Electronics can be expensive -- after all, cutting-edge specs come at a price. Here, we take a look at what refurbished means, what devices you should buy refurbished, and which outlets offer the deepest discounts.
The post Which gadgets to buy refurbished, how to buy them, and where appeared first on Digital Trends.
The ZeTime, the latest wearable from Swiss watchmaker MyKronoz, features a hybird design with battery-boosting mechanical watch hands and a full-color touchscreen. It ships in September.
The post MyKronoz ZeTime hybrid marries mechanical hands with a touchscreen appeared first on Digital Trends.
There's no bigger show for mobile tech geeks than Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. This is where flagship phones are born and intriguing new wearables shine. Everyone from Samsung and LG to app makers and small startups descend on the Fira conference center to show off the latest and greatest mobile innovations. Follow us […]
The post Mobile World Congress 2017 Coverage appeared first on Digital Trends.
Dirac Research, a Swedish audio company, is known as a veritable pioneer in the areas of VR and smartphone audio. We checked the company out at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The post Dirac Research makes any stereo handset sound like top-of-the-line headphones appeared first on Digital Trends.
Fossil's smartwatches have long been hailed as among the more fashionable ones -- and they'll soon be some of the most up-to-date, too. The company has announced that Android Wear 2.0 will be coming to its watches in mid-March.
The post Fossil’s watches are finally getting Android Wear 2.0 in mid-March appeared first on Digital Trends.
We are again at Mobile World Congress this year and happy to share some of our favorite wearable discoveries with you from the event.
Our personal highlight is of course that the new TÜV SÜD and WT | Wearable Technologies certified Huawei Watch 2 has been awarded to be MWC Best Wearable 2017!
We’re thrilled to have won @ExpertReviews‘ MWC’s Best Wearable 2017 for the #HuaweiWatch2! #MWC17 #HuaweiMWC2017 http://pic.twitter.com/7wazwywd6x
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) February 27, 2017
Furthermore, we enjoyed the run at Nokia’s booth for the launch of the feature phone Nokia 3310. This is what can happen if you relaunch a beloved phone:
Also cool at this booth are the now Nokia branded former Withings products:
Another fun booth to visit is Qualcomm as they have a great Leap Motion Mobile VR showcase:
Embedding our technology in headsets means zero input fragmentation, which is better for #VR developers and users alike http://pic.twitter.com/46pOX5vDrJ
— LeapMotion (@LeapMotion) February 27, 2017
A cool demo we recommend is at the Infineon booth. Their radar-based key technology can, for example, be used to gesture control a smartwatch. And Cisco Jasper and Jupl introduced a wearable for seniors today.
At the NEC booth you can get yourself a Wearable:
Good Morning Barcelona! Let us know your #IoT preferences and Get your IoT Wearable, visit NEC Stand 3M30 at #MWC17 https://t.co/FCAJKBEFu7 http://pic.twitter.com/hbDNxznXrS
— SDNspace (@SDNspace) February 28, 2017
And last but not least do not miss to stop by at the Institute of Photonic Sciences and check out their wearable wellness graphene sensor:
#ICFO Wearable wellness sensor at the #Graphene Experience Zone #MWC17 #innovation #graphenemwc @GrapheneCA @GSMA #mobile http://pic.twitter.com/5rgcnmFZKX
— ICFO (@ICFOnians) February 28, 2017
Please also share your wearable discoveries with us on Twitter: @WearableTech !
The ZeTime, the latest wearable from Swiss watchmaker MyKronoz, features a hybird design with battery-boosting mechanical watch hands and a full-color touchscreen. It ships in September.
The post MyKronoz ZeTime hybrid marries mechanical hands with a touchscreen appeared first on Digital Trends.
Electronics can be expensive -- after all, cutting-edge specs come at a price. Here, we take a look at what refurbished means, what devices you should buy refurbished, and which outlets offer the deepest discounts.
The post Which gadgets to buy refurbished, how to buy them, and where appeared first on Digital Trends.
Sony's wild new Xperia Ear open ear concept headphones use bone conduction to let you hear the ambient noise around you. They also support a smart assistant that supplies directions, calendar appointment reminders, and recordings on command.
The post Sony Xperia Ear open-style earbuds let you listen to music, the world around you appeared first on Digital Trends.
It´s time for a little recap of Wearable Technologies Conference Europe 2017. Just one week after the conference, which took again place in line with ISPO, the world´s largest sports trade show for the sports business, we can say that it was a full success. Next to speakers from some of the most important companies in the field of wearable technologies and the Innovation World Cup Ceremony the conference had a lot more to offer. So please check out some of the highlights this year.
It was a great start with CEO Christian Stammel on the stage introducing the 11th Wearable Technologies Conference Europe 2017 in Munich. Andi Gall from Red Bull Media House holding the keynote was a big highlight too. Nicola Belli from Safilo (Smith Optics) presented smart glasses live on stage that can help improving wellness. The smartglasses are embedded with EEG, EOG and EMG sensors and also include activity tracker, pressure-, temperature- and uv-sensor and everything integrated in a single piece of eyewear. For the first time, Terho Lahtinen, Senior Manage Future Concepts of Suunto presented Movesense, a development platform, which creates customized tools for sports and training apps. With Polar, another Finnish company was hitting the stage: Laurens van den Berg, Marketing Director DACH of Polar Electro gave a live demo of the new Polar Team Pro Shirt, a sleeveless, base-layer shirt that replaces the need for a chest strap monitor. It captures real-time heart rate data, allowing coaches to gain insight into an athlete’s performance, and adjust training as needed.
Like every year everyone was excited about the Innovation World Cup Award Ceremony. 29 finalist in six categories from more than 400 participants were allowed to present their products or solutionson stage. But only six of the were named as Innovator of the year.
Sports&Fitness: PomoCup by Gaitup
Healthcare & Wellness: Carin wear by LifeSense Group
Gaming & Lifestyle: UnlimitedHand by H2L
Safety & Security: Light Flex Technology by Light Flex Sweden
Special Prize Smart Clothing: Bonbouton
Special Prize Smart Jewelry: EJOY
Here some further impressions of Wearable Technologies Conference Europe 2017. Hope to see you in 2018.
While the market for wearables such as smartwatches and activity trackers is booming the global information and communications technology (ICT) enterprise HUAWEI opted for voluntary certification by TÜV SÜD and WT to stand out from the competition and demonstrate the high quality of the HUAWEI WATCH 2.
The test program of TÜV SÜD Product Service covers essential safety requirements, mechanical and chemical aspects including safety for long-term skin contact, and factory inspection based on CIG 023. HUAWEI WATCH 2 met all the criteria in the voluntary certification standard and was awarded the Wearables certification mark of TÜV SÜD.
The TÜV SÜD experts test HUAWEI WATCH 2 for an array of features, including resistance to shock, scratches, and water. To ensure that production of the certified products conforms to the certification standard, TÜV SÜD Product Service further carries out regular surveillance and factory inspections. The certification standard also covers testing for hazardous materials and for biocompatibility.
