smartwatch News - Page 6 of 13 - CNX Software

May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Smartwatch for the Blind – Dot Watch Supports Braille Language, Sync Data over Bluetooth

A South Korean company has created Dot smartwatch specifically designed for the blinds and visually impaired, as it supports Braille language through 24 dots that move up or down depending on the data to show. Like other smartwatches, it will also pair with a smartphone, and received notifications over Bluetooth to Android and iOS smartphones. Dot watch specifications: Wireless MCU – 32-bit ARM Cortex M4F + Cortex M0 microcontroller “Display” – 4 Dot Cells (24 Dots) made of 6000 series silver aluminum Connectivity – Bluetooth LE 4.2 Misc – 24 touch sensors, shaft horizontal vibration motor, a crown, two buttons Battery – 400mAh li-polymer battery good for a typical 7 days on a charge Dimensions – Watch: 43mm x 12.5mm; Leather band – S size: 22x220mm; M size: 22x250mm; L size: 22x290mm Weight – 27g This is all made possible through the company’s dot rotor technology that allows to move […]

February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LG Watch Style and Watch Sport Smartwatches Launched with Android Wear 2.0

Google released an Android Wear 2.0 developer preview last May at Google I/O 2016, with the new operating system now supporting standalone apps and keyboard and handwriting input method, featuring a new user interface with material design support, integrating Google Fit & Google Assistant support, and supporting many of the features available in Android 7.0 Nougat like data saver, and emojis. The first two devices running the latest Android Wear 2.0 will be LG Watch Style and Watch Sport smartwatches. LG Android Wear 2.0 watches specifications can be found in the table below (Source: XDA) LG Watch Style LG Watch Sport (W280A) Display 1.2″ 360×360 P-OLED (Gorilla Glass 3) 1.38″ 480×480 P-OLED (Gorilla Glass 3) Processor Snapdragon Wear 2100 @ 1.1GHz RAM 512MB 768MB Storage 4GB Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, LTE, NFC, GPS Sensors Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Gyro sensor Heart Rate Sensor (PPG), Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Barometer […]

January 11, 2017January 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Omron Project Zero 2.0 is a Thinner Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor & Smartwatch

Omron Project Zero BP6000 blood pressure monitor & smartwatch / fitness tracker was unveiled at CES 2016. The device was due to be released at the end of 2016 pending FDA approval, but the launch has now been delayed to spring 2017, and it will be sold under the name “HEARTVUE”. The company has however showcased a new version at CES 2017, for now just called Omron Project Zero 2.0 that has the same functions but is more compact and lightweight. The watch will also work with Omron Connect US mobile app, and can record accurate blood pressure, as well as the usual data you’d get from fitness trackers including activity (e.g. steps) and sleep, as well as smartphone notifications. Blood pressure measurement can be activated by the user by pressing a button and raising his/her wrist to the height of the chest. The goal is the same as the […]

November 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Meet Body Heat Powered MATRIX PowerWatch, The Activity Tracker You Never Need to Charge (Crowdfunding)

There are currently several issues with wearables that makes it sub-optimal devices, from displays that can’t be always-on, to unreliable sensors, and in my experience pretty poor reliability, as I’ve managed to go through 4 fitness trackers / smartwatches in a year. Another issue is that contrary to typical watches lasting 10 years with a coin cell battery, most wearables require to be charge every few days, weeks, with the very best devices being chargers every few months. MATRIX PowerWatch promises to solve latter, as you will never need to ever charge it since it charges itself by harvesting energy using your body heat. The company promotes it as a smartwatch, but it’s closer to an activity tracker, since you can’t keep the Bluetooth LE connection all the time in order to receive notifications to your smartphone. It’s basically used to show time, track your activity and sleep patterns, and […]

October 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Samsung Starts Mass-Production of Exynos 7 Dual (7270) Processor used in Galaxy Gear S3 Smartwatch

Samsung has just issued a press release announcing the Korean company had just started mass-production of the first SoC for Wearables using 14-nm FinFET process with their Exynos 7 Dual (7270) dual Cortex A53 processor. Exynos 7270 is also said to be the first such SoC to embed full connectivity and LTE modem integration. Exynos 7270 specifications: CPU – Dual-core ARM Cortex–A53 processor @ up to 1.0 GHz GPU – ARM Mali-T720 Memory – LPDDR3 support Storage – eMMC 5.0, SD card interfaces Display – Up to 960×540 (qHD) resolution Camera – Up to 5MP pixel sensor support Multimedia – HD (720p@30fps) video with HEVC, H.264, VP8 Codec LTE Modem – LTE Category 4 non-CA Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, FM Radio GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou PMIC – Integrated in SiP-ePoP package Package – SiP-ePoP, 10x10mm (SiP: System-in-Package; ePoP: embedded Package-on-Package) The SoC will be packaged inside a SiP-ePOP […]

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Fitbit Introduces Charge 2 and Flex 2 Fitness Trackers

My first activity tracker, Vidonn X5, worked reasonably well and lasted for over a year, but the subsequent models I tried were all mostly disasters, especially as they added some features like a heart rate monitor that did not work reliably, and worse, their lifetime was poor, lasting only a few days to a few weeks before stopping working. My Xiaomi Mi Band 2 died last week-end, two days after a firmware update which decreased battery life to less than a day, and now refuses to charge. While the HRM was utterly useless, it did count steps fairly accurately, and battery life was good. Sadly, it would only last about two months. So at this stage, it might be worth spending more for a fitness tracker, and Fitbit has unveiled two new models with Charge 2 and Flex 2. Fitbit Charge 2 includes a 1.5″ OLED touchscreen display, and an […]

August 8, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

TW68 Smart Bracelet Measures Blood Pressure and Heart Rate for $22 and Up

Some people may need to frequently measure their blood pressure because of their health condition, but it’s often a cumbersome experience, so they may get lazy, and not do it as often as needed. TW68 smart bracelet should make this easy, as it’s your typical fitness tracker with an heart rate monitor, but adding the capability to also measure blood pressure. It’s also very cheap, and I first found it on DealExtreme where it sells for just $24. TW68 specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi NRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller with 2.4 GHz radio Data Storage – 7 days detailed data, 23 days total data Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Display – 0.49″ OLED display Sensors – PixArt-PAH8001EI blood pressure sensor; 6-axis Invensense-MPU6500 accelerometer and gyroscope Function Health tracker: Blood pressure measurement, Heart rate monitor, Pedometer, Sleep tracker Other functions: Call/Message notification, Fall reminder, Social sharing, Time, Alarm clock Misc – […]

August 5, 2016August 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Smartwatches are Hot! So Hot, They May Burn Your Skin

Low power in constrained spaces is a tricky business, even for ARM based SoCs with the Qualcomm 810 overheating saga a few months ago. Now it’s time for Intel to feel the heat, as the company has has to recall Basis Peak smartwatches / fitness trackers due to potential overheating causing skin burns. Josh Walden – senior vice president and general manager of the New Technology Group at Intel Corporation – stated: On behalf of the Basis Science team, I want to personally apologise for this situation, we know that many of you love using your Basis Peak watches and have made them part of your daily lives, and we are very sorry for the disruption this will cause you, we had hoped to update the software on your watch to address the problem, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we aren’t able to develop such a solution without completely compromising […]