Tag: wearables

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Kids/Babies Wearables

Starling helps babies’ vocabularies shine bright

There have been several wearable devices for babies. But Starling is a newcomer with a twist –- a smart device that tracks the number of words that a baby says and hears each day.

patent-claimedStarling is shaped like a star and can be clipped onto a baby’s clothes or wherever he or she is sitting. The small, patent-pending device has been designed for parents who want to take advantage of research showing that early vocabulary development can impact a child’s success in life because a significant amount of brain development happens before the age of three, according to its Indiegogo campaign.

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Wearables

Modoo helps moms to be with dos and don’ts of pregnancy

A wearable pregnancy monitor that would allow mothers-to-be to monitor and record fetal heart rate and movement at any time sounds like a no-brainer.

Modoo does exactly that, and also sets fitness tasks and provides diet advice that its maker says will allow expectant moms and their babies to be healthier. The small, circular wearable device is light and, according to its Indiegogo campaign video, easily sticks to the user’s stomach area. It works in conjunction with an Android and iOS app. Modoo’s maker set a goal to raise $50,000 by Nov. 7. The device is expected to ship in April at $199, but Indiegogo backers can get one early for $129.

There’s a huge potential audience for Modoo. But it remains to be seen how accurate the information it provides will be. It’s also hard to tell from the campaign video how comfortable it will be to wear Modoo all day.

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Health and Wellness Wearables

YONO lets you know core body temperature for pregnancy planning

Many omen seeking to optimize their chances of conceiving are well-acquainted with the idea of monitoring their core body temperature.Some of those solutions can be very costly. Underarm sensors can also be affected by ambient temperature and other external factors, say the makers of YONO, an in-ear thermometer that calculates core body temperature for pregnancy planning.

patent-claimedThe patent-pending YONO measures and records core body temperature while sleeping –- particularly basal body temperature, the body’s lowest temperature, which usually happens while sleeping in the early morning hours. Because YONO’s sensor gets placed inside either ear, it’s not impacted by external factors that could affect the temperature, its makers say. The data synchs with the user’s Android or iOS mobile device in the morning.

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Music Wearables

Helix bracelet touts extractable Bluetooth earbuds

Just because earbuds are easier to travel with than standard headphones doesn’t mean that carrying them is so simple. After all, earbud cords frequently get tangled, especially when they are thrown in the bottom of a pocket or purse. They also have a tendency to get misplaced.

patent-claimedOut to resolve that dual dilemma is Helix, a bracelet that comes with extractable stereo earbuds. The earbuds are easy to extract from the bangle and because their cords are so short, they won’t get tangled like typical earbud cables. The earbuds can then be connected to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. Helix will ship in December at $199, although early bird Kickstarter backers can get it at pricing that starts at $99. Its makers set a Kickstarter goal of raising $100,000 by Sept. 18.

The design of Helix is simple and appealing enough so that men and women might not mind wearing it as an everyday bracelet. It also does indeed seem to solve the problem of making it easy to travel with earbuds without the cords getting tangled up. Helix, meanwhile, definitely makes it much harder to misplace earbuds. One problem, however, is that — like most audio products being sold through crowdfunding sites — there is no way to tell from its campaign video alone just how good its sound quality is.

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Displays Wearables

Vufine takes a pass on Glass, shows any content in nerdy style

Although Google Glass (and its successor) have attracted the most attention in the growing wearable display market, it’s clearly not a product for every consumer due to factors including its high price.

Vufine is a much cheaper alternative to Google Glass that works in conjunction with any device capable of outputting a 720p HDMI signal. The clip-on microdisplay attaches to one side of a standard pair of eyeglasses via a magnetic docking station that allows it to be adjusted for the user’s comfort. Vufine can be plugged into mobile devices to act as either a second monitor to view movies and other video content or to display information including GPS directions, emails and text messages. Wearers can also use it as a viewfinder for cameras, or to see everything that their drones are seeing in flight. Vufine costs $149 and ships in November. Its maker has set a Kickstarter goal of raising $50,000 by July 22.

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Smartwatches/Bands

ReVault uses wireless storage to back up your smartphone, keep stuff close at hand

Day in and day out, the smartphone does a lot for the smartwatch, but what does the smartwach do to help the smartphone? As it turns out, one thing it can do is help back it up.