Further services for the wearables market
TÜV SÜD offers further testing solutions for wearable technologies, including testing the battery life of wearable devices as well as testing wireless connection technologies and specific absorption rate (SAR). The technical services provider also assesses biocompatibility and tests mobile applications according to ISO 25051, ISO 9241 and various national and international testing and certification programs. TÜV SÜD supports companies in national and international approval processes, providing product tests for CE marking and conformity certificates according to the European RED (Radio Equipment Directive) and EMC Directives, and can assist with obtaining grants for radio and telecoms equipment from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
There's no bigger show for mobile tech geeks than Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. This is where flagship phones are born and intriguing new wearables shine. Everyone from Samsung and LG to app makers and small startups descend on the Fira conference center to show off the latest and greatest mobile innovations. Follow us […]
The post Mobile World Congress 2017: Complete Coverage appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Huawei Watch was the first Android Wear smartwatch we really wanted to put on our wrist. Now the Watch 2 is here, and there are two versions, one with 4G LTE so you can abandon your phone. Here's what they're like.
The post Huawei Watch 2 Classic and Watch 2 Sport: Our first take appeared first on Digital Trends.
Nokia acquired health-and-fitness technology company Withings last year, and it has finally made a decision about which brand name to use. All existing and future Withings products will now be sold under the Nokia brand, starting this summer.
The post Nokia to rebrand Withings portfolio, redesign HealthMate app appeared first on Digital Trends.
At the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Finnish company Nokia outlined its plans for growth. Those plans include new smartphones, medical devices, virtual reality cameras, and more.
The post Nokia has confidence its VR cameras, smartphones, 5G tech will drive growth appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Huawei Watch was the first Android Wear smartwatch we really wanted to put on our wrist. Now the Watch 2 is here, and there are two versions, one with 4G LTE so you can abandon your phone. Here's our first take, the specs, and more.
The post Huawei Watch 2: Our first take appeared first on Digital Trends.
Check out our roundup of the coolest crowdfunding projects and product announcements that hit the web this week. You can't buy this stuff yet, but it sure is fun to gawk!
The post Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Jellyfish tanks, wearable luggage, and more appeared first on Digital Trends.
Mobile World Congress is the biggest mobile tech show of the year, and it kicks off in late February. Here's everything you can expect to see at the show from Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, and other big industry players.
The post What to expect at MWC 2017: The LG G6, Huawei P10, a new BlackBerry, and more appeared first on Digital Trends.
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it's almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of it. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: Insane stunt pilot lady, life beyond Earth, $700 self-driving car appeared first on Digital Trends.
Panasonic recently introduced a program for monitoring your heart rate -- with just software and a video camera. The program analyzes changes minute in the skin from a video camera or even a webcam.
The post Video cameras could soon determine your heart rate from across the room appeared first on Digital Trends.
Winner WT | Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup 2017 – category Healthcare & Wellness
With its smart pants for after pregnancy Carin, the LifeSense Group is the winner of our Healthcare & Wellness category in the WT | Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup. This piece of technology offers to solve the bladder control discomfort that most women have to deal with after their pregnancy. It is tracking the urine loss and training your pelvic muscles thanks to its app.
A week after the award ceremony, Eline van Uden, Product Manager of LifeSense group, shared with us how significant this award was to the dutch group LifeSense:
This triumph of being recognized as the best wearable technology reinforces that Carin is not just another gadget or meaningless app; it is an innovation that makes sense and has a purpose. We are grateful to the international wearables industry whose show recognizes this life-changing solution and has awarded us with the Innovation World Cup.
The story of Carin began with a purpose; a desire to help women suffering the damaging effects of unwanted urine loss. It is a wearable that is making a difference in the lives of women and their families all over the world through innovative technology with an intuitive approach. Carin is fueling the revolution by empowering women at the most basic and essential level, stimulating confidence while improving health and wellness.
The journey has been challenging and inspirational. We are living in an age of transformation and renewal. Carin will continue to support and encourage women and men by advancing life-changing technology for everyone, everywhere.
There is no better time to embrace change and empower innovators. This is the perfect occasion to showcase your innovation to the world!
More information about Carin on this website.
If you are interested about innovations, follow us in the next Innovation world cup for IoT/M2M in Barcelona!
The Golf Pad Link is a new way to accurately track rounds of golf without needing to be tethered to your phone. With each new round played, Golf Pad learns the way you golf so that it can make suggestions to improve your score.
The post Golf Pad’s Link system lets you track your game without draining your phone appeared first on Digital Trends.
Yes, sometimes they fall out of your ears.
On this episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask, The Verge’s Lauren Goode and Recode’s Kara Swisher discuss the finer points of Apple’s wireless headphones, the AirPods.
How do they work? Why did Apple delay their release? Do they fall out of your ears? Are they a pain to sync up with other Apple products? In short, is it a must-have purchase?
You can read some of the highlights from their discussion at that link, or listen to it in the audio player above. Below, we’ve posted a lightly edited complete transcript of their conversation.
If you like this, be sure to subscribe to Too Embarrassed to Ask on iTunes, Google Play Music, TuneIn or Stitcher.
Transcript by Celia Fogel.
Lauren Goode: So Kara, you are in D.C., and by the time this podcast airs — we’re taping this the day before inauguration day — by the time it airs it will be inauguration day.
Kara Swisher: Yes, I’m here in D.C. I am. I have to be here. My kids live here. And so I am here. I am not here for the inaugural. I have to say I was not invited, although there’s plenty of tickets apparently and they’re giving them away on Twitter and stuff like that.
Oh, are you thinking of going?
No, I’m thinking of not going. I’m thinking of holing up in my house underneath a blanket all day, that’s my plan.
Are you marching at all?
Yes, parts of it I am. Yes, it’s the women’s march. And I’m bringing the boys, which I think is really important. And it’ll be interesting, it’ll be interesting. There’s a lot of marches going on, it’s not just the women’s march. There’s all sorts of groups coming in, many on opposing sides. So it should be quite an active weekend here in Washington, D.C.
If you are concerned, by the way, or at the very least interested about your digital footprint now that we have a new administration coming — and with the new administration comes new policies sometimes. We did tape a podcast in early November with the Verge’s Russell Brandom about things like secure messaging apps. We even talked about fake news at the time, which has been a persistent story. And a whole bunch of other stuff. So you can check that out.
Absolutely. You can go to Recode or to iTunes and find these. This episode was from November 11. And it is really important. This administration is likely to have a more stringent policy around these issues. So you have to pay attention to your own information.
Absolutely. Well, with that in mind, we’re not talking about politics the whole time. Some of you may be relieved to hear that, you’re like, “I tuned in for something else.” And so we’re going to give that to you.
Well, you’re going to get it.
We’re talking all about Apple’s new wireless earbuds today, also known as AirPods. So I happened to have been using a couple of review units of AirPods since around September, and I’m actually kind of amazed at the number of questions we’ve gotten, because wireless earphones are not a totally new thing. But they were new for Apple in some ways, so we’re going to try and answer some of these questions today.
Yeah. One of the interesting things, I get asked about them all the time. I was a dinner the other night in New York and three people asked, you know, we’re thinking of getting them and wanted to know what I thought, and I had not used them. I’d love to know your impressions because everybody’s asking whether to buy them or not, and again, I haven’t tried them. So it’s an interesting thing, people are intrigued by Apple doing them, I think. And if they’re Apple people they want to use the Apple products.
Even if you haven’t used them, Kara, I’m actually curious to hear your opinion about how they look.
They look like earrings.
You think they look like earrings.
They look like fake earrings from the ’70s, big plastic earrings. Like white plastic earrings. Or the ’60s, even. They look like Austin Powers to me.
Like Bakelite?
Yeah, right, exactly. You can always say there’s no differences between men and women, but there are. But I’ve seen a couple of men in them and they look like they’re wearing earrings. And if that’s their thing, of course as usual I’m good with anything like that.
