Research suggests sleep wearables could reduce PTSD risk

Wearables that are able to relax the brain could reduce PTSD, according to new research provided by Brain State Technologies and Wake Forest School of Medicine.

The research suggests that people suffering from insomnia, a sleep disorder that 10 to 30 percent of adults suffer from each year, are at a similar PTSD risk level as ex-military service members.

Brain State also claims that sleep disturbance is one of the hardest PTSD symptoms to treat, since medication for sleeping tends to have side effects like illness and addiction. With a wearable that relaxes the brain, it may reduce the chance of waking up in the middle of the night.

“We are excited about presenting this analysis to military health researchers, because prevention efforts tend to get too little attention. We think that focus on sleep quality could reduce PTSD not only in the military, but also in police, medical first-responders, and others who have high exposure to trauma,” said Brain State CEO Lee Gerdes.

Brain State provides a wearable, the Braintellect 2, which offers this type of brain relaxing functionality. The patient wears the device on their head and listens to rhythms of varying pitch, which reduce the amount of stress or excitement in preparation for rest.

The Braintellect 2 is quite an expensive piece of kit, at $1,195. It is also not the most compact design—it comes with the headband, a Bluetooth wireless control box (that connects to the headset through a wire), a pair of headphones, and a customized Windows tablet.

That’s a lot, but may be worth it for those suffering from insomnia or PTSD. Hopefully in the next few years, Brain State or some other firm can reduce the footprint of the device. Swapping the Windows tablet with an iOS/Android app and integrating the Bluetooth control box into the headband would be two smart moves.

For new e-skin products, plastics are still the future

Covestro, a spinout of pharmaceutical giant Bayer, will present an e-skin product that uses custom polyurethane materials at an upcoming plastics trade fair.

Compared to other e-skin materials, Covestro argues that its own material sticks to skin for extensive periods, but can easily be removed without causing marks or pains.

This would be a useful improvement over the current skin wearables, which either lack stickiness or are painful to remove. Covestro sees the e-skin material being useful in the wearables market, letting developers track different parts of the body.

“Consumers want wearables that cling gently to the skin, and that are also breathable and hypoallergenic,” says Gerd Büschel, a films expert at Covestro. “We’re meeting this need with a clever combination of different materials. The patch is affixed to the wearer by means of a skin-friendly, breathable adhesive, which also is solvent-free and water-repellent.”

Getting under their e-skin

Covestro hasn’t provided a lot of information on the capabilities for manufacturers that want to add connectivity modules, like Bluetooth, or sensors that track heart-rate, respiratory rate, and other measurements. We expect to find out more at K 2016.

Several universities and research labs have attempted to build e-skin products that can last for weeks and send data back to a connected smartphone. While Covestro’s new material doesn’t advance the connectivity aspect, it might make a mass market e-skin product more feasible.

For those interested in the skin products, Covestro will debut them at the K 2016 plastics trade show. If you’re not that into plastics, you should know that K 2016 is kind of a big deal, taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany, in October.

Are robotic arms the answer for fitness wearables’ testing?

The current way to test fitness tracker accuracy is inefficient, but a Finnish startup has come up with a solution that could reduce the cost and the time spent testing the device.

Verkotan, an over-the-air (OTA) mobile research and development lab, has repurposed one of its test chambers for wearable testing. In the new chamber sits Speag’s anatomical human, the EM Phantom Popeye, which has the ability to simulate movement in a variety of different real-life areas, from a busy urban environment to rural valleys.

Switching from real life testers to the robotic arm could save wearable manufacturers thousands in expenses and reduce the amount of time needed for testing. It also, according to Verkotan, provides manufacturers with more accurate test results, since it can perform more testing in a shorter time period and not have any real world barriers.

“GPS testing relies on unreliable field testing,” said Kari Komonen, CEO at Verkotan, in aYouTube video. “It requires weeks of testing. Engineers need to carry out field testing in multiple locations. We have completed changed this, by bringing it into the laboratory environment.”

“In our test lab, this reduces GPS test time to one day. A reliable, repeatable test environment also enables better performing products,” he added.

