Saturday, January 29, 2022

The best Samsung Galaxy smartwatch for 2022

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is the best smartwatch from the company in the market right now, but here are other options as well.

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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Huawei finds its niche with the sporty Watch GT Runner

The Huawei Watch GT Runner has found its niche as a fitness-orientated multi-sport smartwatch, thanks to a better design and lower price than the competition.

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How to build a fun and varied Apple Watch band collection

Building a collection of different bands for your Apple Watch is one of the best things you can do with it, as it becomes more personal and longer-lasting.

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Best Apple deals and sales for January 2022

Apple fans know how fleeting deals can be, but we've rounded up some great Apple deals for you right here.

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Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Garmin Instinct 2 series tipped to launch next month

Garmin has several smartwatch launches in the pipeline this year. One of the most anticipated -- the Instinct 2 -- is expected to arrive in February 2022.

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The Huawei Watch GT Runner’s lugs hide a GPS antenna

Huawei will release the Watch GT Runner globally soon. Targeting runners, the smartwatch is the first with an external GPS antenna for better accuracy.

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Untangling wired headphones is tricky in space, too

Space station astronaut Matthias Maurer has demonstrated that microgravity conditions hardly help when it comes to untangling wired headphones.

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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Best cheap GoPro alternative action cameras for January 2022

If you're staying active outside, a good action camera is a perfect way to record your adventures.

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Monday, January 24, 2022

Best smartwatch deals for January 2022

Smartwatches make life easier by sending alerts right on your wrist. Many also provide fitness-tracking features, so now is a great time to pick one up for cheap. With so many models available, you can find a deal almost all of the time.

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Best Apple Watch deals and sales for January 2022

The Apple Watch has surged to prominence in recent years. If you're in the market for an iOS wearable, we've sniffed out the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

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Smart Contact Lens Startup Mojo Raises $45 Million, Partners with Adidas and Others

Augmented reality contact lens developer Mojo Vision announced $45 million in new funding and said it has partnered with Adidas and several other fitness brands such as, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes and 18Birdies, to bring its data-tracking eye lens into the consumer market. The new funding brings the company’s total investment to $205 million.

Read more Apple Could Release Augmented Reality Glasses and Contact Lenses Within a Decade

The Mojo Lens, a smart contact lens, is a microLED display that you could place in your eye to correct your vision and overlay information onto the physical world. For example, the gadget can show you trails on a ski slope, the pace you are running at, or notes for a presentation.

Mojo is envisioning a world where data can be served up without a bulky wearable or forcing the athlete to look down at their device. The partnerships indicate that the company is going after sports as an early market for its technology, in addition to other applications, like assistance for the visually impaired.

Image showing the parts of a smart contact lens
Image: Mojo Vision

“We are making important progress in developing our smart contact lens technology, and we continue to research and identify new market potential for this groundbreaking platform. Our partnerships with these leading brands will give us valuable insights into user behavior in the sports and fitness market. The goal is for these collaborations to deliver athletes an entirely new form factor with performance data that is more accessible and useful at the moment,” said Steve Sinclair, SVP, product and marketing, Mojo Vision.

Read more Smart Contact Lens Mimics Human Iris to Combat Vision Disorders

Mojo Vision said recent research from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows global wearables shipments grew 32.3 percent year-over-year from 2020/21. This growth in the wearable tech market is led by companies that continue to refine and release fitness trackers, smartwatches, smartphone apps, and other wearable devices, mainly to better the user experience for sports and fitness enthusiasts, reports SGB Media.

“Today’s wearable devices can be helpful to athletes, but they can also distract them from the focus of the activity; we think there’s a better way to deliver athletic performance data,” said David Hobbs, senior director of product management at Mojo Vision.

The post Smart Contact Lens Startup Mojo Raises $45 Million, Partners with Adidas and Others first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Saturday, January 22, 2022

QuietOn 3 vs. Bose Sleepbuds 2: White noise or no noise?

Is white noise or no noise better at getting you to fall and stay asleep? We've been testing the Bose Sleepbuds 2 and QuietOn 3 sleep earbuds to find out.