But from the look of it, it seems odd-looking. I find them odd-looking. The whole point of wireless headphones is they’ve grown to be that you don’t notice them quite as much. And I’ve never liked when the wireless thing hung down and when you’re talking on the street. And I’ve liked them as they’ve gotten smaller and smaller and less and less obvious.
Right, for those of you who haven’t been following the AirPods as feverishly as people in tech have been, AirPods are Apple’s first step into truly wire-free headphones. So Apple has made wired headphones for a long time, they come with your iPhone, and more recently they’ve been called earpods. And then when Apple bought the company Beats a few years ago, they basically bought into wireless headphones because Beats makes a lot of wireless headphones. These are the ones that you kind of hook around your ears and then there will be a wire still that might go like around the back of your neck, but they’re sending the audio signals over some type of wireless protocol, or you’re getting a wireless signal from your phone.
You’re getting the music from your phone that way. These have zero wires. So that’s what makes them kind of different. There are a couple companies that have been doing these. Samsung has made the Icon X wireless earbuds. There’s a company called Braggy that has made something called Braggy Dash and they did a follow up pair as well that are completely wireless. The idea is you just take these things, stick them in your ears, and there are literally no wires anywhere. And they’re $160.
That’s a lot. That’s a lot, correct? That seems like a lot to me, or is it not? Because I’ve bought a bunch of wireless earbuds and they’re always usually under $100.
I mean, I’ll be honest. I’m not a big audiophile, so for me I could use a pair of $50 Skull Candies and I’m pretty happy with those, if, let’s just say, the earpods that come with the phone don’t work for you, because they don’t really work for me.
But so some people get really really into their headphones. People will spend thousands of dollars on a good pair of headphones or hundreds of dollars. And so if you look at AirPods compared to those prices, of course, it’s less.
But it’s a little bit more than you might spend on your typical low-grade wired pair of headphones. So I don’t know, I don’t think people are balking at the price of them as much as I thought they would. I think initially when they were announced, they were announced alongside the iPhone 7, and a customer said, “Wait, Apple’s getting rid of the headphone jack on the iPhone 7? That means I can’t use the wired headphones that I’ve had for years? This is ridiculous. Oh and here’s a $160 solution to that? No thanks.” I think that when they were looked at as sort of a solution to that problem, it seemed ridiculous to make people pay $160 for that. But actually, the iPhone 7 comes with a lightning pair of headphones that are supposed to work with the phone.
They do, and then you can buy the dongle. You can buy the dongle ...
[laughs] The dongle.
Because I still am using them. You know, eventually these things, they break or something doesn’t happen, but I have tons and tons of old headsets. And so I’ve been using the dongle and it works just fine. So what makes them so special that I want to pay that much for these things?
One of the things that Apple announced when they announced these AirPods was a special chip that Apple developed itself in-house called the W1. This is a wireless chip that they say is supposed to make the connectivity between all your devices easier. Because for anyone who’s used Bluetooth headphones, you know that when you first go to pair it with things, and sometimes subsequently even after you already have paired them with things, you still have to go back and repair. You have to go into your phone and you have to go into the settings and the Bluetooth menu and then you find your list of Bluetooth devices and then you find the pair you’re looking for and then you connect them.
And any time you’re going to connect to a new device like in your car, or, I don’t know, it could be something in your home, you have to go through the whole process over and over again. And one of the things that Apple has promised with the W1 chip is a more passive kind of experience with that. It’s kind of cool, actually, when you first open up the AirPods, you have your phone nearby, your iPhone. And you know, let’s assume that Bluetooth is turned on on your iPhone. And then you just kind of flick open the top of the little AirPods case and this screen pops up on your iPhone that says, “Would you like to connect your AirPods?” And you say yes. And that’s it. It’s a super simple process.
Yeah, so it’s easy. And did you find any problems doing that? Did it never not work?
So when it didn’t work was when it came to pairing with things like my older Mac. And then I actually talked to one of our other colleagues at Recode, Joe Brown, who has his AirPods — he was so excited to get his AirPods — and he has Apple TV, he’s a big user of Apple TV, and he said that to connect them to Apple TV you still had to do it the way that you would do any Bluetooth device, which is go into the Bluetooth menu, go to the drop-down menu and find the product and click connect and that sort of thing. So it wasn’t as passive with that.
Apple does say, I believe, that any device that’s running the newest version of the Mac operating system should connect in that passive way. It didn’t work that way for me. I still have to go into my Bluetooth menu and I have to, on my Mac, do it that way. So it doesn’t work 100 percent the way it’s been promised. But the promise is supposed to be that once you’ve connected your AirPods to your iPhone then if you were to pick up your iPad, let’s say, it knows, it’s magic, and then they connect to that. So that’s part of the whole promise of W1.
So that’s what’s special about them. Because it is ... all these things are hard to connect. I’ve always found issues, even like Jamboxes or my wireless earphones that I use when I listen to audiobooks — I have a very nice pair. I’m trying... they’re not Beats but they’re in that genre. And I find I’m always fiddling with them at all times.
Mhmm, yeah. You know, these are very first-world problems, right, when you get to the point where you’re like, “Oh, I have so many Bluetooth devices in my tech-filled world that it’s a pain in the ass …”
Oh, let’s stop apologizing.
But it’s a real thing. It takes time to do this stuff, right?
They’re never easy. None of the wireless things I’ve owned have ever been easy to use. And I have to, I’m constantly fixing them for my kids and for my mom. It’s the same thing in the car. Same thing that happens when you’re in the car and it’s a really interesting ...
The car is the worst.
The worst.
Yeah, I have like an aftermarket Bluetooth solution and it’s a complete crapshoot as to whether or not it’s going to work in the car.
So tell me why these were delayed. Because this was another thing, they were supposed to come out and then they didn’t.
They were announced in September with the iPhone and then they didn’t start shipping until the end of December and even now people are still waiting for them. Casey Newton, my colleague at The Verge, just ordered a pair this week, he was very excited to try them. He got a notification that said it’s going to be six weeks. So yeah, they were initially delayed, we don’t exactly know why but we think it was for technical reasons. Apple had simply said at the time that they weren’t ready. There was some suggestion that the issues may have had to do with syncing up the audio signals going to each ear. I don’t want to get too technical about this, but there are some wireless earbuds that you put one wireless earbud in and that is essentially sending a signal through your head to the other earbud on the other side of your head.
Oh my God, it sounds bad.
The AirPods don’t work that way. The audio signal from your phone is being sent to the right earbud and the left earbud at the same time so that the signal is not going through your head. And so there may potentially have been issues with getting those streams to sync up perfectly from ear to ear. But we don’t know. We actually don’t know, Apple never said what the problem was, and we don’t know if there are still maybe technical issues. I mean, as far as we know, the production-ready units are shipping. And I haven’t personally experienced those audio syncing problems, so ...
So you have them, you’ve been using them. What are your first impressions of them briefly before we get to questions from readers. Listeners.
Over time I like the way they look less and less, which has surprised me. Initially I thought, okay, they look kind of cool.
You liked them at first?
Yeah, I think it was novelty. I thought, you know, it was the novelty of them. I said, okay, those are cool, they’re white, they look kind of Apple-y, they look like Apple devices. And they worked for me. And they still do. So I thought, okay, great, I like the way they look a little bit less overtime, I really hope that Apple manages to shrink them in size because now that I’ve seen other completely wirefree buds come out that look cooler, I’d rather have something like that.