Will big wearables makers like this testing?

Its not clear if major vendors like Fitbit and Apple already have this type of virtual test environment. Apple must have some type of in-house testing program, considering the lack of design leaks for the Watch prior the announcement.

For smaller firms, it might be a way to test the product extensively without having to hire a dozen runners. This could reduce product leaks as well, which may be useful for mid-sized firms like Jawbone and Pebble, that have lots of fans but a low amount of cash on hand.

Is Apple launching a fitness tracker alongside Watch 2?

Apple might enter into the fitness tracker market in 2017, according to new rumor from Economic Daily News, who suggest the company has been working on a health device for two years.

The wearable is aimed at people that want more fitness and health data from their device. It includes heart-rate and blood sugar level monitoring, alongside other health data, according to the report.

Jay Blahnik, the fitness expert Apple picked up in 2013, has apparently been working on the device for two years. Blahnik has been working on ‘special projects’ for Cupertino since joining the company.

3D touch might be a major feature on the fitness tracker, possibly due to the screen limitations. Macotakara, a Japanese blog, said Apple has found an innovative method to charge the device.

Foxconn, TSMC, and a few other suppliers have supposedly been in discussions about the fitness tracker.

Apple rolling out more health functionality?

Original rumors about the Watch suggested that it would have next generation health functionality, but that didn’t arrive in the final version. Some said the FDA had forced Apple to remove some of the health features, though that has not been confirmed by either party.

We might see the revival of these features with the fitness tracker, but the company would need to show proof that its analytics and sensors work if it plans to add medical level functionality.

Pricing should be competitive with Fitbit, we would assume, though it may price higher as is typically the case.1 We have no date for when it will launch in 2017, we might see it at the start of the year at the March event or alongside the iPhone 7S in September.

Fossil bullish on wearables with big rollouts soon

American watchmaker Fossil revealed its plan for the future, and it involves a lot of wearables. In the second quarter earnings call, the company said it would embark on an “unprecedented launch” of wearables.

In the next three months, Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis said it would launch eight wearables in three categories—hybrid, smartwatch, and activity tracker—that will become the primary growth leader for the company.

Fossil plans to sell wearables of all shapes and prices, from smartwatches costing over $400 to smaller fitness trackers costing less than $100.

“We are well on our way to launching connected accessories across more of the brands in our portfolio and are on track to deliver this product in the third quarter,” Kartsotis said. “Weaker performance in our wholesale channel, particularly in the US, where the business is most challenged, is likely to continue. However, we believe the innovative products launched later in the year can begin to re-energize the channel.”

Fossil has already announced two of the planned devices, the Q Wander and Q Marshal, which are available to pre-order with an August 29 release date. The two smartwatches run Android Wear and have minimal internal differences. Fossil wants customers to choose the watch based on the design, similar to how we choose fashion accessories.

To emphasize the design options, Fossil is importing some well known designer brands to the wearables market later this year. Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Armani, Diesel, Misfit, and Chaps by Ralph Lauren will all design smartwatches, fitness trackers, or hybrids, to be released in the September to November period.

Fossil investors have changed their tune

Investors blamed wearables for Fossil’s poor performance in Q1 this year, cutting the stock price by 30% after the announcement.

But those investors seem to be happy with the company’s wearables focus now, according to MarketWatch the stock climbed nine percent after the earnings call. That is despite revenue falling from $740 million last year to $685 million in the three month period this year.

Android Wear hasn’t been a great success for OEMs, none of the manufacturers are in the top five for sales volume. Even Samsung, which has launched a variety of wearables in the last year, came in sixth.

You can bend phones, so why not wearables?

Lenovo has previewed its “holiday product launch” for IFA 2016, which includes a bendable smartphone. But will they extend that tech to a new generation of wearables, too?

The 50-second teaser video showed someone bending the phone, which appears to be running on the Android platform. Google has not, as far as we are aware, added functionality for devices that change shape.

Internally named CPlus, the device has a 4.26-inch display and supposedly has a variety of color options. Lenovo did not confirm if it plans to launch the device at IFA 2016.