What sets the ReVault smartwatch apart from its rivals is its ability to back up devices wirelessly. The device enables users to securely access and sync their files across all devices without an Internet connection. It connects to other devices using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Users can set up ReVault to auto-backup and auto-synchronize files across their devices. A 32-GB version will cost $269, while a 128-GB model will cost $404 when ReVault ships in January.

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Announcements

New wearables innovation report now available

It’s no surprise that the record for most-funded Kickstarter project was set — twice — by Pebble, a pioneer in smartwatches. After all, wearables require a level of imagination, attention to personal style and leading-edge tech that have been the hallmark of crowdfunded projects.

Part of the Product Innovation Pipeline Report series produced by Reticle Research, the latest Wearables report includes complete campaign data and profiles for all wearables featured on Backerjack in the fourth quarter of 2014. Those 45 curated projects, which include smartwatches, child locators, video glasses, pet finders, and stress management products, are essential to understanding innovation happening in the red-hot field of wearables.

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Wearables

Reserve Strap charges Apple Watch while you wear it

The Apple Watch isn’t even out yet, but many people are already viewing the device’s 18 hour battery life as a point of concern.

Coming to the rescue is the Reserve Strap, a charging band for Apple’s new smartwatch that charges the device while its user is wearing it. Photos at the strap’s website, where pre-orders are being taken, show a design that features a silicon band with embedded lithium polymer cells and an inductive charging cradle located between the user’s wrist and the Apple Watch itself. The strap is similar in concept to the smartstraps recently announced by Pebble for its new line of smartwatches, including the Pebble Time.

Through prototyping, the Reserve Strap’s maker has refined the product’s design and has come up with a few other ways to charge the watch that remain undisclosed for the time being. Interested buyers should note that there is no ship date yet for the band. Nor is there a final price, for that matter, but the site lays out an estimated selling price of $249.99.

The Reserve Strap, featured in a Backerjack podcast, seems to solve an issue many Apple Watch users will likely face. As a result, this product has all the makings of a slam dunk — so long as the Apple Watch catches on, that is.

Categories
Health and Wellness Wearables

Narbis trains your brains

Neurofeedback technology is being used in a growing number of consumer devices to help train the brain.

patent-claimedNarbis — itself an anagram of the word “brains” –- is a headset using patent-pending technology to help train users to better focus their brains. Attached to a set of glasses is a sensing device that touches the wearer’s head. When the user gets distracted the glasses darken and when the user focuses clearly the glasses clear up. The headset’s sensors measure brain matters and send the signals to the device’s electrochromic lenses. Narbis works with an accompanying app for mobile devices and costs $395 and will ship in December with a Bluetooth armband, a protective carrying case and software that includes five program goals: focus, performance, sleep, calm, and mood. Its maker is hoping to raise $150,000 by April 27.

The Kickstarter success of the similarly advertised Melon headband indicates that there is indeed a market for these types of products. The electrochromic lenses in particular are a nice touch offered by Narbis offers. Still, it’s hard to believe that such a device will get much long-term use after a few days or months. More likely than not, the product seems more like a novelty than a device most people really need.

Categories
Health and Wellness Wearables

Kanega Watch provides emergency connections for seniors on the go

Many traditional personal emergency response devices are limited in that they they traditionally keep seniors tethered to their homes. That’s an outmoded way in the era of powerful wearables.

Kanega Watch was designed to replace traditional emergency alert devices for seniors and doesn’t require a smartphone to operate. As an added plus, it’s more fashionable than many standard watches on the market. The company claims that focus groups have called Kanega a wearable version of OnStar for seniors because it provides discreet support for falls, medication reminders, and a guard against wandering, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

Kanega uses an easy speech interface rather than buttons and also features Bluetooth Smart technology and patent-pending quick-swap batteries that peel away from the watch for charging. The product costs $299 and will ship in February 2016. A separate charging cradle with two additional batteries is included. Replacement batteries are provided free with a  monitoring service that costs $35 to $85 a month depending on the service level chosen.

Kanega mostly relies on emergency notification but there have been other products that focus more on passive monitoring. Lively focuses on monitoring independent seniors in their homes although the company has come out with a wearable.