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Friday, January 21, 2022

The best fitness trackers for 2022

Looking for your first fitness tracker or an upgrade to the one you're wearing? Here are our picks for the best fitness trackers that are available right now.

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Track 2022 resolutions with a Fitbit and get free Premium

If your New Year's resolution is to improve your health, grab Amazon's offer for the Fitbit Inspire 2, which includes a free one-year trial of Fitbit Premium.

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Binah.ai Unveils Contactless Blood Pressure Monitoring System

Binah.ai, the leading provider of general health and wellness video-based monitoring solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI), announced today the availability of Blood Pressure measurements added to its robust Health Data Platform, already commercially available to businesses. Through the use of virtually any smartphone or laptop, blood pressure measurement can be extracted within just one minute, simply by looking at the device’s camera.

Binah.ai enables the extraction of blood pressure measurements and other vitals without the need for a watch, finger clip, cuff or any other additional dedicated hardware.

Read more Aktiia, The World’s First Automated 24/7 Blood Pressure Monitor Comes to the USA

Why is this major?

“This is a huge milestone for healthcare and wellness in general as well as for Binah.ai; and we look forward to witnessing its positive impact on people’s lives. Blood pressure measurement is an essential element in evaluating the general health of a person, helping also diagnose and determine treatment options for serious conditions, including hypertension, obesity or diabetes. When left unmonitored, it can quietly damage the body for years before symptoms develop,” said David Maman, Co-founder and CEO of Binah.ai. “Using a device people already possess, individuals, care providers and payers can now have easy, frequent, access, from the palm of their hands or remotely, to real-time health data to better care for themselves and provide better, more timely care for others, anywhere at any time, faster and at lower costs.” continued Maman.

How is it done?

Blood pressure is extracted using the optical technique of photoplethysmography (PPG), which analyzes the reflection of light that returns to the camera from a bare skin region on a human face; using advanced AI and deep learning algorithms, including computer vision technology and signal processing. Binah.ai has run several tests for the development and validation of the blood pressure measurement, both in-house and in clinical settings. Already compliant with low accuracy medical devices standards (for home users) with STD, these measurements were also compared with the Connex Spot Monitor and the Withings BPM Connect devices, according to a press release.

A woman browsing her mobile phone
Photo: Binah.ai

Not only Blood Pressure

In addition to blood pressure, Binah.ai’s award-winning technology also provides measurements including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) R-R interval (RRi), parasympathetic activity, pulse-respiration quotient (PRQ), oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and sympathetic stress. Binah.ai’s solution removes the need for wearables and extracts health parameters regardless of gender and skin color.

How is it delivered?

As a B2B company, Binah.ai delivers its technology to organizations as a Software Development Kit (SDK) that can be easily integrated into their apps that support iOS, Android devices, Windows laptops or web applications on Safari and Google Chrome browsers.

Who should use this?

Various industries in need of end-user provided health data, including healthcare, pharma, insurance, wellness and many more can highly gain from using Binah.ai’s technology in use cases such as telehealth, remote patient monitoring, chronic disease management, elderly care, home care, preventive care, personalized care, virtual trials, medication adherence, insurance, corporate and personal wellness, epidemics spread mitigation and many more.

Read more Biobeat Launches Wearable Continuous Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Device

Binah.ai received the CES Innovation Award in 2022 for its blood pressure monitoring new feature, as well as the CES Innovation Award in 2020, the NTT Data Grand Champion at the 10th Open Innovation International Contest 2020 and was recognized as a Cool Vendor in Gartner’s AI Core Technologies 2019 report – for its technology.

The solution is not a medical device and should be considered as a self-assessment tool only.

The post Binah.ai Unveils Contactless Blood Pressure Monitoring System first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Thursday, January 20, 2022

Kiddo Raises $16 Million In Series A For Remote Monitoring Of Pediatric Patients

Kiddo, formally known as Good Parents Inc., announced it has closed a $16 million Series A growth investment led by Clearlake Capital-backed Vive Collective. As part of the investment, Vive’s Founder and CEO Cheryl Cheng will join the company’s board of directors. The funding and partnership will enable Kiddo to double the size of its US and Asia teams, expand its partnerships with health systems and benefits providers, and obtain FDA device certification.