So what is wrong with the look? Is that it looks like earrings, right?
They just have these long cigarette stick ends that hang down. And there’s a lot of stuff, there’s a lot of technology you need to fit into this little thing, and battery life too. So that’s a challenge. But I wish they were a little bit smaller. But I will say that I work out with them a lot and I’m like amazed at how they stay in my ears. And my college Sean O’Cain, who did our review at The Verge, he did not have that experience. They did not stay in his ears, he couldn’t recommend them for people like himself — by the way, he had a bad experience with earpods as well — and so for some people they’re just not going to fit, but I’ve literally jumped rope in them.
Yeah, when we get to readers’ questions, that seems to be an issue. They look like they’re not going to stay in. They do, they look like they’re going to fall right out, which is interesting.
Yeah, they do.
I tried them on super briefly when they introduced them and it felt, I was so aware of them. And I didn’t imagine that I would stop being aware of them. You know, I always forget that when I have earbuds in; I have people saying, “Take your earbuds out.” And I’m like, oh, I didn’t realize I had them in. Even when the wires are dangling down. But I was super aware of these things.
Yeah, you do remain aware of them, I would say, as you’re wearing them. Like I’ll put them in when I get home from work and then I’ll be doing stuff around the apartment but I’ll be making phone calls and listening to music at the same time, and it’s not like, oh I’ve just had them in for the past couple of hours and I’ve completely forgotten they’re there. You’re still sort of aware of them in this weird way.
Yeah, because they look silly. All right, so we’re going to get to some readers’ questions in a minute, but would you pay the $160 for them yourself?
I would, because that to me is not an exceptionally high bar in terms of costs.
Well do you want them? I mean you’re a gadget person. If you were just like ... if you had to just choose yourself, would you be like, “I don’t want to buy them.”
I’m going to order them because I do like to try all the newest stuff and everything, and I use them primarily for workout purposes and I’m willing to invest in stuff like that. And they fit in my ears. But I think that last part is the most important thing and for some people they just, you know, it’s not going to work for them.
Yeah, unless they’re smaller I’m not going to ...
Are you going to buy them?
Nope. No. I have no interest in them, I don’t like the hanging ...
You can borrow my pair.
Oh that’s disgusting, I’m not putting your earbuds in my ears. [LG laughs] All that ear wax you have, Lauren.
I do not have earwax. Casey Newton is using the pair that I was wearing before.
Oh I wouldn’t let Casey Newton put on my earbuds! That’s even worse! Oh my God.
Oh yeah, The Verge is just sharing all kinds of headphones around here. Maybe that’s why we’re all sick.
Exactly, I don’t do that.
Can you get sick from headphones?
Anyway.
I don’t know.
I don’t share headphones. I’m clean that way. We have a lot of questions from our readers and listeners. More than usual. So in a minute we’re going to tackle those and Lauren’s going to answer all of them. But first ...
[ad]
This week we’re answering your questions about Apple’s AirPods. So Lauren, I’m going to read them and then you’re going to answer them, how about that? Does that sound good?
That sounds lovely.
And you better have the answers, that’s all I have to say. This is from Margaret, @notevenbigdata, I don’t know what that means. “How does the size/comfort compare to earpods? I have always found those too big for my apparently small ears.”
This is the No. 1 question that people have asked us since September. It’s a great question. According to Sean O’Cain, who wrote our review on The Verge as I mentioned, for him the wired earpods didn’t fit in his ears, they don’t fit in his ears, and AirPods don’t fit in his ears. So I mean, that’s anecdotal and that’s just one person, but I think in a lot of ways the earpods are a good proxy for the AirPods. So if you are a person who the earpods don’t work for you or you experience extreme discomfort with them, there’s a good chance the AirPods won’t work for you either. And I hope I’m saying those things differently enough so you actually understand and you’re not sitting in your car right now saying, “Why does she keep saying earpods, earpods, earpods.”
Basically I think they’re a pretty good proxy for you. The one thing I will note though is because AirPods have a lack of cables, there’s a little less weight pulling them down. Even though they look like they’re going to fall out of your ears, they’re actually very light. And so there’s a chance that the AirPods, the wirefree AirPods, may kind of rest in your ear a little bit differently than the wired earpods do. But generally they’re kind of designed the same way.
So this next question asks that too. @TimothyVB. “Earpods fall out of my ears, is there anyway to test AirPods without purchasing and returning them?”
You can try them on in stores. Kara, you must be so grossed out by that, just thinking of all the people ...
[laughs] I am grossed out.
… going in the stores, sticking things in their ears.
But can you buy them and return them? Is that possible?
You can return them. I’m pretty sure. I haven’t looked into the specific return policy around it. I should. It’s probably available online but Apple is generally pretty good about returning things. So yeah, I think you can try them and return them. I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. Keep in mind you might not get them for several weeks if you order them now and so that whole process isn’t going to happen for a long time. If you happen to live near an Apple store or maybe even one of the other retailers that is selling them — like they’re available through Best Buy, I believe, as well — you might want to try finding a physical retail location and try them on first just to see if they work for you.
Okay. Kevin Cruel, @Cruel, “Do they look cool or stupid?”
I’m going to turn this one back on you, Kara. Kevin wants to know if they look cool or stupid.
They look stupid. [laughs] They look stupid. You don’t look cool. I have yet to see someone who looks cool in them. And men in particular for some reason. You know, I should like men with earrings, I live in the Castro of San Francisco. So there’s something about them that just ... Austin Powers-like, I don’t know, I just don’t think it looks good.
What would you change about them?
I don’t love wireless, I don’t like many of the wireless ones before the black ones that made you look like Gordon Gecko either. But these, I don’t know, they’re just sort of these sticks sticking out of people’s ears. It feels very tribal. [laughs] I don’t know, I can’t explain it. It looks like adornments.
Yeah, I wonder how differently they would look if they were a different color. Like what if they were black? Beats colors.
The white just gets me, I guess you’re right. I think they look not good. What do you think?
Yeah, see, I agree with you. I think over time they’ve ...
When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you go, “Hey, I look good”?
Well it’s funny, when I first tried them I took a selfie and I sent it to my mom. I said, you know, “Mom, look, I’m trying the new AirPods,” and she said, “Oh my goodness, they look wonderful,” or something like that. And I determined right then and there that moms are not a good litmus test for anything you might try because they think everything looks wonderful. [KS laughs] They’re like, “Oh my gosh you look so great,” and like I was like, “I love you, Mom, but I don’t think they look cool.”
All right. @KevinBelby: “Will I lose them?” Talk about the case. That’s another issue that I was worried about: Losing them.
So if you are leaving your AirPods lying around just as the AirPods themselves, I would say you have a very good chance of losing them. They’re tiny and they’re light.
They don’t go in your pocket, you can’t really put them in your pocket. Like I stick a lot of stuff in my pocket.
Yeah, you’re going to lose them. If you stick them in your pocket they’re going to end up in the toilet or something, I don’t know, you’re going to lose them.
Or break them.
The case makes this a lot better. The charging case is actually pretty nifty. It looks like a little dental floss case, a lot of people have said this and it is true, but if you remember to take your AirPods off and then put them in that little charging case every time, I think there’s less likelihood you’re going to lose that. Although you could still lose the charging case. I mean, it’s small.
The whole thing has so much going on.
So far I’ve had, knock on wood, I’ve not lost mine yet.
