wearables

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Google Glass 2 For Enterprise Shows Up on FCC Website

Google Glass 2 For Enterprise Shows Up on FCC Website

I’ve never been a fan of Google Glass for consumer applications, and the company has apparently more or less given up on this market, but instead they are now focusing on the enterprise market according to Google Glass 2 (codenamed AR4-GG1) photos and a user’s manual released on the FCC website. The user’s manual lists some of the key external components including a power button, a display with its button to take pictures or shot videos, a touchpad along the flat area on the side to control the display using taps and gestures. Although not really sharp, the internal pictures allow to have a look at the main electronic components featured in the device, and David Anders analyzed the pictures and found the following ICs: Toshiba THGBMBG7D4LBAIW that should be a 16GB eMMC flash Texas Instruments TUSB1211 USB 2.0 ULPI PHY transceiver Touchpad area with Cypress logo and a 48-pin chip that could […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Makibes F68 is a $35 IP67 Rated Sports Smartwatch with HRM & 7-Days Battery Life

Makibes F68 is a $35 IP67 Rated Sports Smartwatch with HRM & 7-Days Battery Life

So far my quest for a smartwatch as not been successful, with massive disappointments with both No.1 D3 smartwatch and SMA-Q color e-Paper smartwatch, with the latter completely failing after a week. The next potential candidate is Makibes F68 with similar features as SMA-Q, but instead with a grayscale display, IP67 ingress protection rating which should make it suitable for swimming (apparently not, see comments), as well as a promised 7-day battery life during “normal usage”. Makibes F68 specifications: MCU/Memory/Storage – Not disclosed but it’s supposed to run Nucleus RTOS. Display – 1″ round capacity touchscreen display, 128×128 resolution, always on Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 Sensors – 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope Battery – 180 mAh charged via magnetic connector Dimensions – 38 x38 x 10 mm (aluminum alloy material) Weight – 31 grams IP Rating – IP67 meaning it’s been tested for 30 minutes under one meter of water. The […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on SMA-Q Smartwatch Mini Review and Teardown

SMA-Q Smartwatch Mini Review and Teardown

I had great hopes for SMA-Q smartwatch, as it features an always on color e-Paper display, a built-in heart rate monitor, and promised 30-day standby battery life, as well as being 30-meter water resistant. But last week, I found out that the latter did not mean waterproof, and instead the watch was rated IP65 that’s only good enough to wash hands and a little rain, but not showering let alone swimming. In the last week, I could play with the watch, and found some serious Bluetooth connectivity issues (with Iocean M6752 smartphone), and I was recommended to upgrade the firmware of SMA-Q watch, and after that my Bluetooth issue have somewhat improve, but everything pretty much went downhill, and the watch is now out of order, and shows no sign of life. So while I was expecting to write a full review, I’ll simply report with experience with the watch […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on SMA-Q e-Paper Smartwatch Unboxing and Details

SMA-Q e-Paper Smartwatch Unboxing and Details

When I first discovered SMA-Q smartwatch, I really found it interesting with its always-on color e-Paper display, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, heart rate monitor, and promise of 30-day battery life (standby) for just $56. GearBest send me one sample so that I can have a close look at this interesting smartwatch and fitness tracker. I’ll start by unboxing the watch, and checkout some details that were unclear in the specifications. I received it in a retail package that calls it SMA WATCH-Q instead of SMA-Q watch with a link to the official website. On one side we’ll get the specifications, all in Chinese, but even if you can read, it’s clear the watch supports Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.4+ IOS7.0+ as announced in the specs, and we also learned a 150mAh battery is included, and it’s compliant with IP65 ingrees protectin ratings meaning it’s “protected from total dust ingress and low […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on $10 Bluetooth Knit Cap Provides an Alternative to Bluetooth Headsets in Winter

