We are still processing the WT | Conference that took place on July 9-10 in San Francisco at the Festival Pavilion. For those of you who missed it, we heard inspiring talks from leaders in the industry and from start-ups with great ideas and products! Unfortunately, it is not the same to explain the past as to see it live; we made a recap video for you to enjoy and teach you a bit of information that you may have missed!
It’s been a while since we talked about smartwatches- yet there has been much progress. Maybe you were planning to buy one during the summer sales but….maybe you should wait a little bit longer to get upgraded versions? What will the next smartwatches have that’s better than the ones for sale now? Will they be produced for a cheaper price?
Samsung wants to give you some hints unveiling its next smartwatch. The new Samsung watch, the Gear A, will have a rotating, functional bezel ring, which will complement its round design. It seems that smartwatches are evolving towards the look and design of traditional wristwatches. Samsung is already a veteran in the smartwatches field; making Gear A its 7th smartwatch! As for the specs, so far it’s likely that the rotating bezel will add physical controls to the touchscreen. It can be used for a number of navigation actions including scrolling, zooming and adjusting levels, such as volumes and brightness. The watch’s display is a Super AMOLED 1.18-inch, 360 x 360. All the details will be revealed on 13th August, the day of Samsung’s Unpacked 2015 event -so maybe it will be worth the short wait…
So -what happened to Google Glass? It seems like disappeared from trending topics on the web, or possibly Google is planning something new? Yes, they are designing a new Google Glass with the help of a new person in charge, Tony Fadell, Founder of Nest and “father of the iPod”. On the technical front, there’s word of an altered design and a faster processor. There have also mention Google trying to improve the wearable’s battery life, possibly by way of an optional magnetic battery pack. The new Google Glass is designed, and marketed towards the business folks. Its applications will be aimed at industries like health care and energy (which makes more sense). Google has already been pushing the new Glass to businesses and will be hoping that this move into the professional arena will make it more of a success than the previous model. The new consumer model will not appear till next year.
Another company which might have forgotten is Nokia, after selling off its mobile business to Microsoft. Now, Nokia plans to blast off into the virtual reality space with OZO. The VR space is heating up with the Oculus Rift about to release its consumer version in Q1, plus Sony’s Project Morpheus, Samsung’s Gear VR phone headsets, and numerous other smaller efforts that hope to make a big splash. The OZO camera (VR) designed and built for professional content creators. It is the first in a planned portfolio of digital media solutions from Nokia Technologies. The OZO captures stereoscopic 3D video through eight (8) synchronized global shutter sensors and spatial audio through eight (8) integrated microphones. Software built for OZO enables real-time 3D viewing, with an innovative playback solution that removes the need to pre-assemble a panoramic image. OZO’s filmed content can be published for commercially available VR viewing hardware such as head mounted displays (HMDs), with immersive, full 360-degree imaging and spatially accurate original sound.
Last but not least, WT | Wearable Technologies Conference in Toronto is Sept. 10 – time is getting closer! We will have some interesting Keynotes and a few surprises. So stay tuned and check our agenda regularly- we are also still accepting attendees! Please register for the amazing Toronto Conference!
