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Top: Bluetooth bekommt neue Version nächstes Jahr
- Größere Reichweite
- Höhere Geschwindigkeit
- und Mesh-Networking
Alles wichtig für das Internet der Dinge.
The ever-growing number of connected gadgets on the market is putting a strain on our Bluetooth connections. To keep up with the increased burden, the Bluetooth standard is getting an upgrade, with longer range, faster speeds, and mesh networking all in the works for 2016. The incorporation of these new features is being overseen by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), an industry body that counts companies such as Apple, Intel, Microsoft, and Lenovo among its backers.
Furthermore, a “100% increase in speed” has been promised — without the need for more energy to power the increase. This could have major ramifications for applications across many use cases that require low latency, such as home health care.
But perhaps one of the most interesting developments in the pipeline is support for mesh networking.
Top: Uhrenhersteller Fossil übernimmt Fitnesstracker-Hersteller Misfit für 260 Millionen US-Dollar
Die Technologie solle im kommenden Jahr in Uhren von Fossil, Skagen und einiger anderer Marken integriert werden, erklärte das Unternehmen. Fossil produziert auch Uhren der Marken Adidas, Diesel, Michael Kors oder DKNY.
Fossil ist einer der großen Hersteller für den Massenmarkt erschwinglicher Armbanduhren. Misfit ist hinter Jawbone und Fitbit eher ein kleines Licht, hat aber ein sehr viel größeres Produktportfolio als beide.
Im Oktober hat Fossil erste eigene Android-Wear-Geräte vorgestellt, die noch dieses Jahr erscheinen sollen.
Fossil arbeitet außerdem mit Intel zusammen an "wearable tech".
Top: Smart-Clothing-Hersteller Athos erhält 35,5 Millionen US-Dollar
The startup faces some nominal competition from wearable fitness clothing startups Hexoskin and OmSignal, as well as Heddoko, which makes 3D movement tracking suits, but it’s still early days here. Most of these types of companies launched their products in just the last year. The first Athos products started shipping six months ago, according to the startup.
Professional athletes can be worth millions of dollars to their teams, and there’s a slew of tech companies working to protect those athletes from injury using a somewhat surprising shield: Data.
As Lauren Goode reported here in March when she tried out the product, Athos offers workout shirts and pants laced with sensors that monitor body activity and movement that is then transferred wirelessly to a smartphone. They are used by some professional athletes, including Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Mathews, according to Palihapitiya, but at almost $400 retail for the shirt and sensors, it’s probably too expensive for most casual athletes.
Siehe auch die Website von Athos.
Analysen und Berichte
Überblick über den Wearables-Markt
The wearables industry has cooled off in 2015, with deals and funding down from last year, but a few dozen startups have carved out a place for themselves in certain industries and are taking on established players. We used CB Insights data to identify 42 startups attacking fitness, apparel, healthcare, to name just a few of the areas. (..)
The selected 42 companies raised a combined $1.9B in investment over 105 deals.
MagicStick: HDMI-Stick + Ubuntu Core
The PC on stick has been increasingly popular for those looking to transform their TV into a smart TV. Plugging the PC on stick into the HDMI port and transforms a normal TV into a smart device! You can enjoy anything a PC powered experience offers: media center, web browser, games. MagicStick™ is offering a powerful 8G RAM PC on stick that brings a fast experience to your screen.
However MagiStick™ is looking to change the PC on stick experience more radically! TV users want to lean back and enjoy their sofa time! They do not need to click their way through complex menus just to start watching their favourite show or Youtube video! They do not need a desktop on which to place the files. They want simple slimmed down interfaces!
By offering Ubuntu Core in the PC on stick form factor, MagicStick™ is bringing a simple appstore experience to the TV. Find an app, tap on it to launch it or to download it and you have your home entertainment system, your game, your home control system or your browser on your TV screen. Every app is just a few taps away on your TV. The powerful PC on stick gives you speedy and reactive interfaces and a variety of compatible applications; Ubuntu Core gives you a simple experience and a store to manage your applications.
