Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share VR Headsets: Fad or Future?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
VR Headsets: Fad or Future?
This week we look closer at the world of VR headsets. In the next year many companies will come out with products along this trend. Some will cost $100 and some $1000. But will you be adding it to your mobile collection?
Wearable Today Episode #97 Show Notes
* Apple has never released any of their sales numbers for the Apple Watch, but that’s not stopping analysts from taking an educated guess. Jason Low at Canalys says that Apple sold over 5 million Apple Watches in the 4th quarter of 2015, bringing total sales over 12 million for the year. This would make Apple the market leader in Smart watches, although not overshadowing the 37 million “band devices” sold in 2015, which Fitbit comfortable leads.
* Will 5G change wearables? That’s right, the successor to 4G is already in discussion by Verizon and AT&T, and the hope is to have lower latency, faster speeds, and even smaller devices. This could mean a big change for wearables, as storing information on the wearable won’t be as big of a concern, since streaming data could be as fast as local storage. Early AT&T field tests could be happening in Austin, Texas by the end of the year, but of course, these will be internal tests that require new hardware.
* Many fitness brands have bought up software products to expand their lineup, and increase their marketing reach, and now Runkeeper joins the list. Asics purchased Runkeeper to bring the two fitness brands closer together, and provides Asics the ability to communicate directly with Runkeepers 45 million users. Wired has more thoughts about this might impact the future of both brands, and reminds us that Under Armour owns MyFitnessPal, and Adidas has Runtastic. Thus far, all these brands have been interoperable, but perhaps soon we will start to see more division as brands aim to build an ecosystem around a singular point.
* Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour met with Fortune Magazine last week to talk about the Super Bowl, their athletes, and wearable technology. In the 23 minute interview, he discusses the incredible growth they’ve seen, how tracking your own biometrics is the wave of the future, and much more. He is very excited about the future of weartech, and the value that Under Armour can provide by aggregating all the data that people are collecting through devices like the HealthBox. Watch the whole interview and hear the passion of the person in charge of the entire company over on fortune.com.
* Mobile World Congress is next week. TechCrunch looks at some of the weartech that is coming from the conference. Samsung will be debuting the S7, LG will unveil the G5, and lots of VR from HTC and Samsung. Even Blackberry will have some announcements that might just vault them in the Android arena.
* Ready to upgrade your thermometer? That is what Flo thermometer is trying to do. A simple heat reading device, it can not only tell your temperature via pointing the device at your head, you can also create a series of memories so you can keep track of you or your child’s health. You can also use this device to check the temperature of other items like liquids you are about to consume.
* Standing while at work is a tough gig. Fatigue continually works against you and postitions such as doctors need to be able to keep sharp.
View all episodes
This week we look closer at the world of VR headsets. In the next year many companies will come out with products along this trend. Some will cost $100 and some $1000. But will you be adding it to your mobile collection?
Wearable Today Episode #97 Show Notes
* Apple has never released any of their sales numbers for the Apple Watch, but that’s not stopping analysts from taking an educated guess. Jason Low at Canalys says that Apple sold over 5 million Apple Watches in the 4th quarter of 2015, bringing total sales over 12 million for the year. This would make Apple the market leader in Smart watches, although not overshadowing the 37 million “band devices” sold in 2015, which Fitbit comfortable leads.
* Will 5G change wearables? That’s right, the successor to 4G is already in discussion by Verizon and AT&T, and the hope is to have lower latency, faster speeds, and even smaller devices. This could mean a big change for wearables, as storing information on the wearable won’t be as big of a concern, since streaming data could be as fast as local storage. Early AT&T field tests could be happening in Austin, Texas by the end of the year, but of course, these will be internal tests that require new hardware.
* Many fitness brands have bought up software products to expand their lineup, and increase their marketing reach, and now Runkeeper joins the list. Asics purchased Runkeeper to bring the two fitness brands closer together, and provides Asics the ability to communicate directly with Runkeepers 45 million users. Wired has more thoughts about this might impact the future of both brands, and reminds us that Under Armour owns MyFitnessPal, and Adidas has Runtastic. Thus far, all these brands have been interoperable, but perhaps soon we will start to see more division as brands aim to build an ecosystem around a singular point.
* Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour met with Fortune Magazine last week to talk about the Super Bowl, their athletes, and wearable technology. In the 23 minute interview, he discusses the incredible growth they’ve seen, how tracking your own biometrics is the wave of the future, and much more. He is very excited about the future of weartech, and the value that Under Armour can provide by aggregating all the data that people are collecting through devices like the HealthBox. Watch the whole interview and hear the passion of the person in charge of the entire company over on fortune.com.
* Mobile World Congress is next week. TechCrunch looks at some of the weartech that is coming from the conference. Samsung will be debuting the S7, LG will unveil the G5, and lots of VR from HTC and Samsung. Even Blackberry will have some announcements that might just vault them in the Android arena.
* Ready to upgrade your thermometer? That is what Flo thermometer is trying to do. A simple heat reading device, it can not only tell your temperature via pointing the device at your head, you can also create a series of memories so you can keep track of you or your child’s health. You can also use this device to check the temperature of other items like liquids you are about to consume.
* Standing while at work is a tough gig. Fatigue continually works against you and postitions such as doctors need to be able to keep sharp.