Read more OMRON launches WheezeScan, the World’s First Wheeze Detection Device for Children with Asthma

Kiddo is a connected care system for pediatrics that integrates remote patient monitoring (RPM) for children, a coaching app for parents, on-demand telehealth services, and clinical decision support for medical providers and care teams. Kiddo serves at-risk children who require proactive and continuous care due to such chronic conditions as asthma, heart disease, autism, and diabetes. Kiddo has already partnered with more than seven health systems, benefits providers and foundations including UHC/Optum, PC Health, as well as several children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada. The platform is HIPAA, HL7 and FHIR compliant, HSA/FSA eligible, and FCC, CE and IEC certified, according to a press release.

“Approximately 19 million US children suffer from chronic and acute conditions that need proactive care. This round of funding, along with Vive’s industry expertise, will help us reach more of these children,” said CJ Swamy, CEO and Co-Founder of Kiddo. “Costly in-person visits to primary care doctors and urgent care clinics can be avoided as long as the doctor or nurse practitioner providing telehealth services has the right context and data from an RPM system like Kiddo. Although people were eager to avoid expensive in-person visits to urgent care before the pandemic, Covid-19 has really propelled the need to efficiently and cost-effectively guide parents and pediatric patients to the optimal care pathway.”

A smartwatch for children
Photo: BusinessWire

Kiddo Chief Medical Officer Rishi Madhok, MD, explained the importance of remote patient monitoring in providing care for children with chronic or acute health conditions. “Adoption of telehealth services accelerated during the pandemic, but physicians and parents supporting children with chronic conditions still need real-time data to make decisions, such as how to adjust medications, whether the advised treatment is working, or if a patient needs to be seen immediately,” said Kiddo Chief Medical Officer Rishi Madhok, MD. “You can’t capture this data through an online visit alone, which is why the Kiddo RPM platform is an indispensable tool in managing pediatric chronic health conditions.”

Read more Abbott’s Freestyle Libre 2 iCGM Receives FDA Clearance For Adults And Children With Diabetes In The U.S.

Vive Collective founder Cheryl Cheng sees Kiddo, Inc. as the perfect example of the kind of company with whom Vive would like to partner. “Kiddo leverages technology to improve both access to and quality of care in pediatric health, an area that typically sees very little investment. This is exactly the kind of opportunity in which we are eager to invest,” said Cheng. “We also were drawn to the founding team’s commitment and passion. CJ understands the stress, pressure, and costs of managing a child’s chronic health condition and has made Kiddo his life’s work. We look forward to partnering with Kiddo to help accelerate its growth.”

About Kiddo

Founded in 2016, Kiddo (Good Parents Inc.) is a San Francisco-headquartered healthcare company focused on remote patient monitoring (“RPM”) and digital health services. Its core solution, Kiddo, is an RPM platform for pediatric patients with acute and chronic conditions such as asthma, autism, diabetes, and congenital heart disorders.

The post Kiddo Raises $16 Million In Series A For Remote Monitoring Of Pediatric Patients first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is at its LOWEST PRICE EVER

We're ecstatic to share this amazing smartwatch deal that you can get on Amazon right now. Get the Galaxy Watch Active 2 for just $200, its lowest price ever!

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Best Apple deals and sales for January 2022

Apple fans know how fleeting deals can be, but we've rounded up some great Apple deals for you right here.

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Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Best cheap Fitbit deals for January 2022

Out of shape? Get a head start on your summer beach bod with the best cheap Fitbit deals available.

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Tuesday, January 18, 2022

How Citizen’s CZ Smart almost got hybrid smartwatches right

The CZ Smart Hybrid is Citizen's second attempt at a smartwatch, and it has nailed the style, comfort, and technology. However, it has misjudged the price.

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Best Garmin watch deals for January 2022

Garmin makes some of the best fitness wearables, and we can help you find the right one at the right price with this roundup of the best Garmin watch deals.

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Best cheap GoPro alternative action cameras for January 2022

If you're staying active outside, a good action camera is a perfect way to record your adventures.