Interessante Kombination. Bleibt die Frage, wie das Interface (auf OS- und auf App-Ebene) gehandhabt wird. Oder anders gesagt: Das klingt leider nach Plattform-Chaos.
Smart-Home-Monitor Blink: Von Kickstarter zu VC
On Monday, Kickstarter alum, Blink, announced it has raised an additional $5.8 million from private investors. The DIY smart home monitor surfaced on the crowdfunding platform in 2014 and secured over $1 million from nearly 7,000 backers. (..)
Blink’s system is designed for budget-minded consumers, with limited-time pre-order pricing starting at just $79 for a one-camera system. A whole-home, five-camera system is $289. The company announced that it is now entering the production phase.
Also, The security system has been named a 2016 CES Innovation Awards Honoree in the Smart Home category.
Smart-Home-IP-Cam-Markt aus Sicht von Netgear
Anandtech hat eine Marktübersicht von Netgear erhalten (Bei der wenig überraschend Netgears Arlo vorn liegt):
Within 6 months of introduction, the Arlo managed to climb up to the top of the charts with a 20% share (also helped by Dropcam making a slow transition to the new Nest Cam model). This shows that there is a tremendous market potential for battery-operated IP cameras (something we had not foreseen when the Arlo Wire-Free was launched).
"Wearables Are Missing A Crucial Aspect: Community"
Forbes über die Tatsache, dass Wearables bis dato nur einen Markt anspricht, der identisch mit den Gründern und CEOs der Unternehmen ist:
To some of these communities, introducing a new piece of technology such as a wearable can be an added strain says Saxton-Ross. “Chronic health conditions are stressful, the physical conditions that these communities live in, with subpar housing and increased violence, are all stressful,” she says. “If you don’t have food, clothes or shelter–living safely or longer are extras.”
The way wearables are designed today, creators don’t have these communities in mind. In fact, they don’t have much other than themselves in mind according to Wired. “From Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Austin and MIT, young, healthy, highly educated, mostly male entrepreneurs are developing marginally useful apps and gadgets for people just like themselves,” J.C. Herz said in an article titled “Wearables Are Totally Failing the People Who Need Them Most.” (..)
Because wearables are still largely unaffordable, Connected Health vice president Dr. Joseph C. Kvedar says “forward-thinking doctors” in underserved communities are offering free Fitbits to patients with overweight issues. “Apart from us giving those devices away, I don’t think there are as many people in that segment that are running out to buy the Nike or Fitbit or Apple Watch,” Kvedar says. The free Fitbits, however, come with the expectation of a challenge. “The doctors might be giving away activity trackers and divide the group into two teams and suggest that they compete with each other.”
Wie akkurat sind Fitnesstracker?
A study done by researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at five popular activity trackers. When it came to steps, it found trackers predicted within 10 percent accuracy the number of steps taken.
As for calories, none of the devices were accurate for recording calories burned and researchers concluded the trackers worked best with lower intensity activities like walking.
Researchers also say people are 30-to-40 times more active when they use fitness trackers. Even if they are not 100 percent accurate, they do a good job of getting people up and moving.
Meldungen:
- The Ultimate Guide To Mastering Your Amazon Echo & Alexa
- First Alert debuts Onelink, the first HomeKit-enabled smoke detector, available now from $109
- Google Working On At least Two New Wearables, One With And The Other Without Glass, Says Report
- Withings' third analog fitness tracker is the $170 Activite Steel
- HP partners with Movado on $695 Bold Motion, analog smartwatch that uses LEDs and haptic feedback for alerts, a second wearable in “Engineered by HP” program
- Google And ASUS Launch The $85 Chromebit, A Chrome OS Desktop On An HDMI Stick
- Kangaroo is an amazing $99 Windows 10 portable PC
- Withings announces new activity tracker, the Activité Steel.