Pebble Time raises more than $20 million on Kickstarter
Pebble is one the few startups that knows how to get the most out of a Kickstarter campaign. Three years ago, it was the first on the crowdsourcing platform to raise more than $10 million in funding, and now it is the first to have broken the $20 million mark. Pebble's latest record is likely to last for a while, seeing as it took over two years for its first one to be broken.
At the time of writing this article, Pebble's Time campaign has attracted nearly 78,000 backers, who have pledged $20.16 million in total. The average contribution is $258.9, which exceeds the latest asking prices of $179 for Time and $250 for Time Steel.
Fitness tracker market could double in value by 2019
The fitness tracking market might boom to $5 billion by 2019, according to tech analyst group Parks Associates.
That would be double the current value at $2 billion, but correlates with the current growth rate quite nicely, bearing in mind the surge in interest thanks to the Apple Watch and other smartwatch vendors.
The future of wearable notifications in business
The target audience of wearable tech has always been the everyday consumer. However, wearables can benefit businesses too, especially in sectors where workers need to be hands-free.
From construction and manufacturing to dining services, wearables can elevate several industries in the near future by utilizing push notification on wearable tech.
Wear Your Own Device is coming to the workplace, and enterprises need to start preparing today
Anyone interested in technology will know that the mobile boom has brought with it new considerations for businesses in the form or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Despite still being a concept that many companies are yet to fully grasp, it is about to be overtaken by a new mobile trend.
WYOD (Wear Your Own Device) is hot on its heels, as wearables and smartwatches continue to gain traction. To shed some light on the growth of WYOD and what businesses need to do to stay ahead of the curve, I spoke to Paula Skokowski from mobile file sharing provider Accellion.
I'm a fat guy and I bought the Microsoft Band wearable -- Can it save my life?
Yesterday, my colleague Manish wrote about Microsoft's "desperation" with its Band fitness wearable. While I disagree with his sentiment about the promotion -- I do not think it is a desperate move -- I was intrigued by the free Starbucks gift cards. Since I was heading to the mall anyway, I decided to go to the Microsoft store under the guise of actually wanting the Band, even though I didn't, so I could get free gift cards. Hell, I even told my wife to try one on so we could get two cards!
Something crazy happened while I was there -- I bought one. Microsoft's promotion was a success. They got me into the store, and I ended up getting hooked. The salesperson, Christy, was very high on it, and when she showed me all of the features, I just had to have one. Truth be told, I am very much out of shape, and I really want to lose weight and be healthy -- I'm scared of dying. After many unsuccessful attempts to drop pounds, I am hoping the Microsoft Band will help me to be successful. In other words, I am depending on the wearable to help save my life.
Epson: Unlocking the potential of augmented reality today [Q&A]
Microsoft’s HoloLens, and the Google-backed Magic Leap might be touted as the future of augmented reality wearables, but electronics giant Epson has beaten both firms to the punch. Its own AR smart glasses are already on the market and finding an appreciative audience among gamers, movie watchers, businesses, and even the registered blind.
I spoke with Valerie Riffaud-Cangelosi. Epson’s New Market Development Manager, about the Japanese firm’s venture into augmented reality, and its plans for the future.
Where did you lose your smartphone? Android Wear can now tell you
Android Device Manger is Google's approach to helping people track down lost smartphones and tablets. Now the feature is rolling out to Android Wear so if you should lose your phone, you can find it with your watch.
At the moment the Android Wear version of the feature is pretty basic; you can use your watch to call your phone. This is great if you have mislaid it nearby, dropped it down the back of the sofa or buried it under some books, but not so helpful if you've left it on the train -- don’t expect to be able to home in on your phone using GPS at this stage.
