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CES is a bit like the auto shows of yesteryear, back when carmakers simply came to flex their muscles and show what they were capable of, as opposed to unveiling products that are destined for dealership parking lots. In the same spirit, Samsung has unveiled three products that will be on the showroom floor at CES 2016 next week.
The first, and the strangest, is a ‘smart wearable healthcare belt’ called the WELT.
Called the WELT.
(long pause)
This smart health belt looks perfectly normal but is able to measure the user’s waist size (I should hope so), eating habits, the number of steps taken in a day, and time spent seated. From there, the information is digested through an app that makes recommendations for better health....
For all the posturing that’s gone on surrounding wearable technology in recent years, there’s an unlikely front runner: Ralph Lauren is about to put its sexy black PoloTech on sale for $295, ready to transmit your every workout move straight to your iPhone.
While other companies, including Adidas, Athos and Victoria’s Secret, already market products using similar technology, the PoloTech is the first luxury fashion brand to enter the space, proving that technology doesn’t have to look dorky.
For more than a decade, tech and athletic companies have been tinkering with wearables that target “elite, and even professional, athletes,” says Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, who follows wearables and connected apparel. “What I get excited about is fashion-forward companies like Lauren even acknowledging that smart garments can move away from the more serious fitness buff to everybody, and into mainstream fashion.”...
I heard recently that the average person checks their mobile 150 times a day. From a marketer’s perspective, that’s a lot of potential touch points — both in collecting data and in messaging. But it pales in comparison to the staggering world of wearables.
Technology is giving unparalleled access for marketers to understand consumers, and to reach them in a highly relevant and targeted way. But we’re going to be in the Wild West for a while. It’s not clear what marketing will be welcome and what will be considered invasive. There’s a fine line between relevant and creepy. If you think retargeting ads that follow you across the web after viewing a lamp on Amazon are annoying, just wait for when wearables are mainstream....
Woolly sweaters may soon be put to work powering your electronic gadgets, thanks to a yarn-like lithium-ion battery.
Small, flexible electronics promise “smart” clothes of the future, such as T-shirts loaded with sensors that can discreetly keep track of your vital signs and check for health problems. Now Huisheng Peng and his colleagues at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, have created a thread-like battery that can be woven into smart textiles to keep them running smoothly....
No matter how seriously you take shopping, there are really only two ways to do it: in stores and online.
But if the new wearable tech software pioneered by Israeli startup Awear Solutions takes off, there could be a third way to spot the clothes and accessories you covet: on the streets.
Awear functions through a digital chip embedded in garments. Users who have the Awear app can use it to scan, say, a stranger’s cute bag at a coffee shop, as long as they’re within 30 feet of the item. If the bag’s equipped with an Awear chip, the shopper can buy it directly through the app....
Shopaholics, rejoice - or cry, depending on how much you love to shop.
One enterprising Australian company has developed a high-tech handbag that promises to help curb your spending when self-control just isn't in the cards.
Meet the iBag - a carryall that locks itself automatically when it believes you're on the verge of overspending.
Even without tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft present, the show remains a vital throwback cog in the marketing machinery of the high-tech industry. It remains relevant by emphasizing the global nature of the exhibition and by constantly reinventing itself, as Don Clark reveals in the Wall Street Journal.
“The show, which has been running since 1967, grew up around devices like television sets and stereos sold by distributors and retailers,” Clark writes. “But it has continually morphed to add new classes of products and companies that don't fit the classic consumer-electronics description.”
When the principals behind InteraXon headed to the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time in 2011, all they really had was an idea. It was an offbeat one to be sure, since it took the form of a headband that allowed wearers to control things with just the power of their thoughts. Now, three years later, the Toronto-based startup has millions of dollars in funding and 20 staff members supporting a sizeable booth at the annual Las Vegas techno-circus in the build-up to their first-ever product launch.
They’re all sporting a Muse, the company’s new brainwave-controlled relaxation-aid headband, which is launching this spring for $299. The booth itself is notable since it hosts a big, inflated plastic igloo. That’s not so much a symbol of the company’s Canadian-ness, but rather a necessary respite from the noisy show floor, where attendees can use Muse to calm their minds....
Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung powerhouse is expanding research and development into AMOLED technology that can be used in wearable clothing and flexible electronics. The AMOLED industry is going to quickly evolve into a multi-billion-dollar industry by 2020, because of high global demand from numerous computer companies.
Samsung’s focus on wearable technology will involve using the new-generation “stretchable” AMOLED display, as the company realizes the traditional smartphone market is becoming saturated. Samsung and rival LG are the only two companies able to manufacture curved displays on a wide-scale, as other companies trying to catch up. If the smartphone industry is reaching a higher saturation point, being able to implement AMOLED into future products could give Samsung and LG a significant edge.