Bendable devices have been at media events for a few years now, but to date commercial successes have been few and far between. Worries about app compatibility and frequent crashes are the main reasons for the lack of consumer traction to date.

Instead, vendors like Samsung have launched “edge” smartphones, like the Galaxy S7 Edge. These aren’t bendable, but do have slight bends on the edges, which can be an options menu or app draw.

Lenovo also hinted at more Moto mods for the Moto Z at the event. Motorola launched the smartphone earlier this year, with the ability to attach large “mods” on the back that offer additional battery life, loud speakers, and other upgrades.

Is the next step moving beyond smartphones?

The mods are seen as the baby step into modular smartphones, which Motorola has worked on for a few years.

In the video, Lenovo also hinted at a next generation Moto 360 smartwatch1. We expect the device to run Android Wear and come with additional battery life and a sleeker frame.

Lenovo also mentioned a new type of keyboard for tablets, servers and a tablet-PC hybrid in its teaser video…and all shall apparently be explained at IFA 2016.

Philips launches ecosystem of connected health wearables

Philips unveiled a suite of new connected health devices on Monday, in a move to bolster its position in the personal healthcare market.

The firm said all four devices have been built “with leading doctors and psychologists,” according and connect to the company’s HealthSuite app.

The first device is a health watch, with similar functionality to the Apple Watch or Fitbit Blaze. It tracks the user’s heart-rate, activity, and sleep patterns, automatically recognizing different workouts.

All information will be available to view on the HealthSuite app, letting users check detailed analytics of their fitness progress.

Philips estimates the health watch can last for four days without charge. It has an always on display showing the time, your heart-rate, and other metrics. It is available to purchase for $250.

The next two devices are much more health focused, blood pressure monitors for the upper arm and wrist. The devices let users measure systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart-rate. Data collected can be sent to doctors through the HealthSuite app.

Philips plans to sell the upper arm device for $100 and the wrist for $90.

Having a complete setup that works seamlessly is welcoming, especially in healthcare where devices can often times be analog or incompatible. That’s why Philips launched a body analysis scale to go alongside the health watch, letting users check their weight, BMI, and body fat and then save the results in the HealthSuite app.

The connected scale is available starting today, at $99.

The last device is an ear thermometer, which can accurately measure temperature in two seconds. Another health device aimed at health clinics, rather than consumers. It is available for $60.

Philips wants the range of health devices to be purchased by middle aged consumers to reduce the likelihood of chronic illnesses. It claims that 90 percent of chronic conditions can be prevented through a lifestyle change, and the four devices could push people to be more active.

Garmin stock surges following pivot from autos to wearables

Garmin’s stock price rose to its highest level in 52 weeks after reporting better than expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter.

Investors were pleased to see Garmin transition from the lacklustre automotive industry to the growing fitness market. The automotive segment accounted for 39 percent of the company’s revenue in 2015, but now only accounts for 30 percent. Fitness, outdoor, and marine segments all grew this year, with fitness now accounting for 26 percent of revenue.

Garmin focused on fitness

Garmin sells a wide range of wearables for all types of sports and adventure customers. In the past, that market has been overshadowed by GPS and dashboard sales, but sales have been dwindling for a few years as smartphones and in-house dashboard GPS start to take over.

The Vivoactive, Forerunner, and Vivomove trackers were the most popular, according to Garmin. It did not mention individual segments of its fitness sales, like cycling, a market Garmin has been trying to corner with a variety of wearable devices.

“Fitness and outdoor achieved impressive revenue and profit growth driven by our strengthening position in the wearables market,” CEO and President Cliff Pemble said. “Aviation and marine also delivered revenue and profit growth while auto remains a solid base of profit contributions to the overall business.”

Even with the surge in consumer demand for its fitness wearables, Garmin remains below the leaders in this segment, Fitbit. Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, also holds more marketshare with its range of inexpensive wearables, available in Asia.

Garmin is ahead of Jawbone and smaller fitness tracker providers and sells more wearables than any Android Wear manufacturer. It currently also sells more wearables than Samsung, which is surprising when you consider the breadth of Samsung’s wearable range.