You’re a little obsessive-compulsive, so you’re careful with all your things. I’d lose them in one second.
I just put them in the same pocket in my gym bag every morning. Well, I say every morning as though I’ve been going. I haven’t gone out in like three days. But I put them in the same place in my gym bag and that’s just the best way to do it. And they get charged at the same time, it’s a pretty nifty solution.
Yeah. I would never get them for teens. I’d rather just throw $160 at my son because ... and just keep throwing it at him because I think for teens they aren’t careful with things. These are adults’ earphones.
You can replace these if you lose one. You can buy one for $70 I believe. No, $69. I remember this because the collective internet was making jokes about the price because we’re all mature. And so you can replace one but if you get to the point where you’re thinking, okay, well, I’m going to game the system and replace two, just buy two separate ones for $140 total, you’re not going to get the charging case with that. So you still need the charging case.
I see. All right. So let’s get through this, we’ve got tons more. Neetan Gupta, @NeedingGupta2. “Is it possible to fast-forward to the next song while listening to music using AirPods? I mean without touching the phone.”
Without touching the phone there’s only really one way to do it. No, there are two ways to do it. The first way is to say, “Hey Siri,” or tap on the AirPod twice and it pulls up Siri and then you can say, “Next song” or “Skip song.”
So you can do it via voice control but it does require a little bit of interaction. Or if you’re a really big Apple fanboy and you’re into the Apple ecosystem and if you have an Apple Watch, you can do it that way. Tap on your Apple Watch if you’re playing music from that.
Oh my God, it seems complicated. All right, so no, really. Not easily. Andre Moore, @AndersMoore. “Do you worry about sweat breaking them? That’s my main concern. They fit in my ears great.”
Personally, no. But for people who sweat a lot I’d say that you should have the same level of concern that would for most other earphones, headphones. You know, eventually ...
You’re not a sweater?
… the sweat could sort of corrode the product overtime. But it would take a lot to do that. And some are more sweatproof than others.
They did sweat tests, I bet they did sweat tests. All right, David Lindsay, @RetProf77: “Why in the world can’t Apple make enough of these devices so you could actually buy one?” I’m doing that in an indignant tone. Why?
Yeah, come on! David, if I knew it would be on the website in a story because I wish I knew. What the heck is going on?
What the heck?
Why is it going to take six weeks for Casey Newton to get his AirPods?
Oh, poor Casey.
I don’t know. There could be an issue in terms of just measuring demand, having estimated how much demand there was going to be for these. It could be that those technical issues that possibly were present early on are still something that requires extra QA and testing. And so that has delayed things.
She doesn’t know.
It could be the fact that they’re now making this W1 chip and it’s their own chip and they’re making it, like it could be something that takes more time. I honestly don’t know, these are all guesses.
We don’t know. Just guesses. All right, @ApeDregar: “How do you feel about now having to charge your phone and your earphones?” How do you feel about that, Lauren?
You know what, charging an Apple Watch bothers me more. In my review experiences. Charging a little charging case, I maybe charge that once a week because I use the AirPods for a little while at the gym and then maybe make a couple phone calls. They last for five consecutive hours and the charging case adds 24 hours of battery life to that.
All right, so not a big pain.
So you don’t have to charge it all that much.
All right. @BenFord: “How easy is it to swap the AirPods between devices such as an iPad, iPhone and non Apple devices?” Easy?
My experience earlier was between iPhones because I did switch it between iPhones at one point. It was fine. It was fast. All that. Between my iPhone and Mac and iPhone and Apple TV, personally I’ve still had to go into a drop-down menu and find Bluetooth and connect and do that.
It’s funny because I was talking to my colleague Dieter Bohn about this. We’ve both used the Google Pixel phone, which is Google’s own phone, and we were talking about pairing the AirPods with Google phone. That still requires going into a Bluetooth menu on an Android device and looking for the AirPods and hitting connect and all that, but still pretty fast, I have to say.
Okay. All right, good.
So that’s good.
It’s easy. At least that’s a good part about it. All right, Jonathan Tanzer @JTanzer. “Do the W1 chip benefits, pairing, extra reliable connection, power efficiency, work on older Apple devices?”
The oldest Apple device I’ve been able to try it on is a late 2012 MacBook Pro running the newest operating system. And so I guess if you mean like the W1 chip benefits of the automatic pairing, no as I just explained that’s not really working for me on my Mac. But in terms of just pairing and in general, it’s fine. Once they’re paired to the Mac they’re fine. People ask a lot about signal dropout.
Yeah, it does. I think it has more to do with the phone sometimes. @KennethChao. “Are there comfortable and affordable accessories to help keep them in your ears? If so, price?”
There are a ton.
A strap ...
There are a ton of people that are pitching this.
Really?
These little $10 cords, or cables that have these little caps at the end of them and the caps, you plug the AirPods into the caps and then you can wear them around your neck and stuff like that.
It’s just kind of funny, and I want to try these. I do. And I’m going to. And they’re cheap, right? But it’s funny because if you’re going to do that, like just get a pair of wired, wireless headphones. Just get the pair that go around the back of your neck or whatever.
Yeah, that’s a really good point. I can’t believe it, how much do those cost? What does that thing cost? They’re like ear anchors, what are they calling them? Not anchors, like, you know, you put on glasses to hold them on, that kind of thing.
Yeah. It’s like the equivalent of that for AirPods.
It seems silly.
I guess they could be cool because you’re still going to get the pairing capabilities of the AirPods but with a string attached to them. But I don’t know.
I’m going no on those. [LG laughs] All right, this is a good one for you. From Ryan @ChawRyan. “Does having long hair make it any better or worse to wear AirPods?” Lauren who has long hair, long luxurious hair, can you hide them? Or do they just stick out no matter what?
Oh well thank you for that lovely compliment. It’s better and worse. It’s better because if you don’t like the looks of them you can hide them. Or if you’re worried about, you know, someone ripping them out of your ears, God forbid, you can hide that you’re wearing them. But worse because if you touch your hair or fiddle with your hair more or you’re about to go put it in a ponytail or something like that, I would say you’re at risk of knocking them out of your ears.
I see.
Although the only time I’ve actually knocked them out of my ears so far was when I was pulling a sweatshirt off.
You left them in pulling off a sweatshirt. That’s a risky move. I wouldn’t have done that.
Risky move. Bold move.
Long hair, don’t care, that’s what she is.
It’s a bold strategy.
Long hair is both an asset and a negative. All right. This is Poi ... I’m not even going to read his at something or other. “How do you think the AirPods design will change in the future, and what about future features that might be added?” That’s a good question.
Yeah. Poi’s handle is @OSXUser, so I think that Poi uses OSX.
Apparently.
I think the design, I would not be surprised if they shrunk in size a little bit. Maybe that’s just my ...
Will they let go of the pointy little edge thing that comes down? The little dongle.
No more cigarette sticks. It’s 2017, people.
They’re not that thick, they’re more like toothpicks in a way, right? They’re not quite cigarettes.
Yeah. Yeah, they’re more like ... who was it that wrote that terrible Medium post and called them sex sticks? I don’t even know.
Don’t even go there. Anyway, will those be gone? Because if they were gone I might consider them. Remember the movie “Her”? He had that thing, it just went in his ear.
Yeah.
If it was like that I’d be very pleased.
I think we could get there.
Can we? Are you just making that up?
