black and white display may be off-putting to some people, but it actually helps the watch stay visual. Other watches that employ Android Wear will shut off after a certain period of time, whereas the Pebble Steel always has its display lit, so it looks and feels more like a watch than many other smartwatches.

  Another string to the Pebble Steel’s bow is that it is compatible with both iOS and Android. So while there may be many Android Wear watches capable of doing that little bit more, the Pebble Steel does receive some credit for not constricting the user to one platform or device. It also has a very useful buzzing notification system. Emails and text messages that are delivered are instantly made known by the discreet, but effective vibrations. The vibration is also useful for when you want to set a silent alarm, simply leave the wearable tech on your wrist, and the vibration will raise you from your slumber without waking everyone else up in the household.

One improvement over the original is the centralized app store (although the original is due for an update). So rather than searching through an endless maze of apps as with the original version, users can now find a collection of productivity app, games and watchefaces with relative ease. To download the apps users are required to pair the Pebble Steel to their smartphone via Bluetooth and register a username and password, much in the same way as other app stores operate. The store will then keep a record of all apps download, should you need to refer to them in the future. The Bluetooth connectivity was also a high point for the Pebble Steel. The communication between the wearable tech, and a mobile device was faultless. So as soon as a text message is received on your phone, you should see a notification on your Pebble Steel at the same time.

The battery life is said to last for around five to seven days. While this may be hard to prove or disprove, it certainly takes some punishment. A couple of days of constant use of apps, music playback and numerous other activities wore the watch down, but it was still going strong despite not having any charge within those days. The original Pebble struggled with such a feat, so it’s an impressive upgrade that will no doubt make many consumers who are mobile more often than not very happy. Another observation was that the magnets on the new charger attach to the Pebble Steel more securely, so you’re not sitting there waiting for them to fall off as soon as a notification is received, something that was experienced with the original model.

Overall, we found the watch to be a sleek, stylish and robust piece of equipment that promotes itself in the right places. Granted, it may not have the whistles and bells that a lot of the other smartwatches offer, but it doesn’t seem to underperform as a result. It has a clear display and it looks beautiful on the wrist, and that all impressive battery life will take some beating by its competitors.

[wearabletechz-blog]

New Post has been published on Wearable Technologies Center

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LG G Watch R Wearable Tech Review

Lak-Hai first came into prominence as the first Korean company to enter the plastics business in 1952. As The business expanded, GoldStar was established, in 1958 the two merged to form Lucky Goldstar. The company is instantly recognizable as one of the main companies involved with producing electronic items, and it is famed for producing South Korea’s first radio. The company has elevated and expanded further and it has now launched its contender in the world of wearable tech.

The first thing that stands out about the LG G Watch R is its design, in that it looks like an actual watch. This may not be the best thing if you’re looking to show off your smartwatch, but from a discrete point of view, it allows you to look at your communications without having the equivalent of a mini tablet strapped around your wrist. Despite looking like a regular watch, the LG G Watch R is capable of much more than telling the time. The back of the watch is embedded with a heart-rate sensor, and although it did need to be moved now and again to garner an accurate reading, it doesn’t perform any worse than the other wearable tech available.

The screen consists of an OLED panel, which is of very high quality. It carries sleek black levels and is bright enough to work under the brightest of lights. There are a number of watch designs that users can select to personalize their wearable tech. There is a mixture of Android Wear’s own designs amlganated with LG’s. All of the designs fit into LG’s design perfectly with none of them seeming out of place. The watch itself runs on 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. The watch also performed well without lag with its 512MB of RAM.

The LG G Watch R is much more than just a watch, as well as the time users can expect to see notifications in relation to upcoming appointments and travel information. The watch will also connect to a user’s Google profile, cards can be swiped left to see more information, or swiped right to be dismissed. The related app can also be opened on a user’s connected device to display all information in its entirety. The Google Now feature is also implemented well into the watch, with the software being more personal than it has been in the past, so users should find that most of their questions are answered with ease. The wearable tech also allows for the dictation of emails, but this can be a little troublesome dependant on dialect. The emails cannot be edited afterwards making for a very sloppy email experience.