Data privacy in a wearables world
Data is precious -- that much is obvious. For wearable tech and the quantified self in particular, digital brands and hardware vendors are increasingly conscious of the huge opportunity that this data provides them. It gives them greater insight into the lives, behaviors and tastes of consumers than ever before. But as we learned in Spiderman, "with great power comes great responsibility" -- although a responsibility that I feel many organizationals are not taking seriously enough. Google is currently in the British high court accused of bypassing security settings to track the online browsing of Apple's Safari users and target them with personalized adverts. Facebook's privacy policy is being investigated by Dutch regulators for similar reasons. The company has come under fire before for using consumer data without making consent processes explicit and transparent enough, and its constant updates to its privacy policies are creating an incomprehensible puzzle which many consumers struggle to solve.
With this in mind, I've listed five steps I think hardware vendors and brands should take to prevent wearables becoming an unquantifiable nightmare:
Most consumers don't care about Apple Watch
Is the Apple Watch not going to make the impact Apple is hoping for over in its home turf of the United States? This is the case according to a fresh poll of Americans.
The Reuters survey, carried out by Ipsos, took in the opinions of 1,250 US citizens, and found that 69 percent said they are not interested in buying Apple’s smartwatch.
Apple Watch storage is rubbish just like the battery
We've had a little time to digest the announcement about the Apple Watch. Many people will be disappointed to learn about the battery life of Apple's first smartwatch, but there's still room for a little more dissatisfaction. Turn your attention, if you will, to storage.
At the Apple Watch launch event, Apple said nothing about the device's storage. Perhaps with good reason. iPhone owners have already complained that their devices do not have enough storage space, and this is a complaint that could be levelled at the Apple Watch as well. There's just 8GB of storage. If this sounds like it makes the device somewhat inflexible, there's worse news. Apple also places restrictions on how you can use this space.
Apple releases iOS 8.2 -- here's what's new
As expected, at its Spring Forward press event, Apple today revealed more details about Apple Watch (be warned, it goes all the way up to $10k), and announced a new, lighter MacBook. But Apple also introduced iOS 8.2, which is needed to make use of the new wearable. Here is what the latest version brings to the table, starting with the Apple Watch connectivity.
After installing iOS 8.2, iPhone users will be able to pair, sync and configure Apple Watch from their smartphone, using the new Apple Watch app that is on the homescreen. Also, there's a new Activity app which shows up after pairing an Apple Watch, showing achievements and fitness data on iPhones. It should be said that Apple Watch only works with iPhone 5 and later models.
Apple Watch launches -- Live blog
So, the clocks have sprung forward and Apple's event is now underway. We'll get to find out more about the highly anticipated Apple Watch, finding out all-important details such as how long the battery is going to last between charges.
The will no doubt be a few surprises along the way, but this is the first change we'll get to see if Apple is really in a position to take on Android Wear. Buckle up... here we go...
Google responds to Apple Watch
The newest Android "be together. not the same." commercial posted to YouTube today ahead of Apple's big smartwatch launch. The video series focuses on individuality and choice, which packs a little more punch for a wearable where one size likely won't fit all.
I like the background music, "On the Regular" by SHAMIR, in an advert by every measure focused on Apple Watch's presumed young and hipster crowd. You can be square, round, or whatever you want with Android Wear.
Wearables are perfect for the enterprise
In recent years, we have seen that wearable technologies such as smart glasses and smart watches have been met with a flat response.
However in the enterprise space these technologies can provide real benefit in key areas such as ones that require speed, safety and working with large data which a consumer is not exposed to.
ZTE launches a new range of fitness-focused smartwatches
ZTE has launched three new smartwatches at Mobile World Congress this week, in an attempt to win over three of the sub-markets interested in wearables: runners, fitness trackers and health nuts.
The Venus G1 will feature a GPS chip made for runners, giving them detailed map information and routes. The Venus S2 will feature all of the fitness stats on its own operating system. The ZTE Business Intelligence Watch (excellent name by the way) will work similarly to the Withings Activité, sending health information back to a smartphone app.
Recent Headlines
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.