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Monday, January 17, 2022

Best smartwatch deals for January 2022

Smartwatches make life easier by sending alerts right on your wrist. Many also provide fitness-tracking features, so now is a great time to pick one up for cheap. With so many models available, you can find a deal almost all of the time.

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Best Apple Watch deals and sales for January 2022

The Apple Watch has surged to prominence in recent years. If you're in the market for an iOS wearable, we've sniffed out the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

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Friday, January 14, 2022

Best Apple deals and sales for January 2022

Apple fans know how fleeting deals can be, but we've rounded up some great Apple deals for you right here.

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Best Samsung Galaxy Watch deals for January 2022

Here are the best Samsung Galaxy Watch deals for Samsung's line of smartwatches that you can avail today.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2022

The best Garmin watches of 2022

The Apple Watch isn't the only game in town. For athletes into outdoor sports, Garmin has proven to be a viable alternative. Here are our favorite watches.

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Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Best cheap GoPro alternative action cameras for January 2022

If you're staying active outside, a good action camera is a perfect way to record your adventures.

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Monday, January 10, 2022

Best smartwatch deals for January 2022

Smartwatches make life easier by sending alerts right on your wrist. Many also provide fitness-tracking features, so now is a great time to pick one up for cheap. With so many models available, you can find a deal almost all of the time.

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Best Apple Watch deals and sales for January 2022

The Apple Watch has surged to prominence in recent years. If you're in the market for an iOS wearable, we've sniffed out the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

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Mojo AR Contact Lens Wants To Track Your Health

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), smart contact lens maker Mojo announced partnerships with various sports brands like Adidas, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes and 18Birdies. The company claims its smart contact lens could play in the lives of professional athletes.

Read more Apple Could Release Augmented Reality Glasses and Contact Lenses Within a Decade

“Today’s wearable devices can be helpful to athletes, but they can also distract them from the focus of the activity; we think there’s a better way to deliver athletic performance data,” Mojo Senior Director of Product Management David Hobbs said in a release. “Wearable innovation in existing form factors is starting to reach its limits. At Mojo, we’re interested in better understanding what’s still missing and how we can make that information accessible without disrupting someone’s focus and flow during training — when it matters most.”

Many augmented reality (AR) solutions can clutter reality. Mojo Lens is different. It quietly provides you with crucial data while you’re engaged in events that demand your attention. You can see trails on a ski slope, your pace for your last mile of a run, or talking points for a presentation, all without holding a device or looking down at a screen. With its invisible, wearable display, Mojo Lens helps you keep your concentration by providing information heads-up and hands-free.

Mojo AR Contact Lens
Image: Mojo Vision

Health tracking

Mojo is planning an early application of its product to help people struggling with vision impairment by using enhanced image overlays. The company is also working with the FDA through its Breakthrough Devices Program, a voluntary program designed to provide safe and timely access to medical devices that can help treat irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions, reports VentureBeat.

Information without distraction

During important moments, we all need crucial information, whether it’s the next curve on the bike trails, the address of the next appointment, or the latest sales projections. Mojo Lens helps you remember what matters most so you can concentrate on your priorities without burying your face in a screen or getting distracted by a mobile device.

Read more South Korean Researchers Develop Smart Contact Lens for Diagnosis And Treatment Of Diabetes

An invisible breakthrough

When you’re engaged in a demanding activity— setting pace for the group on a bicycle ride or a walking towards your airport rideshare while traveling—most devices give you information beforehand or afterwards. Mojo Lens gives you critical info during the activity without breaking your focus or flow. As the world’s first Invisible Computing device, Mojo Lens gives you information only when needed. It never gets in the way. And it lets you look like yourself wherever the day takes you.

The post Mojo AR Contact Lens Wants To Track Your Health first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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The best wearable tech of CES 2022

Whether it was a smartwatch, a pair of smartglasses, or even a smart ring or smart mask, there was a great deal of exciting wearable tech at CES 2022.

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Friday, January 7, 2022

The weirdest tech we spotted at CES 2022

To celebrate all the strange and wonderful things that surface at CES, we've rounded up a modest collection of the weirdest tech we spotted this year

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Movano unveils an affordable, woman-friendly health-tracking ring at CES 2022

There are several fitness-tracking devices on the market, but the Movano Ring is one of the few that is built with a woman-friendly design.

