This week on WDD’s HotSpot:
- Swimmo Smartwatch
Calling all swimmers! A new wearable is about to change your underwater life. Swimmo is a smartwatch and personal swimming coach. The Swimmo tracks your distance, pace, heart rate, and calories burned and makes sure that users stay within their “ideal training zones” by alerting them with vibrations when it is time to speed up or slow down. The device integrates gesture control, a heart rate sensor, IntensityCoach and PaceKeeper. Also integrated is Rotate&Tap technology that uses two simple hand gestures: rotating the wrist to select menu options, and tap the display to confirm. The smartwatch syncs its results to the free Swimmo app so users can monitor their progress over time. The watch uses Bluetooth 4.0 to communicate with the free Swimmo app so users can monitor their progress over time. The device’s interface is displayed on an OLED, full-color screen adapted to work under water. - Jawbone Adds Mobile Payment Option
Jawbone (yes, the fitness band) and American Express have partnered to bring mobile payments to the new Jawbone UP4. With the device on hand, American Express cardholders will be able to make purchases anywhere that accepts contactless payments, even if they don’t have their phone on them. For now payments are restricted just to American Express card holders with the UP4 and payments are handled using near-field communications. When you’re out jogging and you need a water, just tap the wristband on the register and run out. The UP4 is identical to the UP3, only with a few added features including: the mobile payment option and bioimpedance sensors that can determine things like your heart rate, respiration and sweat level. It’s water-resistant up to 33 feet, and can last up to seven days on a single 100-minute charge. - Automated Treadmill Adjusts to Natural Running Speed
When you go for a run outside, you don’t really have to think about your speed, it just happens. On a treadmill, when you have to manually adjust the speed of the machine, it just never feels right. Scientists at The Ohio State University, specifically Professor Steven Devor and former grad student Cory Scheadler, have developed a prototype treadmill that detects when its user’s running speed changes, and adjusts its own speed accordingly. The treadmill tracks the user with an inexpensive sonar range finder that’s aimed at a point between their shoulder blades. If you start moving towards the front of the treadmill’s belt, the rear-mounted range finder detects that you’re moving away from it, and responds by instructing the treadmill to go faster. If you move towards the back of the belt, it realizes that you’re getting closer and tells the treadmill to slow down. Apparently the transition is so smooth that you won’t even notice when it’s happening. Devor is currently developing the treadmill further, with hopes of ultimately commercializing the system. - MIT-Developed Sensor Can Detect Spoiled Meat
A team of MIT chemists has developed a small sensor that’s capable of telling consumers whether the meat in their refrigerators is safe to eat. The inexpensive device, which makes use of modified carbon nanotubes, could help cut down on food waste. The idea behind the sensor focuses on chemically altering carbon nanotubes so that their ability to carry an electric current is inhibited when a certain gas, produced by meat when it starts to decay, is present. When these gases are present, the electrical resistance in the carbon nanotube is increased, with the reaction easily measured to provide feedback to the user. The sensors are cheap and easy to manufacturer, use very little power, and do not require any expertise to use. The devices could be incorporated into the packaging of meat products, which is way more accurate than a standard expiration date.
For more information visit www.memoryprotectiondevices.com.
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Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