OnePlus ain’t interested in virtual reality or wearables

OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has no plans to invest heavily into smartwatches or virtual reality in the near future.

Co-founder Carl Pei made it clear that while it has worked on devices for both markets in the past, it does not want to become a competitor. Instead, the focus is back onto the single flagship, the OnePlus 3.

Like most things, OnePlus doesn’t want to follow the trends of most mobile companies. In an interview with TechRadar, Pei said that wearables are “too risky” and that “jumping into Android Wear would have lost us a lot of money.”

He is probably right, Android Wear has failed to capture a large amount of sales in the past two years, in part due to Google’s passivity towards the platform. It has lacked advertising space that Apple has gobbled up for its Watch, and lacks the Fitbit’s fitness appeal.

OnePlus came close on wearables but no cigar

OnePlus was close to launching a wearable last year, but pulled the plug at the last minute, possibly due to the risk factor.

It might be worth mentioning that OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo, which is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics. BBK sells kids watches in China under different subsidiaries and is the fifth largest manufacturer in the world, which may be another reason why OnePlus is lukewarm on the wearables market.

Virtual reality is another area where OnePlus has flirted with, but ultimately not invested in. In 2015, sent hundreds of Google Cardboard devices to fans for its OnePlus 2 launch. This year, it offered 30,000 Loop VR headsets for the OnePlus 3 launch.

PR stunts are not hints at an incoming VR announcement from OnePlus though, as Pei mentions in his interview. He believes that Oculus, Google, and Valve are the three major players in VR and it will take a few years before a winner emerges, who sets the standards for VR.

Pei does see a future where OnePlus has a VR headset, but it looks like the company is waiting to see what the prefered functionality, features, and controllers are before it invested millions into the market.

Is Samsung cooking up a smart helmet to take on Microsoft HoloLens?

Samsung bet correctly on virtual reality with the Gear VR and now the headset has become the best way to get a mobile VR experience.

But what's next? There's no guarantee that any rising tech trend will be more than a passing fad, but that's also the beauty of technology — it could be a big hit or a complete flop.

A new trademark filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), discovered by SamMobile, suggests Samsung could be working on some kind of smart helmet.

The trademark reveals a logo and name (which may or may not ever be used) called "Ahead."

IMAGE: USPTO

The logo doesn't reveal much in the way of the product itself, but the description for the trademark provides a small tease.

According to the April 25 filing, the trademark is for a "wearable telecommunication machines [sic] and implements in the shape of a helmet namely mobile phones, smartphones and cellphones." It's an "audio and visual apparatus" that includes "MP3 player functions... MP4... ear phones... digital camera... camcorders... wearable computer...."

Just what is Samsung's cooking up? 

At the height of Google Glass' popularity (and dorkery), it was rumored many times the company would release its own "Galaxy Glass" as a competitor. But after Google Glass flopped and fizzled out of the limelight, Samsung's own smart glasses project fell silent. We haven't heard any new rumblings of a Samsung Glass-like rival.

And with Gear VR making real inroads with customers, Samsung would be foolish to try to resurrect a wearable headset people already associate with tech douchebaggery.

The other option, a stretch as it may be, is more logical and relevant. Whatever "Ahead" is could be a Microsoft HoloLens rival — a mixed reality headset that uses augmented reality to superimpose digital information on top of the real world.

As impressive (and unimpressive) as HoloLens is, Windows Holographic and the success of mixed reality headsets will hinge on developer support and cheaper gear.Microsoft's HoloLens, available now to developers, costs $3,000. Unless Microsoft drastically reduces the price on the consumer version, that's going to be a steep barrier for a lot of hologram enthusiasts (and holographic Minecraft gamers).

Microsoft already knows this, which is why the company is allowing other companies to build HoloLens-like headsets. PC maker Asus has already confirmed it's building its own HoloLens headset.

Samsung, always on the lookout for the next big thing, would be stupid to not at least be exploring a HoloLens-like headset.

As always, a trademark (or patent filing) doesn't confirm any products that will launch in the future, but at the very least, it tickles our fantasies for a world inspired by the technologies seen in science fiction films.

Will NBA spotlight boost SubPac’s full body wearable?