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Abbott Announces New Biosensors Based on Diabetes Monitoring Tech at the CES

Abbott, known for its continuous glucose monitor (CGM) devices, is moving into making general purpose consumer biosensing wearables. In a healthtech keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Abbott’s chairman and CEO, Robert B Ford, announced it’s developing a new line of consumer biowearables — called Lingo — intended for more general fitness and wellness purposes.

Related Abbott Receives FDA Approval for Gallant Heart Rhythm Implants Featuring Continuous Remote Monitoring

“Technology gives us the power to digitize, decentralize and democratize healthcare, create a shared language between you and your doctor – and put more control of your health in your hands,” Mr. Ford said. “We’re creating a future that will bring you and your loved ones care that’s more personal and precise. It’s happening right now. And its potential is no less than incredible.”

Lingo – Speaking Your Body’s Unique Language

The Lingo biowearables are being designed to translate your body’s unique language into actionable data to help you track and measure your general health and wellness. The sensor technology is being designed to track key signals in the body such as glucose, ketones and lactate, and could also be used one day to track alcohol levels, says a press release.

“This will be like having a window into your body,” Mr. Ford said. “It’s science that you will be able to access any time so you can understand what your body is telling you and what it needs. Our vision is that Lingo will go far beyond today’s wearables for consumers to help you proactively manage your health, nutrition and athletic performance.”

A smartphone
Image: Abbott

Lingo extends the Abbott sensing technology platform that Abbott pioneered in 2014 for people with diabetes, allowing people to continuously monitor their glucose levels with a small sensor on the back of the upper arm. Actress and comedian Sherri Shepherd shared live on the CES stage how FreeStyle Libre 2 changed her life, giving her glucose readings, right on her smartphone, unique to her body so she can make healthier decisions.

Abbott then built this technology platform to develop a product designed for athletes with the 2020 launch of Libre Sense Glucose Sport Biowearable in Europe. Elite athletes, like marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, use this biowearable to optimize how they fuel their bodies for rigorous training. Lingo aims to expand glucose monitoring to people looking to manage their weight, sleep better, improve energy and think clearer.

Related Abbott-Insulet Collaboration to Combine Abbott’s CGM with Insulet’s Omnipod Horizon Automated Insulin Delivery System

Abbott is designing Lingo to measure other biomarkers beyond glucose in the future. A ketone biowearable is being developed to track ketones continuously, see how fast you are getting into ketosis, and understand exactly what keeps you there by providing insights on dieting and weight loss. A lactate biowearable is in development to track continuous lactate build up during exercise, which can be used as an indicator of athletic performance.

The post Abbott Announces New Biosensors Based on Diabetes Monitoring Tech at the CES first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Thursday, January 6, 2022

The most common Google Wear OS problems and how to fix them

Got a Wear OS smartwatch? We've rounded up some of the more common Google Wear OS problems, along with some workarounds and solutions for solving them.

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Forget waiting! Here’s all the CES 2022 tech you can buy right now

As a tip of our hat to the tech companies that give us instant gratification, we've rounded up all the best CES 2022 gear that you can buy right now

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Amazon Alexa is coming to your Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch before midyear

Amazon Alexa will arrive on Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches before the mid-2022, according to the company, where it will operate alongside Google Assistant.

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Best Apple deals and sales for January 2022

Apple fans know how fleeting deals can be, but we've rounded up some great Apple deals for you right here.

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Garmin launches the Venu 2 Plus and Vivomove Sport at CES 2022

Garmin has unveiled two smartwatches at CES 2022 -- a premium flagship wearable and a hybrid watch.

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How taking your blood pressure is about to be as easy as taking your heart rate

Biometric sensor experts Valencell talks to us about an innovation that will make monitoring our blood pressure as easy as taking our heart rate.

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Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Clean and discreet, the Skagen Falster Gen 6 is one for the minimalist

Skagen has brought its clean, minimalist design to Fossil's Gen 6 smartwatch platform for the Falster Gen 6, and it's every bit as beautiful as you'd expect.