So there are other companies that are doing this. They’re like little bulbs. They’re tiny little things you just put in your ears and they don’t have the extended end. But then, for example, I think the Samsung Icon X’s battery life is much shorter. So there are tradeoffs still but I wouldn’t be surprised if they got smaller.
I do wonder, I don’t know this, but I wonder if volume control is something that could possibly be added to these in the future somehow, because right now you can’t control the volume from them. You still have to go to your phone or your device.
You can’t do anything with them. You have to talk to them to say, “Volume up,” kind of thing, right?
I don’t know if that works, I should try that. “Siri, raise volume.” Or, “Siri, volume up.” You have to do it with your Siri.
Siri.
I don’t know. But some of the headphones I tried before actually have touch-sensitive buds. So if you have a bud in your ear and then you were to like, let’s say, swipe up or something, it would raise the volume.
All right, this is our last question, from Benoit Amoren. “Do you consider the AirPods a must-buy or not?” Does it improve your everyday life, Lauren? Does it? Are you better off for having the earpods sticking our of your ears? [LG laughs]
If we were to try a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid I’m not sure I’d put AirPods as the foundation.
Yeah, but some things are a must-buy. My iPhone is a must-buy. Is it a must-buy?
No, they’re not a must-buy like your iPhone. And I’d say the same thing about a lot of wearables. I mean, these are wearables, right, you wear them on your body. But like a lot of wrist wearables I’d say the same thing. They’re not a must-buy. For certain power users they’re good. If you’re using them for a specific application — for example, I really like the AirPods at the gym — but I find that when I’m at work and a phone call comes in and I have to grab my phone and run into a room really quickly to take a phone call, a lot of times I end of using my wired headphones, right?
Wired headphones, those are easier.
Or I just stick my wired headphones into the side of my MacBook Pro which has all of it’s wonderful ports.
So not a must-buy.
So no, they’re not a must-have, I would say.
Okay, can I make a list for you very quickly? Okay, iPhone is a must-buy, obviously, right? Apple Watch.
Are you making the list? Or are you saying must-buy?
I’m just saying, must-buy or not, I’m going to put it on a list and then you rank them. Apple Watch, is that a must-buy?
No.
More than these. So between AirPods and Apple Watch, which one would you buy first?
AirPods.
AirPods, okay. What about between this and a wireless speaker?
What can the wireless speaker do? If you’re talking about a crappy commoditized Bluetooth speaker ...
No, like a decent one that they sell in the Apple stores.
I would put that higher. I would say the iPhone is the ultimate mobile device for when you’re on the go and a good wireless speaker or smart home assistant is quickly becoming something you need in the home.
So this is you want it, you seem to be using it just for working out. That’s pretty much it. Right?
Yeah. But I also use them, I’d say I use them for working out, so before work, and then I use them when I’m home in the evening and I’m doing stuff around the house but I also want to make phone calls or listen to music and not bother the neighbors. So yeah, it’s interesting. But at work a lot I use my wired headphones still. And actually I look around the office and a lot of people still do. They put like big cans on their ears because they don’t want to be bothered.
That’s right. That’s Casey Newton, in case you’re interested.
Yes, they do do that. And so I’d say right now you’re saying, “I like this relationship but I’m not totally convinced. It’s complicated.”
Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to play the marry, kill or you-know-what game, but I think we all know we’d marry our smartphones. Right?
Mhmm, and this one? [LG laughs]
Sex sticks.
All right, on that note, [laughter] this has been another great episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask.
Huawei is reportedly deep into development of the Huawei Watch 2, the follow-up to the much-loved and beautifully designed Huawei Watch. Here is everything we know about the watch so far.
The post Huawei Watch 2 news, rumors, and release date appeared first on Digital Trends.
The ZeTime, the latest wearable from Swiss watchmaker MyKronoz, features a hybird design with battery-boosting mechanical watch hands and a full-color touchscreen. It ships in September.
The post MyKronoz ZeTime hybrid boasts analog hands that tick in time to a color touchscreen appeared first on Digital Trends.
If you've decided to strap a Gear S3 Classic or Frontier to your wrist, you’ll want to unlock its full potential. Check out our handy batch of Gear S3 tips and tricks, which will let you make the most of Samsung's latest smartwatch.
The post 15 handy Gear S3 tips and tricks you’ll want to know about appeared first on Digital Trends.
Snapchat may have released its video-recording sunglasses online, but that doesn’t mean it’s retiring its Spectacles kiosks. Users have spotted a new Snapbot animation on the Spectacles website. But what does it mean?
The post Is Snapchat taking its quirky Spectacles kiosks overseas? appeared first on Digital Trends.
A study conducted through Apple's ResearchKit has concluded, giving what could be invaluable insight into seizure triggers. The study used sensors in both the Apple Watch and the iPhone.
The post Apple ResearchKit epilepsy study provides insight on seizure triggers appeared first on Digital Trends.
Snapchat's cool new sunglasses are social media's latest craze. If you're an avid snapper, check out our guide to find out how they work, and how to get your hands on a pair.
The post Everything you need to know about Snapchat Spectacles appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Apple Watch Series 2 was released to some fanfare, but many are looking for more. In fact, the next Apple Watch could be the best yet. Here's everything we know about the Apple Watch Series 3 so far.
The post The Apple Watch Series 3 could launch with two major improvements appeared first on Digital Trends.
There are many reasons to be willing to lose weight. Maybe, you want to get ready for the Munich marathon in October. You also want to lose weight to feel fitter and have more energy. Or maybe you want to be at your best for this summer. Anyway, here are the wearables that can help you reaching your goals with fun!
Combine smart watch + smart scale + Calorie tracking app
Fitbit – Aria WiFi Smart Scale
Smart watch for Sport and Fitness lay on the assumption, that tracking the activity is motivating for the user. Indeed, you use your watch and your app as a coach. At the end of your effort, you will be rewarded for reaching your 30 000 steps! Making fitness become a game, where you earn badges and can compete with friends. And this is what will keep you motivated every day.
Wearables are tracking your physical activity by many features: tracking your physical data as your heart rate thanks to a built-in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) laying on your skin, your steps or distance walked. By using the physical data that you have entered into the app as your current weight, your age and your height, the app calculates how much calories you have burnt and how intense your effort was. Thus, your app can give you an estimation of the weight you have lost.
Instead of entering yourself all the data during your diet, smartwatches brand offer you to combine it with a smart scale, so you can actively track your weight variation, your body fat percentage and Body Mass Indicator (BMI).
Tracking your eating habits
This app is not only a fitness coach, but also a cooking one! Choose a recipe and the device will tell you what to do and if you do it right. The sensors measure your inputs and give you feedbacks: “Beware the temperature!”. Besides, you can share with the Smartypans community pictures of your meal and your progress. Finally, the smartypans can be synchronize with a FitBit smartwatch and measure your calories inputs.
The modular device can be used also as a backing pan, since the cooking surface is detachable. No woories, you can safely put it in the dishwasher. Rechargeable Li-Po Battery, weight and temperature sensor, Atmel powered BLE 4.0 chip are making your pan smart.
The Smartypans is not commercialized yet, but you can preorder it on this website. Follow Smartypans to be innovator of the year in the IoT Innovation World Cup in Barcelona, the 1st of March!
Stimulating Fitness Clothes
No rest for the wicked fat and the “weak” muscles! Steelman Powerpants with Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) will make work more muscles of your body. When your practising, you are focused only on a part of your muscles. This smart clothes composed of electrodes will train other muscles you could use in our training. Thus, your injured muscle is not being overstretching by your workout exercise, but it is relieved by the passive training of other muscles. The EMS helped athletes as Bruce Lee to recover from injuries and build rapidly muscles.
