Author: azeeadmin

It’s no pee-detecting wearable, but Ellcie’s glasses could be a life saver. The glasses feature 15 sensors designed to determine whether the wearer is falling asleep. I got a quick demo today and CES and was fairly impressed with the technology’s responsiveness. It detects a number of different factors, including head nods, eye blinks and even yawns.

When the system detects one of the above, it sends an a level of alert, depending on how far gone you are. That involves some combination of flashes on the side of the the eyes and a buzzing sound. There’s no haptic feedback or bone conduction for audio, though an audible alert is sent to the connected found, which could come in handy if you’re using your phone for audio in the car.

Such a product could ultimately prove useful for folks who have to drive long distances for their job. Certainly it’s a better for one’s health than a bit of the old trucker speed. Applications can be extended beyond there, as well, including fall detection for elderly users. The glasses are actually pretty light, all told, and the company is offering a prescription lens version as well.

At present, they’re only available in the company’s native France, priced at around $250. The company is looking to expand to additional markets, which is what brought them to CES in the first place. Given how the show’s been going for me so far, I suspect I could use a pair a this week.

I really dug the Nuraphones. A lot. In fact, I was so impressed with the headphones’ adaptive noise technology I ended up putting them on my of the year list back in 2017. As such, I was pretty psyched to seen the Australian startup back at CES with a followup.

The NuraLoop are the next logical step for the company, putting that technology into a pair of earbuds. It makes sense, really — the original headphones had earbuds positioned inside a pair of on-ear headphones. But the buds were really doing most of the heavy-lifting, with the cups providing addition bass.

Setup is the same as with the over-ear models, using the app to essentially take a digital image of your unique hearing profile and tweak their sound accordingly. Even if you’ve already set it up for the larger models, you’ll still need to go through the process again, as the architecture is a bit different here.

The outside of the buds feature a touch control mechanism for interacting with the device. The models should ship in both wired and wireless models, with the latter offering exceptional battery life, according to the company.

We’ve got to take Nura’s word for it here, however. The company will be showing off a prototype model later this week. The final version should ship in May, priced at around half the larger model. Color me intrigued.

Nvidia is holding its CES press conference today at 8 PM Pacific, 11 PM Eastern. The company will talk about self-driving cars and all things GPUs. It’s a great way to see what’s ahead for Nvidia.

We’ll have a team on the ground, so you should also check out our full CES coverage.

Just when you think you’ve seen every kind of wearable there is to see, the D Free comes along in all it its urinary glory. The little plastic sensor attaches to your belly, with a little gel and some medical tape.

Once attached, the system uses ultrasound to determine how full your bladder is. It then sends that information wirelessly to a connected smartphone, showing you the capacity on a scale of 1 to 10.

So, why, precisely would one need that information, when our bodies are fine-tuned to, uh, let us know when it’s time to go? Well, I’m glad you asked, dear reader.

The device is targeted at elderly users who have might have some trouble knowing when to head to the restroom. Everyone’s bladder is different, of course, so so may want to head things off at the pass when the number gets to around five or six on the scale. The battery should get a full 24 four hours after a four hour charge.

The D Free is available now, but it’s pretty pricey. The system costs $40 a month to rent, or you can go ahead and buy it outright for $500. A small price to pay, perhaps, for knowing when it’s time to go. 

French startup Ledger unveiled its new hardware wallet to manage your cryptocurrencies. The Ledger Nano X is a Bluetooth-enabled wallet, which means that you’ll be able to send and receive tokens from your phone.

The previous version of the device required you to plug the key to your computer using a microUSB cable in order to execute an order. Switching to Bluetooth and opening it up to smartphones is the next logical step.

Ledger is going to launch a full-fledged mobile app called Ledger Live. You’ll find the same features as the ones in the desktop app. You’ll be able to install new apps, check your balances and manage transactions.

The app will be available on January 28th and existing Ledger users will be able to check their balances in read-only mode thanks to public addresses (in case you’re not using Spot). Ledger has sold 1.5 million Ledger Nano S so far. And it sounds like other companies will be able to build mobile apps that work with your Nano X.

The Nano X looks more or less like the Nano S. It’s a USB key-shaped device with a screen and a couple of buttons. The screen is now slightly bigger.