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving showed off a full-body wearable at the NBA Finals press conference, hours before the final match against the Golden Gate Warriors. And it could give the wearable’s maker, SubPac, the marketplace’s championship crown.

The wearable in question provides “tactile sound” that allows you to feel music or sound throughout your entire body.

Irving didn’t mention if he is partnered with SubPac, only saying to press “you’ll be hearing about it soon.” It may be possible he was using the wearable during training, though for what purpose, we don’t know.

The SubPac that Irving wore is different to the product in the startup’s YouTube video, posted in late 2015. That may be what Irving was referring to when he hinted at news coming soon; a new version with enhancements and a new design.

If Irving is the poster boy for SubPac, we suspect the new version may have some sports-related functionality, like simulated force while shooting or dribbling in training.

SubPac currently aimed at music and VR

The current SubPac is marketed at music and virtual reality, both can utilize biometrics to provide a full body experience. SubPac also has a body wearable for people sitting down, the S2, which could be more useful for video gamers.

Some video game firms have delved into biometrics in the past, including Half Life and Portal developer Valve. In an interview with The Verge, Valve director Gabe Newell said:

“We think that, unlike motion input where we kind of struggled to come up with ideas, [there’s potential in] biometrics.We have lots of ideas.”

With the first Steam VR headset, the HTC Vive VR, launched earlier this year, we may see Valve’s first attempts at biometric feedback in game. Other developers are looking into the effects biometrics can have on gameplay, like changing a level depending on the player’s heart-rate.

Full body wearables that provide vibration could be valuable in other areas, including training simulations for firefighters, police officers, and soldiers. SubPac has not mentioned any of these areas as potential market, sticking with the music focus for its current wearables.

Topshop wants you to look good while paying

With bPay, it appears that shopping has moved beyond store merchandise, also embracing fashion when it comes to payment at the register.

British fast-fashion outlet Topshop just introduced their next collection of bPay contactless payment accessories which have been introduced into its UK stores, as well as online.  Apparently, this payment method is starting to increase in popularity.

Two lovely bracelets, two adorable robot keyrings and two phone cases make up the newest collection, with prices ranging between $43 and $48, including a bPay NFC chip.  The design style includes snakeskin and metallic finishes and is considered the luxury collection, compared to its previous colorful Monster Fish series.

This previous, less expensive collection, which starts at $18 for stickers, is currently on sale, with Topshop giving the bPay wearables some nice exposure on its homepage.

Topshop also running a contest

If you have a UK-registered Visa or MasterCard, you can use bPay, which is comparable to Apple and Android Pay.  Similar to smartwatches, you can tap them to terminals wherever you’d use your contactless card, once it has been pre-loaded with $7 to $285.

Along with this new product launch, Topshop has also been running a month-long contest to hear ideas from wearable tech startups.  The startup winner will be awarded with the opportunity to present their product to Sir Philip Green, get the chance to secure investment and have Topshop stock its product.

Are new chips Linux’s entree to wearables?

Linux has become the most popular operating system through forks like Android, Fire OS, Tizen, and Ubuntu, but now low-power wearable and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have bucked the trend.

Instead of utilizing the open source OS, these devices have found more success with real-time operating systems (RTOS) that function through a mobile OS, either iOS, Android, or in some cases Windows Phone.

Fitbit and Garmin are two of the best cases for RTOS, where the device provides a limited user interface for better power management. Most of the interface is found on the connected device, be that a phone, tablet, or computer, with real-time updates.

Most IoT devices use a similar system. Take the Nest thermostat or August smart lock: both devices require a connected smartphone. That does save battery life, but it also removes key interactions with the app.

Linux enables powering a complete user experience

That may change with the announcement of new chips from Qualcomm and Marvell, both targeted at low-end wearables and IoT devices. The chips offer more computing power and require less energy, which might make them preferable to current microcontrollers.

The difference with these chips—the Snapdragon Wear 1100 and Marvell IoT Application Processor—is that they will be able to power a complete user experience from the device. This could mean the net Fitbit or Nest thermostat can compute without the need for a smartphone.

