Tag: smartwatch

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Health and Wellness Smartwatches/Bands

IBeat smartwatch monitors every beat of your heart

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the U.S., and every minute that passes without defibrillation and life support intervention reduces the possibility of survival.

patent-claimedIBeat is a 24-hour, heart-monitoring smartwatch that can immediately notify the user, as well as his or her family and 911 in case of a heart-related emergency. Its medical-grade sensors constantly monitor heart activity and detect emergencies.

IBeat ships in July at future pricing of $459. But Indiegogo backers have been able to reserve one for a pledge starting at $99 for early birds. Its makers hope to raise $50,000 by Oct. 30.

There are many other smartwatches on the market already, many of them that feature heart monitoring, including Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2. But few rival products continuously monitor heart rate around the clock like iBeat does. Not all rival products include GPS and some that do, unlike iBeat, charge extra for that feature. Unlike most rival products, iBeat users also don’t have to use it in conjunction with a smartphone.

There are, however, potential negatives for some consumers. First, after a free year of monitoring service, the iBeat watch monthly monitoring fee becomes $17. It is, meanwhile, a single-profile device that’s not designed to be used by more than one person. It is also only being targeted at the U.S. market for now, but its makers say that, in the near future, they plan to offer an international version of iBeat with multi-language support.

Categories
Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

Octopus smartwatch teaches kids time and good habits

Kids’ smartwatches tend to merely be stripped-down versions of standard smartwatches, with fewer features but more colorful designs.

Octopus is a twist on kids’ smartwatches, featuring a simple, icon-based user interface designed to teach children good habits and the concept of time, while fostering independence, responsibility and self-esteem. The watch works in conjunction with Android and iOS mobile devices that allow parents to manage Octopus from their own smartphones and tablets. Octopus ships in March at $79, but Kickstarter backers can order one for a pledge starting at $49 for early birds. Its makers hope to raise $50,000 by July 22.

The design of Octopus sets it apart from many other kids smartwatches, such as Miiya. That it’s water resistant is a plus, but being waterproof would be preferable for any kids’ smartwatch considering how likely it is that the device will get wet at some point. More importantly, Octopus doesn’t –- at least for now –- have the ability to alert parents as soon as their child is about to be out of range. That’s a feature that its makers are working on and want to make available by the time it ships … or at least as a free software update later on.

 

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Pebble 2, Time 2 come to the smartwatch field with integrated health monitoring

The smartwatch field has become crowded with players since the first Pebble model launched via Kickstarter in 2013 and demand exceeded supplies.

Now, Pebble introduces updated versions of its Pebble and Pebble Time smartwatches that add, among other features, integrated health monitoring. Each features an e-paper display, heart rate monitor, microphone, and built-in activity and sleep tracking, and are water resistant down to 30 meters. They are also each compatible with Android and iOS smartphones. Pebble 2 has a high contrast black and white display, while Time 2 has a 53 percent larger color display than its predecessor. Pebble 2 can last seven days on a full charge, while Time 2 can last 10 days.

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Chargers/Batteries Health and Wellness

Tylt Vu Pulse adds heart rate, wireless charging to Pebble Time

Heart rate tracking is one of the most helpful features of some fitness activity trackers and smartwatches including the Apple Watch. But it’s not a feature (yet anyway) on the Pebble Time smartwatch. The need to plug in the watch to charge it, meanwhile, can be a major hassle.

Tylt Vu Pulse is an add-on, protective case for the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel that adds heart rate monitoring, as well as wireless charging, to those smartwatches. The case connects to the accessory port of the watches and syncs with Android and iOS mobile devices using Google Fit and Apple Health.

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Smartwatches/Bands

Hidn Tempo smart watchband reveals your hidden stress level

Stress is a problem that’s been linked by doctors to serious health issues including heart disease and obesity. One obstacle people face in fighting stress is that they don’t always realize when they are under stress and how it’s impacting the decisions that they make.

Hidn Tempo is a stress-measuring watchband with a working watch that teaches the person wearing it to control stress through three steps: awareness, knowledge and action. The watchband monitors the wearer’s stress level, sleep quality and activities all day. That information is sent to the accompanying Android and iOS app that analyzes the data and gives the user instant advice about what to do, when to do it and how to do it.