The wearable tech comes with 4GB of storage and can be used for a variety of media including music. Music can be played from the watch directly, but there is no physical headphone jack. Users who want to listen to music from the wearable tech will need to ensure that they are using Bluetooth-enabled headphones. Unfortunately, there is no current support for music streaming apps such as Spotify.

Battery life on the LG G Watch R comes down to how the watch is used. If the watch excessively used throughout the day by listening to music and giving it commands, users will need to charge the wearable tech after a day. However, if the watch is used for just receiving notifications and telling the time, users can expect to get a good two days use of the LG G Watch R before a charge is required. The other downside when it comes to charging is that the watch needs to be connected magnetically to a charger, rather than being plugged in. This means that being away from home requires you to carry around a much heavier charger.

Overall the watch performs well with the currently-limited Android Wear. It’s also one of the more aesthetically-pleasing piece of wearable tech currently available. The software itself needs some tweaks but this is nothing to do with LG, this lays with Google directly. Tech fanatics will be in awe at the design and functions it offers, but for those who are new to the wearable tech world, they may be left wondering what the smartwatch has to offer that their current device doesn’t. Android Wear is relatively new, so it’s not unusual to see room for improvement at this early stage, but the LG G Watch R is a beautiful piece of hardware which does everything the other smartwatches do, only with a bit more style.

[wearabletechz-blog]

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Garmin Vivofit

Garmin is basically a multinational corporation founded by Min Kao and Gary Burrell in 1989 which sells professional Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Garmin has now used its rich history in tracking devices to bring new technology to the world of fitness and health with their device, the Vivofit.

The wearable tech joins the expanding range of fitness trackers available in the market from big names like Nike, with its Nike Fuelband, and Samsung, with its Samsung Gear Fit. There are many other devices but theses prominent ones are battling head to head for a place around your wrist. With Garmin’s familiarity in the data tracking devices space, we will determine if their experience is enough to catch up to the Nike Fuelband, the Samsung Gear, as well as the Jawbone and the Fitbit wearable technologies which help you get fitter and healthier.

wearable tech product garmin vivofit

  The Vivofit is a relatively new entrant to the wearable tech market but already garners a certain level of trust owing to its parent company having been around for a long time. But unlike other fitness trackers, like the Nike’s Fuelband, it doesn’t have the ‘x-factor’ in the looks department or the comfort level of other devices. Wearing the Garmin Vivofit can get uncomfortable especially when the wrist gets a little moist. The plastic which you strap on your hand doesn’t feel like the best quality and can get in the way of someone thinking of purchasing the $130 to $170 device.

But on a positive note, Garmin lets the user change the strap of the device with ease and opt for something more to their liking. This is good news for customers because they won’t have to buy an entirely new device just to get a better strap or a color of their preference. The package includes different straps for two size preferences.

The Garmin Vivofit is not meant for fashion anyways, so we come to its main feature, the tracker. The tracker is a two-inch long curved screen with an LCD reminiscent of an old digital watch. The screen stays on permanently, as long as the battery is in its guts, as there is no option to switch it off or on. The device claims to give its users a year’s worth of battery before you feel the need to change them. Using 2 removable batteries, it provides for the power and wireless radios for connectivity.

Swimmers are going to rejoice at the fact that Vivofit is waterproof up to 50 meters in watery depths. The Vivofit, however, is not meant for people with serious requirements when it comes to the fitness category and does not hold many features which other trackers offer at similar prices. It also does not have the GPS option which is a bit surprising given the company’s association with GPS devices, but there’s no doubt that excluding this particular feature will help the device deliver the long-lasting battery performance it claims.

Despite being a little behind the competition in the features’ department, it can still prove to be a powerful device for any user who wants to make good use of wearable technology. Setting up the gadget on your iOS or Android device is pretty simple through Connect, the company’s online logging platform. Users just need to log in with their account by creating one and the user experience gets breezy after that. Whenever the device is in range of a computer or the iOS or Android device with which it has been synced, it uploads the data automatically.

All in all, the device represents a good competition for the hand wearable techs which focus on the fitness market. With its long battery life, waterproof body and support for all the major operating systems, Vivifot provides a good option for people looking for a durable fitness tracker.