The Steelman power offers you to train muscles without any efforts or thinking. You don’t need to hire a coach, just to wear a sport suit. The Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) technology give an electric impulse, which goes from an electrode applied on your skin to your muscles. The electric signal activates then your muscle as your nerve would do it naturally. Therefore, you only feel the contraction of the muscle and not the safe electric signal.
Different prototypes exist from professional to the home one, that fit under your everyday clothes. Close to the body, the suit is flexible and cable free. A small controller and built-in pads with the electrodes are attached to the suit. You can control it from your smartphone, tablet or computer. is The Steelman Powerpant can be easily used at any time, not only into the gym. It works especially on your bottom, tummy and thighs to get them firmer and get your articulations stronger.
Still you will have to wait for the commercialization of the Steelman powergear, still on a kickstarter campaign.
This is not the first time we talk about EMS, here we also saw that other companies were also using EMS for faster muscle recovery.
Motivational Smart Coaches
Radar Pace is a real-time voice activated coaching system that creates a unique training program, tracks your performance and coaches you in the moment. The frames have removable earphones, three microphones and numerous internal sensors. We’re talking an accelerometer, gyroscope, humidity sensor and even a barometer all of this to guide you better. You can also pair the glasses with a myriad of further sensors including power meters, foot pods, heart rate monitor, and speed and cadence sensors via Bluetooth or ANT+ connectivity. This not only ups the data feedback but also highlights its intended use for both cycling and running. The hub for all this data is your smartphone, via the dedicated Oakley Radar Pace app (iOS/Android). It gives you individual sessions based on the four performance parameters of strength, stamina, speed and technique, balancing harder workouts with recovery workouts, and harder weeks with the occasional recovery week. This information is then conveyed to the Radar Pace so that when you ask what your workout is for that day, the technology responds.
Vi is an AI personal trainer who lives in advanced, bio-sensing earphones. Each day, it tracks you, gets smarter, and coaches you to real results. Vi will help you meet your weight goals and improve your training. The device coaches you through your runs and helps you keep pace, reflects your heart rate and stats in real time and adapts real-time training based on your physiology. It comes with an iOS & Android app for use both during and off training. During a workout, the app provides you with progress feedback and outside of workouts you can use the app to set your training plans, review progress, and customize Vi.
Beyond the standard distance and pace, swimmers using the Polar M600 can see a real-time look at their strokes per minute and strokes per pool length. The smartwatch can even determine the type of stroke being used.
The post Android Wear 2.0 update brings swimming metrics to Polar M600 appeared first on Digital Trends.
Google and LG paired up to design the Watch Sport to showcase the best features of Android Wear 2.0. It’s packed with everything from GPS to NFC -- but will it even fit on your wrist?
The post LG Watch Sport (Android 2.0) review appeared first on Digital Trends.
You don't have to hibernate like a bear during the winter months unless you want to. This fitness equipment can help you convert your spare bedroom into a home gym, whether you're looking to do muscle training or cardio.
The post Work out at home with our 10 favorite pieces of indoor fitness gear appeared first on Digital Trends.
Hiking is great fun and with a bunch of friends it can be very entertaining. But hiking is also kind of a risky adventure too. It is great fun but one should have proper equipment with him and go on a journey of hiking. Today, the days are gone when backpacking consisted of strapping on a huge external frame and lumbering through the forest with an aching body. Nowadays we got really good equipment which we can use for our hiking trips. So check out what you can use for your “winter” hiking season 2017.
Clim8
Clim8 is the first heating clothing technology that is intelligent enough to monitor and analyze the wearer’s temperature, it’s activity and the climate. Thanks to a dedicated app and a complex algorithm, clim8 also takes into account the wearer’s sensitivity to the cold and personal profile to automatically deliver the appropriate amount of heat in real time. The result is highly customized thermal comfort, adapted to anybody, in any condition. Clim8 integrates sensors in the garment monitoring your skin temperature. As the temperature changes, the shirt also changes to meet your needs. The advanced body mapping concept ensures you retain warmth in specific areas where you are most sensitive. The Clim8 app lets you calibrate the heating, track an activity or assess your energy levels. This heating clothing technology is a perfect choice four your hiking trips in winter.
Airzone
Low Alpine worked hard to incorporate the best technology there is into our range of ventilated hiking packs, so you can keep cool and comfortable on long hikes, whatever size pack you’re carrying. AirZone is one of the best-ventilated hiking and walking packs out there designed and finished with understated quality and polish and an effective, no-nonsense performer. With the carrying system sorted, you will appreciate the two compartment design offering ease of packing with the option to expand should you require it. The no trouble access happily means you can dive right in to get that extra layer should the weather turn. With your drink bottle stashed in the stretch pockets, your phone tucked away in the hipbelt pocket and your ‘goodies’ easily accessible in the mesh front pocket. See here all functions of this brilliant backpack.
Alpine 7V Nylon Heated Snow Gloves
The Alpine heated gloves are lightweight using a nylon shell combined with 150 grams of insulation. The gloves also include nubuck leather accents and a digital leather palm for extra grip and durability. By utilizing the Zero Layer® heat system the Alpine gloves eliminate bulk and maximizes heat transfer. Constructed with a waterproof/breathable membrane these gloves will not only keep you warm but also dry. Great for all snow sports and outside winter activities. The battery pocket is located in the middle of the glove for easy accessibility. The battery pocket opens and closes with a strong waterproof zipper and has a display window so you can see the power level setting. This window will allow the user to easily adjust the temperature to one of four power level settings without taking the battery out of the pocket.
Petzl Tikka RXP
The Petzl Tikka RXP is a powerful headlamp which provides brightness of 215 lumens. This headlamp is perfect for hikers and mountaineers who often spend a night in nature and thus want a reliable and powerful piece of lighting equipment. The headlamp has a sensor which analyses the ambient light and adjusts the beam pattern and brightness automatically. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the brightness regulation in relation to battery consumption; the headlamp will adjust itself to achieve the optimal results. The beam pattern can also be adjusted and thus allows you to achieve great illumination in various conditions. The battery is rechargeable by a micro USB cable. When the headlamp is connected to a computer you can also change the headlamp’s settings directly from there – OS Petzl software is required for this.
You see that we already got a wide range of different products for hiking. This products are not all embedded with wearable technology till now, like GPS or other useful functions but we will see some innovative products soon.
Is Snap planning to start selling Spectacles online? A new countdown on the Spectacles website is notably different than the timers it uses to indicate the upcoming arrival of a new Snapbot vending machine.
The post Snapchat’s new Spectacles countdown is different, and it could indicate something big appeared first on Digital Trends.
While VR has certainly proven popular, particularly within the gaming community where immersive experiences are key, enjoying the experience has been pricey, to say the least. The HTC Vive, after all, costs $799. The NOLO costs $99.
The post Nolo is an inexpensive motion tracking system for mobile and SteamVR play appeared first on Digital Trends.
Snickers Workwear is testing smart clothing with electronics built into clothing to track safety and health conditions on the job. The clothing can alert tradespeople when working conditions require extra protection.
The post Your pants are calling, they want you to know it’s too hot to work today appeared first on Digital Trends.
Some earphones have more built-in smart technology features than rival wearables.. One such pair, the Bragi Dash Earphones -- currently discounted 23 percent on Amazon -- provide listening, communication, and tracking features all in one.