Customers may not see the disadvantages of a limited experience, but for wearable and IoT makers, third-party platforms are always a danger. Imagine if Apple decides that Fitbit is no longer allowed on iOS, due to it being in competition with the Apple Watch—the wearable manufacturer would have no answer for iPhone owners, other than switch platforms.

It is highly unlikely that Apple will do that, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Could connected shoes help tourists travel cities?

Travelling in an unfamiliar city has never been easier with mapping applications like Google Maps and Apple Maps storing hundreds of thousands of restaurants, places to see, and activity centers for tourists to check out while on holiday.

However, the experience of pulling out your phone every two minutes to check you are still going in the right direction is a little obnoxious, for both you and the people you bump into on the busy streets.

Low-cost British airline EasyJet believes it has found a solution, a pair of connected shoes called Sneakairs. The shoes—which come in EasyJet’s rather hideous safety orange—are fitted with an Arduino chip that vibrates the left or right shoe, depending on the turn.

When you arrive at the destination, both shoes will vibrate to alert you. We assume if you travel down the wrong route, say you noticed something interesting in the opposite direction, Google Maps will automatically re-route the journey.

EasyJet built shoes using Arduino tech

EasyJet built the vibrating shoes as part of its Barcelona Street Project. The device uses a miniaturized Arduino clone with a vibration module (similar to a phone’s vibration), Bluetooth low-energy, and a small battery. It utilizes Arduino Sketch, an open-source SDK for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Google Maps Directions API to send data from the smartphone to the shoes in near real-time.

That does mean you need to take your smartphone with you, but instead of constantly checking you are in the right place, you can use it to take better Instagram photos or videos of the city.

What’s more shocking than the shoe color is that EasyJet has made an impressive product. As a Brit, EasyJet has always been one of those budget airlines that attempt to squeeze the customer of every inch of comfort and enjoyment to rake in the profits, but this is a genuine smart wearable product that could definitely be used by frequent travellers, as long as we get a few color options.

Relax, dude: Mindset aims at controlling stress with wearables

Wearables have the ability to improve health and give us insights into our mental state — all we need are the apps that can analyze and quantify the data.

Missouri startup Mindset, created by engineering students at Washington University of St. Louis, has launched an app aimed at stress management. It uses wearable data to indicate rising stress levels and a mobile app to for users to lower stress levels and give feedback.

Mindset alerts the user with a smartphone ping, if they see rising stress levels. The main indicator will be from an increase in heart rate and from there users tell the mobile app what is bothering them.

Mindset gives you chill options

Different types of meditation and exercises are provided on the app. A message board is available for users to update with positive vibes reports; we’re not sure if moderators will remove negative status updates.

The developers believe that controlling emotions at critical times is the best way to lower stress. The goal is not to remove all stress at once, an impossible task for some, but to lower the amount of time stressed.

Multiple studies have shown that a stressful environment could knock a few years off your life, so it is very important that we have apps like Mindset available.

And since the workplace is one huge source of our stress, Mindset may find a ready market in the enterprise sector.

A recent report by market intelligence firm Tractica says wearables will be a big deal with enterprise users in the near future, perhaps to the point of replacing your gym membership with a Fitbit streaming back to your HR department…which may stress you out even further.

iOS and Android users can pick up Mindset today for free, but it does require a wearable to work properly. On the startup’s website, it recommends three wearables from Mio, but we assume Fitbit and other wearables support the app.

Aussie cricket team protecting its bowlers with wearables

Australia’s cricket team is the latest sporting franchise to adopt a wearable to check player performance levels. The news comes a month before the team’s series with Sri Lanka.

Designed by a sports scientist team at the Australian Catholic University (ACU), the wearable is able to track and analyse high speed bowls, providing insight into a bowler’s speed, performance, and fatigue.

Bowlers spend hours everyday practicing their throw, and a slight dip in performance might be the difference between 10 and 100 runs. Giving staff the ability to see changes in performance may allow them to schedule smarter practice regimes and work on deficiencies.