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YouGov estimates that there will be 6.1 million wearable device owners in the UK by the end of 2015 and Juniper research predicts that wearable devices will generate $53.2 billion in global retail revenue by 2019. So what does this growing area of technology mean for marketers and their relationships with customers?
What’s interesting is that out of all of the wearable devices, smartwatches are expected to generate the highest adoption and spur the trend. Smartwatches are expected to replace fitness devices as the most purchased wearables category by 2017. Apple is the latest tech giant to make a play in this market and recently unveiled an update to its Apple Watch where third party apps can now be downloaded in isolation from the iPhone. Recently voted top of the ‘CoolBrands’ list, it’s likely that Apple’s foray into the smartwatch market will drive consumers to lust after the wearable tech trend....
Wearable computing is going more mass market.
We’re not talking just about smart watches or fitness trackers, but actual clothing that’s being made ‘smart,’ thanks to embedded technologies.
Like fitness trackers, smart clothing generally needs a companion mobile app so the wearer can receive information captured by the smart thing being worn.
One latest example of smart clothing is the Ralph Lauren polo shirt that can transmit workout information to a smartphone.
But wearables can be a range of things, including sensor-infused devices, clothing that reads biometric data off a body, a body mounted camera or smart glasses....
CuteCircuit deals in fashion and wearable technology, although not in quite the way you would imagine. Most wearables are in the form of wristbands, glasses or tiny clip-on devices, but CuteCircuit designs and makes clothes, mostly dresses, which incorporate technology which bring the designs to life.
Creative director Francesca Rosella and CEO Ryan Genz design on the basis that something about clothing should catch the eye, and nothing is more eye-catching than light. Some dresses contain thousands of tiny LEDs which show dynamic light patterns. One particular dress was designed to receive tweets and display them in lights as they were tweeted. Another has a slot for a SIM card and allows the wearer to answer phone calls by by raising one hand to her ear....
Ringly lights up or vibrates when you get a text.
The latest in wearable tech doesn't look much like tech at all.
Ringly is an 18k-gold plated ring that connects with a smartphone to discreetly notify the wearer when she gets a call or text.
The idea is to incorporate tech into women's everyday accessories so that they can enjoy the moment without missing something important— even when they're not wearing pockets or holding a bag....
Tech-fashion collaborations on view in New York made Google Glass, mood clothing, and 3D printed shoes in vogue.
Wearable technology is a lot more than fitness trackers and smartwatches—and when it meets high fashion, watch out. On Wednesday in New York, the Wearable Technology Fashion Showfeatured technology integrated and sewn into apparel in brilliantly colorful and imaginative ways. Organized by Tech in Motion, an event series for local tech communities across the U.S., the show presented 3D printed work, LED clothing, Google Glass, and more in new, unusual and often striking fashion designs. This mix of apparel and tech represented the innovative soul of fashion—a look into future possibilities of where style, clothing, and accessories might take us in the years ahead. The future of fashion is truly tricked out with tech.
A French company made a "smart" shirt, which monitors the wearer's health condition. Its unique ability the shirt has gained due to the material with microsensors, which can detect the first sympthoms of pathology and fatigue.
This work of French scientists was presented at International Consumer Electronics Show, held annually in January in Las Vegas, News reports. According to the developers, the new material reads thewearer's body heat, heart rate, motion and location.
"This fabric can be used to produce any type of clothing: gloves, shirts and trousers, - says the managing director of Revillon City Zen Gilbert Reveillon. - First time we managed to introduce into the fabric sensors and thus combine the two industries. "...
Marking its foray into the crowded wristband fitness tracker space, Garmin launched at CES 2014 the vivofit, a waterproof device that learns a user's fitness habits and sets different daily goals. Unlike most competing wristband trackers that require a recharge after seven to 10 days, the company promises a full year's worth of battery on one charge, thanks to two user-replaceable coin cell batteries.The vivofit aims to go head to head with other fitness wristband trackers such as the Nike+ Fuelband SE, the Fitbit Force and the Jawbone Up. It will come in five flavors — black, purple, teal, blue and slate — and in two sizes: small and large. The vivofit ships in the first quarter of 2014 and costs $129.99. A bundle with a heart-rate monitor will also be available for $169.99, allowing users to get more accurate calorie-burn information while working out....
The famous line from Socrates that the unexamined life is not worth living has taken on a new meaning in the modern era. A wave of companies, many of them start-ups funded through sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, is creating wearable electronic tracking devices for nearly every part of the human body, from brainwave-monitoring headbands to smart socks. And analysts expect the industry to explode over the next five years.
Retail revenue from wearable technology is predicted to jump from about $1.4 billion in 2013 to as much as $19 billion in 2018, according to a new study from Juniper Research. Here’s a quick industry snapshot. If you want in, move fast: There’s hardly any room left on the human body that isn’t about to be covered by a device....
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Interesting product for launch at CES.