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The Razer X Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch is only for the 1337

Fossil has partnered with Razer to make the Razer X Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch, which brings the gaming brand's colorful aesthetic to Fossil's latest wearable.

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Waverly Labs’ new translation tech targets both consumers and businesses

Waverly Labs introduced an updated version of its on-the-ear Ambassador Interpreter, alongside a business-targeted product called Subtitle with a touchscreen.

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Aktiia, The World’s First Automated 24/7 Blood Pressure Monitor Comes to the USA

Aktiia, the global leader in continuous blood pressure monitoring, today announced that it is bringing its 24/7 Blood Pressure Monitor to the United States, delivering the next generation of clinical wearables specifically designed to meet the needs of both patients and physicians.

Aktiia’s Optical Blood Pressure Monitoring (OBPM®) algorithms leverage optical sensors worn on the wrist and provide blood pressure values using Photoplethysmography (PPG) to analyze the changing diameter of the arteries occurring at each heartbeat. This optical measurement is done automatically, so users are not aware and stressed, and do not have to interrupt their day or their sleep to take a measurement.

Related Biobeat Launches Wearable Continuous Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Device

Aktiia’s 24/7 blood pressure monitor automatically gathers over 100x the data and has over 10x the engagement of other blood pressure monitors.  The wearable’s wrist-based optical sensor measures around the clock, providing data that can be instantly viewed in a mobile app and easily shared with a physician or family member.

In the United States, nearly 50% of adults, about 116 million people, have high blood pressure. Of these, up to 75% do not have their blood pressure under control. This ongoing hypertension epidemic is the number one cause of major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke, and leads to more than half a million unnecessary deaths every year in the US alone, according to a press release.

Recent large-scale studies have demonstrated that the more consistently a patient stay in their target blood pressure range, the lower their risk of heart attack and strokes.

Aktiia’s solution improves patient engagement, with current users checking their blood pressure on average 15 to 20 times per week, versus 1 to 2 times with traditional blood pressure cuffs.

A wearable wristband and a smartphone
Image: Aktiia

Aktiia’s co-founders spent 17 years developing its game-changing technology, which has since been validated in multiple clinical studies. In addition to endorsement by leading experts in hypertension management, Aktiia is now also an official partner of the International Society of Hypertension and the World Heart Foundation.

Aktiia is coming to the United States via a landmark study with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a top 10 hospital for cardiology with one of the world’s most innovative hypertension clinics. Aktiia is sponsoring the COOL-BP (Continual vs. Occasional Long-Term BP) study within the Remote Hypertension Program, to be conducted by Dr. Naomi Fisher, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of BWH’s Hypertension Service, and a consultant and advisor to Aktiia.

Dr. Fisher states: “Hypertension affects nearly half of Americans, every hour of every day.  Yet current measurement devices only capture a brief snapshot of overall blood pressure, and they are burdensome to use.  The COOL-BP study will test an optical cuffless technology in BWH’s remote hypertension management program.  An innovation that automatically provides blood pressure readings continually through days and nights holds tremendous promise in our efforts to control hypertension, both for individuals and for global health.”

CES Availability

In addition to the study at BWH, Aktiia also will be available for introduction and demonstration at CES 2022 at ShowStoppers January 5 from 6 – 10 pm in Las Vegas.

Related Apple Reportedly Looking to Add Blood Pressure Monitoring and Fertility Tracking In Smartwatch

About Aktiia

Aktiia was founded in Switzerland in May 2018. The startup has some of the world’s leading scientific and technical experts in optical blood pressure monitoring. The core technology was first developed over decades of research at the prestigious Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), under a team lead by Aktiia co-founders, Dr. Mattia Bertschi and Dr. Josep Sola. In late 2021, Aktiia raised a $17.5M Series A round of funding, led by UK-based venture capital firm Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit).

The post Aktiia, The World’s First Automated 24/7 Blood Pressure Monitor Comes to the USA first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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How to use Samsung Pay

Just picked up a Samsung Galaxy smartphone or wearable that supports Samsung Pay? We show you how to set up the service and use it for easy mobile payments.