$10 Bluetooth Knit Cap Provides an Alternative to Bluetooth Headsets in Winter

I’ve just come across a knit cap selling for $14.99 on DealExtreme, which looks like any knit cap except it can be charged and support Bluetooth, so it can be used as a BT headset. Some of the main features of the cap: Connectivity – Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR  with up to 10 meter range Audio – Built-in microphone and headphones USB – micro USB port for charging Misc – 3 buttons: Volume +/-, play/pause (also used as On/Off) Battery – 300 mAh Li-Ion battery ; 4 hours charging time; 15 hours working time Dimensions – 21 cm x 21.5 cm x 2.5 cm (Knitted material) Weight – 71 g It can be used for hands-free calling or listening music with any phone that support Bluetooth, and charing is done via it’s micro USB port. One DHGate shop has uploaded a video showing how it works (might be a slightly […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Forget Wearables, Ingestibles are Coming! Meet BodyCap e-Celsius Performance Pill

Forget Wearables, Ingestibles are Coming! Meet BodyCap e-Celsius Performance Pill

In recent years, wearables such as fitness tracker have become popular to monitor the number of steps walked, calories burnt, and distance covered during your daily activities. These products are not always accurate however, and it get better data instead of having your wear a monitoring device, companies such as BodyCap are working on ingestibles, pills that some electronics, that the user swallows, and tranmit accurate data at a short range. One of the first product from the company is e-Celsius Performance that aims to measure body temperature of athletes, in order to optimize their performance. The pill has the following technical specifications: Data Storage – Up to one year, and up to 2000 samples Sampling – 30 seconds Accuracy – 0.2°C Connectivity – Wireless transmission (433 MHz); up to 1 meter range Battery – Not sure, but it can last 20 days Weight: 1.7g Dimensions – 17.7mm x 8.9 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Thunderboard Wear is a $75 Smartwatch Development Board by Silicon Labs

Thunderboard Wear is a $75 Smartwatch Development Board by Silicon Labs

A few days ago I watched an ARMDevices.net’s video about an ARM’s smartwatch reference design running mbed OS 3.0, powered by a Silicon Labs EFM32 Giant Gecko Cortex M3 MCU, and promising up to 2 months battery life on a 160 mAh battery. While I could not find the full details about the reference design, I noticed Silicon Labs also launched a development board called Thunderboard Wear, based on the same platform, just quite bigger, and still wearable… (Sort of) Thunderboard Wear specifications: MCU – Silicon Labs EFM32GG995F1024 ARM Cortex-M3 MCU up to 48 MHz with 128 kB RAM,1 MB Flash External Memory – 256 kB external SRAM External Storage – micro SD card slot Display – 128×128 pixel Memory LCD from Sharp Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.1 smart module (Silicon Labs BGM111), upgradeable to Bluetooth 4.2 Sensors Ambient Light Sensing (ALS) and Proximity/Gesture via Silicon Labs Si1141. Optical hear-rate monitoring […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on ShiftWear Shoes Integrate a Flexible e-Paper Display, Energy Harvesting Capabilities (Crowdfunding)

ShiftWear Shoes Integrate a Flexible e-Paper Display, Energy Harvesting Capabilities (Crowdfunding)

ARM CTO, Mike Muller, showcase imprinted electronics, that is an integrated circuit printed on a plastic film, at ARM TechCon 2015, and several products are featured flexible displays, so in future flexible electronics could bring innovation applications from truly wearables electronics to traceable bank notes, and so on. A company has launched an Indiegogo campaign for a new product, that’s both cool and relatively useless, with ShiftWear sneakers that integrate a flexbile e-Paper display, a battery that recharges by harvesting energy from your steps, and some connectivity (likely Bluetooth LE) to update the display from your iOS, Android or  Windows device. Three models are available: L1, M1 and H1 referring to low height, medium height and high height of the part around the ankle (heel tab?). But all three have basically the same features: Always-on HD color e-paper flexible display Up to 30 days of battery life Waterproof up to […]