“Tagging individual balls with an intensity measure provides both immediate analysis such as identifying effort balls, or potentially a drop in performance due to fatigue, or longer term workload analysis,” said ACU sports scientist Dean McNamara, part of the wearable team.

Cricket borrowing from missile technology

ACU used submarine technology that guides missiles and spacecraft to make the wearable capable of tracking high speed bowls. Inside the wearable sits an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer — everything a wearable needs to precisely track movement.

Cricket, like most sports, does not allow wearables to be used during games. Considering matches sometimes last half a day, we can see why it may be unfair to have one team analyzing every single part of the game, while the other team lacks the resources.

Some of the more contemporary sports like NBA, MLB, and NFL are starting to adopt wearables, at least for practice games, though leagues seem emphatic that changes could give some teams unnecessary advances, both on and off the pitch.

Even rugby, another antique in the sporting world, is taking a stab at wearables, as a way to potentially lower the amount of casualties.

Qualcomm wants you to train your new Snapdragon

Qualcomm has expanded its wearable chip range the recent Computex Taipei event,announcing the mid-range Snapdragon Wear 1100, a chip for less powerful wearables.

The Snapdragon Wear 1100 is aimed at “targeted purpose wearables” like fitness and location trackers, and smartwatches for kids, which don’t require as much computing power as a fully fledged smartwatch.

Qualcomm has made the Snapdragon Wear 1100 15 percent smaller than the Wear 2100; Qualcomm’s more powerful wearable chip for smartwatches. This might allow fitness tracker manufacturers like Fitbit and Jawbone to create even smaller devices, without sacrificing too much on the performance side.

An LTE/3G modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low-energy, Qualcomm’s own iZat location tracking technology, and a Power Save Mode are all inside the chip. The chipmaker claims it can last for up to seven days on LTE standby.

Qualcomm want a piece of purpose-built wearables

We are starting to see a shift in the wearable market towards “purpose-built wearables”; devices that are useful for a specific market or type of customer. Xmetrics CEO Andrea Rinaldo spoke about this in a recent interview, stating that users interactions should be limited but powerful, like the company’s swimming headband, rather than trying to capture every market at once.

Qualcomm is eager to tap into that market of enthusiastic niche markets, as they have beenwith autonomous cars, virtual reality, and any other emerging technology that requires a chipset.1

At the Computex event, Qualcomm revealed that over 100 wearables use the company’s chips. Sadly, for Qualcomm, most of the wearables use the Snapdragon 400, a low-end mobile chip, rather than the Snapdragon Wear 2100.

It also revealed that the Snapdragon Wear 1100 would be available for manufacturers by the end of the year. As with most Qualcomm chip announcements, a price for the chip was not disclosed.



Relax, dude: Mindset aims at controlling stress with wearables

Wearables have the ability to improve health and give us insights into our mental state — all we need are the apps that can analyze and quantify the data.

Missouri startup Mindset, created by engineering students at Washington University of St. Louis, has launched an app aimed at stress management. It uses wearable data to indicate rising stress levels and a mobile app to for users to lower stress levels and give feedback.

See Also: Richer, sicker seniors to drive medical wearables market growth

Mindset alerts the user with a smartphone ping, if they see rising stress levels. The main indicator will be from an increase in heart rate and from there users tell the mobile app what is bothering them.

Mindset gives you chill options

Different types of meditation and exercises are provided on the app. A message board is available for users to update with positive vibes reports; we’re not sure if moderators will remove negative status updates.

The developers believe that controlling emotions at critical times is the best way to lower stress. The goal is not to remove all stress at once, an impossible task for some, but to lower the amount of time stressed.

Multiple studies have shown that a stressful environment could knock a few years off your life, so it is very important that we have apps like Mindset available.

And since the workplace is one huge source of our stress, Mindset may find a ready market in the enterprise sector.

A recent report by market intelligence firm Tractica says wearables will be a big deal with enterprise users in the near future, perhaps to the point of replacing your gym membership with a Fitbit streaming back to your HR department…which may stress you out even further.

iOS and Android users can pick up Mindset today for free, but it does require a wearable to work properly. On the startup’s website, it recommends three wearables from Mio, but we assume Fitbit and other wearables support the app.