Android Wear passes 5 million downloads

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/maislam)

Android Wear hasn't taken off as much as Google would have liked at this stage – hence the company doesn't share exact sales – but the platform now seems to be growing much faster if downloads of its companion app provide any indication.

Back in March last year, the Android Wear app passed the one million downloads mark. As of yesterday, Google switched over the...

By Ryan Daws, 13 September 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Google, Smartwatches.

Google impresses with Project Soli and Jacquard updates at I/O 2016

(Image Credit: Google ATAP)

During last year's I/O developer conference Google unveiled a couple of early innovations to improve how we interact with our wearable devices in the form of Project Soli and Project Jacquard. At this year's event, Google has demonstrated how the projects have developed since.

Project Soli employs a radar-based system to detect small movements around the device – such as finger gestures – and uses the motion...

By Ryan Daws, 23 May 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Clothing & Textiles, Devices, Fashion, Google, Smartwatches.

Google's Star Trek wearable did not live long, nor prosper

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In an interview with TIME magazine, Google's chief software engineer Amit Singhal revealed the company once built a prototype wearable similar to the Communicator pin worn by the Enterprise's crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although the project did not live long, nor did it prosper. 

The pin, which could be attached to a user's...

By Ryan Daws, 23 November 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Google.

Google releases Android Wear API 23 SDK for Marshmallow

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Developers are now able to start optimising their apps for an upcoming Android Wear update to ’Marshmallow’ thanks to Google's release of the API 23 SDK. The latest SDK allows developers to improve the experience for users, as well as offer better privacy. 

Android Wear, like its mobile counterpart, is available in various forms. When developing apps for...

By Ryan Daws, 19 November 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Developers, Google, Smartwatches.

Google has solar-powered contact lenses in sight

(Image Credit: Lee Haywood)

A patent has been awarded to Google for solar-powered contact lenses which sit on an individual's eyeball to monitor a variety of conditions and offer a range of detailed insights about the user's current health status. 

Google is known for some crazy ideas, which is what makes them one of the most exciting companies to watch. Some of these ideas reach spectacular heights –...

By Ryan Daws, 15 October 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Contextual Data, Devices, Google, Health Monitoring, Health & Wellness.

Review: Huawei Watch honours the classic timepiece

For such a beloved item with a long history of tradition, smartwatch manufacturers have an uphill struggle to convince mechanical watch owners to make the switch. However, there's a strong argument to be made that Huawei's debut watch is the first to pay true homage to decades of classic timepieces and it could be enough to entice a few more wrists over to a new digital lifestyle.

Buyers of high-end watches like Rolex or Cartier will know the premium experience starts with the packaging. Most...

By Ryan Daws, 09 October 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Google, Smartwatches.

Gesture control features to be introduced by Google's Project Soli

(Image Credit: Google ATAP)

A company which is known for their incredible technological innovations, Google is here to impress us once again with its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division. Following in the footsteps of their most famous Project Ara and Project Tango, Google has announced Project Soli – which hopes to redefine our interaction with wearables and smartwatches.

Entirely coherent with human gestures, Project Soli is ATAP’s attempt to make human...

By Vaishnavi Agrawal, 05 October 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Google, Trackers.

Opinion: HTC's upcoming 'Halfbeak' smartwatch could be the stand-out Android Wear device

(Image Credit: HTC)

Earlier in the week I posted my concern at the lack of Android Wear devices which could support mobile payments in the future – due to a lack of NFC – leaving an open goal for the Apple Watch and Samsung's upcoming Tizen-based Gear S2 smartwatch. 

One manufacturer which has been completely absent from the smartwatch race thus far is HTC; despite being named as an OEM for...

By Ryan Daws, 09 September 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Google, Mobile Wallet, NFC, Payments, Smartwatches.

Opinion: Lack of NFC gives Android Wear a problem

NFC is a technology which Android users have bragged about having access to over iOS for years – but now some manufacturers of Google-based devices have abandoned it whilst Apple has embraced it with success for mobile payments. 

Google Wallet launched in May 2011 as a disjointed service which had little support due to a shaky relationship with retailers and banks after Google wanted details of transactions stored for its advertising business. Apple, meanwhile, as a hardware business...

By Ryan Daws, 07 September 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Google, NFC, Payments, Smartwatches.

The enterprise app outlook for wearable technology is expanding rapidly

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Enterprise use cases for wearable technology appear nascent, yet there is a diverse selection of case studies and opportunities out there.

That’s the view of Tractica in its latest paper on enterprise wearable technology, which features 40 profiles of wearable applications in industry verticals including automotive, field services, and healthcare.

The paper, published in partnership with the Enterprise Wearable Technology Summit event, is essentially a directory of the most...

By James Bourne, 14 August 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Apps, Enterprise, Eyewear, Google.

Android Wear lands Wi-Fi support, "Always-On" apps, and hands-free gestures

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Fans of the Apple Watch are just starting to get the company's debut into the wearable market, whilst Google has decided to treat customers who own one of the six available Android Wear devices to a tasty new update which brings some major new features to the platform.

Most of the smartwatches available on Android Wear ship with an "Always-On" display to ensure that the...

By Ryan Daws, 20 April 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Applications, Apps, Google, Smartwatches.

Mattel's iconic View-Master is now a Google Cardboard

(Image Credit: Mattel)

Remember the Mattel View-Master? Well after Google and Mattel started teasing an announcement for today, a whole bunch of folks guessed an updated version with support for Cardboard would make its way to faces everywhere (much like previous versions have thanks to Santa Claus' vast distribution network.)

The View-Master was first introduced in 1939, four years after the advent of Kodachrome color film made the use of small high-quality photographic color images...

By Ryan Daws, 13 February 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Google, Virtual Reality.

Google Glass falls by the wayside, but hopes for an optimistic future

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Google Glass is gone. Well, it has in its current form anyway, after the tech giant announced in an indirect way it was ceasing sales of Glass Explorer on January 19.

In a Google Plus post entitled “We’re graduating from Google[x] labs”, the company states it is closing its Explorer Program to “focus on what’s coming next.”

“Interest in wearables has exploded and today it’s one of the most exciting areas in technology,” the team...

By James Bourne, 16 January 2015, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Eyewear, Google.

Next-gen Google Glass to feature Intel chip, targeting enterprise

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Reports have surfaced that the next generation of Google Glass wearables will feature an Intel chipset, having moved on from Texas Instruments.

The move pushes Intel further into the wearable tech space, and represents the search giant going back to the drawing board in terms of its design for the product, which has recently come in for criticism for its target towards the consumer space.

By James Bourne, 01 December 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Eyewear, Google, Workplace.

Google puts wearable health on steroids

Microsoft has just unveiled their fitness band with the most sensors of any wrist-worn consumer device yet. In total, the "Microsoft Band" packs 10 different types including sensors which allow it to measure heart rate, stress levels, and even UV exposure.

But not a company to sit still, Google has announced the tech giant is working on perhaps the most important and innovative solution yet, cancer detection. Google has developed a "nanoparticle pill" which they will incorporate with a...

By Ryan Daws, 30 October 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Fitness, Google, Health & Wellness, Research.

GSK's Kai Gait on how wearables will make the world a healthier place

Kai Gait, Global Multi-Channel Marketing Director at GSK will be speaking within the Mobile Strategy and Marketing track at Apps World Europe examining the potential for marketers in the wearables industry. Although his presentation will be a general one his experience within the healthcare market is unrivalled given healthcare is the one market where wearable technology undoubtedly has the most powerful potential to do good. We caught up with him ahead of the show in November to find out more about how he sees the market. What is...

By Apps World, 15 August 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Eyewear, Google.