The post Play music, communicate, track activity with Bragi’s The Dash Earphones (23% off) appeared first on Digital Trends.
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it's almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of it. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: AI at our jobs, Toyota’s green revolution, the world’s first flavored bottle appeared first on Digital Trends.
Meet Mommy's Watches, a wrist-bound timer meant specifically to track temperature and time of breast milk bottles and bags. Because being a new mother is hard enough without keeping tabs on breast milk.
The post Mommy’s Watches will help you track your breast milk’s expiration date appeared first on Digital Trends.
If you're thinking about going outside this winter, heated clothing is a must. Luckily, we've rounded up some of the best heated apparel, whether you're looking for battery-powered gloves or motorcycle gear that's draws power directly from your ride.
The post When body warmth alone won’t cut the cold, these electric clothes crank up the heat appeared first on Digital Trends.
Sometimes the best workout trackers aren't the ones you wear on your wrist: The Wahoo Tickr X Heart Rate Monitor and Workout Tracker is currently discounted by 20 percent and available for $80 on Amazon.
The post Maximize your workouts with the Wahoo Tickr X Heart Rate Monitor ($20 off) appeared first on Digital Trends.
Skiing is a sport with fun and adventure. Who doesn’t love snow and sliding on it? We are in middle of this year´s ski season and hopefully you already improved our skills. There are a number of measurables in skiing that would be useful to benchmark progress and evaluate performance on the mountain, including the basics like distance, vertical, speed and time. Especially wearable sensors make it possible to provide all kinds of different data we need to improve our skills. So check out which products you can use.
PIQ Robot + Hero Master
PIQ ROBOT is a ski sensor device by Rossignol which provides real-time actionable information that will allow you to improve your runs. Thanks to the power of the PIQ ROBOT and its incredible precision in measuring motions and angles, users get access to an intelligence never seen before on the mountains. It analyses the carving style by the millisecond. Thanks to its computing power, you get to know how explosive you were from one edge to the other, how much angle and force you’ve put into each of your turns: angle, transition, and G-Force. Because skiing is also about the occasional jump, Rossignol and PIQ has an integrated jump analyzer. Your PIQ ROBOT records all of your jumps with jump-specific performance metrics like rotations, airtime, and G-Force at landing.
Rossignol and PIQ also announced that they have created the world’s first “connected” ski, called the Hero Master. The ski got a PIQ nano-computer and LED readout in front of the bindings and collects and analyzes a swath of performance metrics from speed and turn angle to G-forces and lateral momentum. The AI system then analyzes this data, down to “microscopic variations in skiing movements” according to the company’s press release, and displays it on the ski’s LED screen. This presumably gives the skier immediate, actionable feedback which they can use to improve their technique. The Hero Master is just a one-off prototype but let´s wait what will happen with this product. Maybe it will be ready for ski season 2017/2018.
Pomo-Cup
PomoCup is a ski mountaineering device from GaitUp developed in partnership with POMOCA and winner of the WT Innovation World Cup 2016/2017 in category Sports&Fitness. It has a smart clipping system to attach to your gear conveniently and provides the user with important facts like distance, speed, number of kick turns and other useful data. It has an OLED display to show the data without a phone.It measures up to 1,400 data points per second. These include temperature, slope angle, ascent time, ascent speed and number of kick turns. It can be used either with a display controlled by gestures or a smartphone app. Afterwards all data can be analyzed on your computer at home. In the future, other wearables like smartwatches could be connected with the Pomocup.
Trace
Trace is a wearable sensor which is mounted near one of your bindings. Trace helps by tracking and analyzing your runs. With a combination of a 9-axis IMU and GPS, the device shows stats on total airtime, max jump height, vertical distance, max speed, calories burned, max slope angle and ride time. Furthermore, The other aspect to the little device is its GoPro video integration. Trace will auto-edit all of your GoPro footage without you having to lift a finger. Just sync your camera before you start filming, and when you get back, upload the raw footage to your PC or Mac. In just a few minutes, all your footage will be organized into individual clips of just your runs — with color correction, stats overlay, and easily shareable.
Carv
Carv is the first wearable dedicated to skiing that speaks to you as you ski – it’s your digital ski coach. Carv connects wirelessly to your smartphone to give simple, actionable and detailed feedback to casual skiers and analysis for advanced and professional skiers. The unit also houses an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a magnetometer which provides the Carv system with information of the motion and orientation of the skis. The Carv tracker coordinates data collection, performs calculations for pressure and motion at high frequencies, and oversees wireless communications with the smartphone. As you ski, Carv processes your data on the go and spurs you ontoards becoming a better skier. Keep track of your achievements, and personal bests for each ski run.
So use the last chance to improve your ski skills with the power of wearable technology. Have a good remaining ski season!!
Access control is nothing new in the office, where keys slowly migrated over to smart keycards. However, some startups now aim to give employers a vivid picture of their office environment by tracking their employees every move.
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Attention Android Wear smartwatch owners -- you can finally hail an Uber from your wrist. Support for the Wear app was announced at I/O 2015, but it has taken the ride-booking company a whopping 21 months to deliver.
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Anne Beuttenmüller joined Google 9 years ago. After more than 6 years working in Ad Sales, consulting for media, creative and performance agencies, she joined Google’s internal startup Niantic Labs. When 2015 Niantic Inc. became an independent company she decided to leave Google to join Niantic, Inc. and now she is responsible for product marketing across EMEA. Anne is a passionate Ingress and Pokémon GO Player. Check out our interview with Anne below:
Niantic turned the way we interact with games on such a large scale with Pokémon GO last year. Of course there were AR apps out there but no other company was able to connect the digital and the real world as playful as you did. Did you expect this success when the game first came out and who was the major brain behind this idea?
The idea behind Niantic, initiated by John Hanke, is to create games that make people go out to play: Niantic is running Ingress for quite some years now, Niantic’s first location-based AR games, in which players are joining one of two factions to capture portals all over the world. Those virtual portals are connected to actual landmarks, historical and special locations, so players can even engage with their environment when Ingress brings them around. Combining the beloved Pokémon Universe with our real world expertise gave us the huge opportunity of bringing this experience to a much broader audience.
Have you already developed or are you developing apps geared towards wearables as well? If so, can you give some examples?
Pokémon Plus is a unique wearable device, exclusively designed for Pokémon GO. It allows catching Pokémon without having to pull out your smartphone. Also Pokémon GO is available for Apple Watch.
Digitalization is a major topic for many industries right now. How can Niantic help companies with entering into the digital age. How could, for example, a wearable company benefit from your skills and services, or an insurance company or a network provider?
For both Ingress and Pokémon GO, we’re cooperating with many companies – some partnerships are regional, others are global. AXA, the insurance company, is an Ingress partner, for example. All their local offices are special portals in our game, and Ingress players do have the chance to obtain special items when visiting these portals. In Japan, we have a cooperation with McDonald’s for Pokémon GO, in the U.S. with Starbucks.
Do you personally wear (or have worn) a wearable?
Yes, I am regularly wearing the Pokémon GO Plus device for catching Pokémon and collecting item. Back in our old Google days I have been wearing and testing Google Glass.
There may never be a better time to invest in a fitness tracker, especially one from a reputable brand. The Garmin Forerunner 225 GPS Running Watch with Wrist-based Heart Rate is being offered for $139 on Amazon for a limited time.
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