September has been a very busy and interesting month for several companies in the wearables space. With summer being over and Christmas around the corner, companies are fighting over the biggest piece of the cake.
Apple unveiling the long expected Apple Watch.
With several different designs to fit and exchangeable straps Apple seems to have the design matter covered. In terms of battery life it does not seem to be better than its competitors. The feature that differentiates the device so far from all the smartwatches out there is the new taptic technology: you will be able to share touch-gestures as haptic messages and also feel each other’s heartbeats. Read our comment on the Apple Watch for a closer look!
IFA 2014
IFA, the biggest consumer electronics fair which took place in Berlin also showed some wearable news, however, not as much as we expected. Samsung showcased the Gear S, a curved smart-wrist display and a surprise with their Gear VR, googles to which you attach the smartphone. LG unveiled their smartwatch, with a circular face which reminds at a normal watch, more practical and discrete. Asus and Sony also launched smartwatches, the first one by the name of ZenWatch being the first for the company and Sony with its third smartwatch already on the market. Read our complete review here.
Fashion Week
September is THE fashion month and especially this year a time where tech companies team up with fashion designers. Opening Ceremony and Intel debuted MICA (My Intelligent Communication Accessory) at the New York’s Fashion Show, the first bracelet to fuse luxury jewelry with wearable tech. Featuring semi-precious stones as well as a 1.6-inch sapphire touch screen. MICA enables women to stay connected via SMS messages, meeting alerts, and general notifications delivered directly to the wrist, with additional features and functionalities. But this partnership wasn’t the only one that Intel made, they also teamed up with fashion accessory maker Fossil to develop wearable computing devices. The fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff partners with Case-Mate to create a collection of wearable tech. They unveiled their debut line of wearable technology at the New York’s Fashion Week too with a gold chain-link notification bracelet and studded lighting cable bracelet. The notification bracelet connects with your cell phone via Bluetooth to discretely alert you of calls and texts from your chosen contacts, while the lightning cable bracelet connects to a USB cable to sync and charge your mobile device on the go. Truly beautiful fashion items, however, we are already looking forward to the next generation of fashion items being even more intelligent!
Smart World Events
In September two successful Smart World Events were held, one in Malmö, Sweden and one in Berne, Switzerland. Next is Oulu, Finland on October 2. The following topics are covered: IoT/M2M Communications, Wearable Technologies and Cloud Computing. These events are a great occasion to establish new business contacts, discuss innovative ideas and to be inspired by presentations from leading international players such as Intel, STMicroelectronics, Swisscom, Ericsson. Learn more.