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Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Garmin Venu 2 Plus review: Premium in all the right ways

The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is a premium wearable and Garmin's first watch that works with your voice assistant.

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TCL’s NXTWEAR AIR wearable display is like a cinema on your face

The TCL NXTWEAR AIR has a pair of screens inside the sunglasses-like frame, showing the equivalent of a 140-inch screen right in front of your eyes.

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January sales are in full swing — best tech to buy today

Discounts on a wide variety of tech products, including the Apple AirPods Pro, Apple Watch Series 7, and Google Pixel 6, are available in today's January sales.

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Penn State Researchers Develop Wearable Non-Invasive Glucose Monitor

Penn State researchers have developed a wearable glucose monitor that can non-invasively measure glucose levels within sweat in real time.

Noninvasive glucose monitoring devices are not currently commercially available in the United States, so people with diabetes must collect blood samples or use sensors embedded under the skin to measure their blood sugar levels. Now, with a new wearable device created by Penn State researchers, less intrusive glucose monitoring could become the norm.

Read more Know Labs Introduces KnowU, A Portable Medical-Grade Glucose Monitoring Device That Utilizes Bio-RFID

Led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in Penn State’s Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, the researchers published the details of the noninvasive, low-cost sensor that can detect glucose in sweat in Biosensors and Bioelectronics. The paper, available online, will publish in the journal’s December print issue.

The researchers constructed the device first with laser-induced graphene (LIG), a material consisting of atom-thick carbon layers in various shapes. With high electrical conductivity and a convenient fabrication time of just seconds, LIG appeared to be an ideal framework for the sensing device — but there was a significant caveat, writes Gabrielle Stewart at PSU website.

“The challenge here is that LIG is not sensitive to glucose at all,” Cheng said. “So, we needed to deposit a glucose-sensitive material onto the LIG.”

The team chose nickel because of its robust glucose sensitivity, according to Cheng, and combined it with gold to lower potential risks of an allergic reaction.

The nickel-gold alloy’s sensitivity allowed Cheng’s team to exclude enzymes, which are often used to measure glucose in more invasive, commercially available devices or in noninvasive monitors proposed by other researchers. These enzymes, however, can degrade quickly with time and changing temperatures.

“An enzymatic sensor has to be kept at a certain temperature and pH, and the enzyme can’t be stored in the long term,” Cheng said. “A nonenzymatic glucose sensor, on the other hand, is advantageous in terms of stable performance and glucose sensitivity regardless of these changes.”

Monitoring glucose
Image: Penn State University

Nonenzymatic sensors require alkaline solution, which can damage the skin and typically limits device wearability. To curb this issue, Cheng and his team attached a microfluidic chamber to the LIG alloy.

With a smaller alkaline solution chamber, the entire device is roughly the size of a quarter and is flexible enough to maintain a secure attachment to the human body, Cheng said.

In a proof-of-concept test, the researchers used a skin-safe adhesive to attach the reusable device to a person’s arm one hour and three hours after a meal. The subject performed a brief workout — just enough to produce sweat — right before each measurement time. A few minutes after collecting the sweat, the researchers found that the detected glucose concentration dropped from the first measurement to the next. The glucose measurements from the device were verified by measurements made with a commercially available glucose monitor.

Cheng and the team plan to improve upon their prototype for future applications, including addressing how patients or clinicians may use the sensor for incremental glucose measurements or continuous monitoring to determine treatment actions, such as administering insulin. They also intend to refine and expand this platform for more comfortable monitoring of other biomarkers that can be found in the sweat or interstitial fluids that fill the space between cells in the body.

Read more New Trend In Medical Wearables Is Continuous Glucose Monitoring

“We want to work with physicians and other health care providers to see how we can apply this technology for daily monitoring of a patient,” Cheng said. “This glucose sensor serves as a foundational example to show that we can improve the detection of biomarkers in sweat at extremely low concentrations.”

The post Penn State Researchers Develop Wearable Non-Invasive Glucose Monitor first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Garmin Vivomove Sport review: The fashionable smartwatch with a hidden screen

Go on, try to spot the Garmin Vivomove Sport's screen when it's not active.