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Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

Revolights illuminates a more connected vision of bike lights with its Eclipse+

A complete lighting system that properly illuminates all types of bicycles no matter its make or model has been a thorny problem for a long time. At least that’s what most people commonly think. After two Kickstarters, the army of backers that have made both successes seem to think it has figured it out. Now, they’ve made their way back to the crowdfunding world—this time, on Indiegogo—to introduce their Eclipse+ connected bike lighting system.

The Eclipse+ is a refinement of the original Eclipse model. While it still provides 360º illumination, the lack of cables and addition of snap-in rechargeable batteries for power makes the entire unit easier to install. But the biggest improvement comes in its Bluetooth connectivity, adding a wide-array of features facilitated by the companion Revolights iOS/Android smartphone or smartwatch app.

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Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Trivoly slips under your watch to make it a smarter partner

Although smartwatches offer all sorts of conveniences, the problem with them is that most people already own watches and most of the time, they like their own watches more than whatever Apple, Google, or Pebble is offering.

The team behind the Trivoly recognizes that watches are timeless and well-designed in and of themselves, so it decided to smarten them up rather than make a watch that tried to compete. The Trivoly is a thin disc that adds connected capabilities to any watch. It’s small enough to fit under pretty much any timepiece, offering users vibration alerts for notifications, fitness tracking capabilities, tap-controlled music control, a camera function, and a general interface with which to stay connected with apps like Uber.

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Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

This modular smartwatch and band will make you the coolest kid on the Blocks

editors-choiceSmartwatches are a paradox. They extend some of the capabilities of the smartphone by putting notifications and other functionality on the wrist but they also have serious limitations because of their size (including their puny batteries), comfort requirements, and limited input. They require even more functional tradeoffs than smartphones and unfortunately that may include things important to certain buyers

But there will be a far smaller chance of that for owners of the Blocks smartwatch. The “core” of the device includes a sleek round LCD watch face that provides features such as voice input, haptic feedback, low-power Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, notifications and activity tracking. It works with both iOS and Android smartphones.

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Reviews Smartwatches/Bands

Pebble Time review

Backerjack is delighted to start off its hands-on reviews with a product that set the Kickstarter record for funding, the Pebble Time.

Review Score: 3 of 5

The original Pebble watch was notable for two reasons. It was one of the first smartwatches to work with both iOS in addition to Android and it was one of the few to have a grayscale e-paper display that offered long battery life and great outdoor readability. Handling smartwatch basics such as phone call notification, step counting and music playback control, the Pebble attracted thousands of watchfaces and apps. However, the watch looked plastic and chunky (a fault somewhat rectified by the Pebble Steel) and its interface often  required an extended number of button presses given its lack of a touchscreen.

The Pebble Time addresses some of the shortcomings of the original. it has a sleeker, more attractive two-tone design that drops the body extensions to accommodate the strap. Pebble has also gone with a color e-ink display, one of the first to be used in a consumer product. Pebble has also moved its power connector from the side of the device to the back and seems to have strengthened the magnets; the connection is more secure and Pebble now ships a long flat cable. And while the power connector also supports watch straps that add functionality (a promising one the subject of a recent crowdfunding campaign), they’ve not appeared in the market yet. Like its predecessor, the Pebble Time is water-resistant.

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Categories
Input Smartwatches/Bands

Aria lets you gesture toward your smartphone, offers hands-free control

As advanced as the smartwatches on the market now are, their small screens and tiny buttons don’t necessarily make for the most engaging user experiences. Half the time, they end up adding layers of complexity rather than the opposite, creating opportunities for companies like Deus Ex Technology Ltd to cook up new ways to leverage the benefits these devices give us in a more useful way.

Their solution is their Bluetooth-enabled Aria wearable, a gesture control interface that lets both Android Wear and Pebble Time owners use their devices with only finger gestures. Whether it be a flick of the index finger or a tap of the ring finger, these gestures are fully customizable so that actions, like opening emails or taking calls, are simple to execute. Aria does all this by using sensors to remember which tendons flex with each respective finger movement, assigning commands to each when performed.

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