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Best Apple Watch deals and sales for January 2022

The Apple Watch has surged to prominence in recent years. If you're in the market for an iOS wearable, we've sniffed out the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

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Monday, January 3, 2022

How Amazon Expanded Its Healthcare Aspirations in 2021

The healthcare industry is currently experiencing seismic shifts with much of the focus being placed on COVID-19 clinical, operational, and financial efforts. In 2021, E-Commerce giant Amazon expanded its healthcare aspirations with Alexa, Amazon Care, COVID-19 tests and more.

Amazon Care

Amazon first introduced its healthcare clinics to its employees in early 2019 after providing them with virtual care services. Its virtual care app, Amazon Care, lets people connect with physicians online through messages and video, with an option for an in-person visit from a nurse for exams, tests, and vaccines.

Related Amazon’s Halo Fitness Tracker Will Soon Be Able To Judge Your Movement Health By Using Your Smartphone Camera

Currently, Amazon in 2022 will add 16 additional cities including Atlanta; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Miami; Minneapolis; Nashville, Tennessee; New York; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; San Francisco; San Jose, California; and St. Louis.

The healthcare industry is currently experiencing seismic shifts with much of the focus being placed on COVID-19 clinical, operational, and financial efforts. However, even in the setting of the pandemic, the healthcare industry is still faced with addressing a growing aging population, a widening workforce gap, and a proliferating volume of healthcare data.

Alexa Together

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant is now making moves into health systems and elder care. In September, the company announced Alexa Together, a subscription service that allows caregivers to remotely monitor and assist aging family members in their homes. They receive alerts if their loved one hasn’t used Alexa by a certain time. Caregivers can also remotely set reminders or help their family members manage settings on their devices, reports MobiHealthNews.

A phone displaying Amazon's app
Christian Wiediger, Unsplash

AWS Healthcare Accelerator

In a blog post, Sandy Carter, Vice President at AWS, announced the launch of the “Amazon Web Services (AWS) Healthcare Accelerator program,” which is “ a four-week technical, business, and mentorship accelerator opportunity open to U.S.-based healthcare startups or international healthcare startups that have existing U.S. operations.”

“The goal of the AWS Healthcare Accelerator is to cultivate and promote innovative startup solutions that achieve the Quadruple Aim of improved patient experience, improved clinician experience, better health outcomes, and lower cost of care. In seeking out compliant data-driven healthcare solutions, AWS will support public sector healthcare enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation,” said Carter.

Related Vayyar Partners With Amazon To Provide Touchless Fall Detection Solution

COVID-19 Test

In July, 2021, Amazon announced its at-home COVID-19 test kit is now available to U.S. customers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an Emergency Use Authorization to the Amazon COVID-19 Test Collection Kit DTC earlier last year, paving the way for its broader use.

“Even as COVID-19 vaccinations continue, widespread access to reliable and affordable COVID-19 testing remains a critical tool in the fight against the spread of the virus,” said Amazon Vice President Cem Sibay in a statement.

The post How Amazon Expanded Its Healthcare Aspirations in 2021 first appeared on Wearable Technologies.

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Sunday, January 2, 2022

Best Garmin watch deals for January 2022

Garmin makes some of the best fitness wearables, and we can help you find the right one at the right price with this roundup of the best Garmin watch deals.

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Best Black Friday Samsung Galaxy Watch deals for January 2022

Here are the best Samsung Galaxy Watch deals for Samsung's line of smartwatches that you can avail today.

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Best Samsung deals for January 2022

Samsung has been a leader in high-quality tech for decades. Check out all of the Samsung deals.

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Saturday, January 1, 2022

Best cheap GoPro alternative action cameras for January 2022

If you're staying active outside, a good action camera is a perfect way to record your adventures.

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Best smartwatch deals for January 2022

Smartwatches make life easier by sending alerts right on your wrist. Many also provide fitness-tracking features, so now is a great time to pick one up for cheap. With so many models available, you can find a deal almost all of the time.

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Best Apple Watch deals and sales for January 2022

The Apple Watch has surged to prominence in recent years. If you're in the market for an iOS wearable, we've sniffed out the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

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