One of the main issues with the Nano S is that you were limited to 18 different cryptocurrencies. You can now store up to 100 different crypto assets on the Nano X — the device supports 1,100 different tokens overall.

Just like other Ledger devices, the private keys never leave your Ledger wallet. It means that even if your computer or mobile phone get hacked, hackers won’t be able to grab your crypto assets.

The company is presenting the new device at CES, I’ll try to play with it to see how it works when it comes to pairing, battery life, etc.

Netatmo is announcing its first new product following its acquisition by Legrand — and it’s a connected doorbell. The company says that it is the first Apple HomeKit compatible doorbell but other companies could still beat Netatmo by releasing their product sooner.

If you’ve been thinking about getting a connected doorbell, the main issue is that Ring, August and other brands require a subscription to store video footage and more advanced feature. Netatmo doesn’t want to get in the subscription business and lets you access all features without a subscription.

The doorbell is called the Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell — a very descriptive name that is going to work well in search engines. It requires a standard doorbell wire and connects to your Wi-Fi network. When somebody presses the button, you receive a notification on your phone and can view the video feed. You can press a button and talk to the person if you’re not home.

It also acts as an outdoor security camera by alerting you if somebody is in front of your house. You receive a “person detected” notification and can talk to the intruder. It also works in the dark using infrared. In other words, it can replace your Netatmo Presence security camera.

Video footage is stored on a microSD card on the device. The company never stores video on its servers, which is a big advantage if you care about privacy. You can optionally configure the device to automatically upload videos to your Dropbox account or a standard FTP server.

The doorbell is compatible with IFTTT and HomeKit. This way, you can view your camera from the Home app on your iPhone or Mac and you can create chained events. For instance, you can turn on your Philips Hue lights if somebody is detected outside your home.

The device will be available at some point during the second half of 2019. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

Over the summer, Sphero acquired Colorado-educational music startup, Specdrums. The news arrived at a transitional time for the company, which was undergoing substantial growing pains as its line of licensed Disney products failed to catch fire.

Today at CES, the Boulder-based company is finally ready to share the first fruits of that acqusition. After debuting tonight in Vegas, the relaunched Specdrums will be available from Sphero’s site, starting tomorrow.

The kit is designed to teach kids how to play the drums and pick up some STEM learning in the process. It ships with one or two silicon rings ($65 or $100, respectively), with utilize motion and color sensors to create different sounds on various surfaces. They communicate with an app via Bluetooth and can also be interface with MIDI systems.

As for how the music toy/tool teaches STEM/STEAM, here’s Sphero,

“Educators can build a fully integrated tech- to-classroom experience through both STEM and fine arts fundamentals. Research has shown that students who have access to the arts in school have better attendance and improved academic outcomes. Meanwhile, arts and music education has experienced severe budget cuts in schools across the nation. With Specdrums, Sphero will be able to reach even more classrooms across the world to help teachers engage students effectively through hands-on music and STEAM tools.”

The system starts shipping January 19. It will be interesting to see how it ultimately plays into the company’s broader pivot from Star Wats robots to an all education focus.

Withings had a weird couple of years. The company was acquired by Nokia, only to be abandoned and launch again as its own brand late last year. It was a welcome return for a solid  brand in the health space that was cut down too early.

Until now, the reborn company’s releases have largely relegated to upgrades of existing lines. The BPM Core, on the other hand, looks to be one Withings’ most ambitious product offerings to date. The product combines three key pieces of cardiovascular health monitoring: blood pressure, Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) and valvular health (a digital stethoscope).

The three-in-one device is designed to look like a standard blood pressure arm cuff, but sports a number of different health sensors, including a pair of electrodes and and a digital microphone. With the press of a button, Withings says it’s capable of detecting all of the above in around a minute and a half.

The system features a built-in battery that can be recharged via microUSB and Bluetooth/WiFi for connecting to a smartphone. A handset isn’t necessary for doing the readings, but it will aggregate all of that information.

“After completing an ECG, the app will provide an assessment of heart activity, saying whether there is a normal heart rate (known as sinus rhythm) or if suspected AFib is present,” Withings says in a release tied to the news. “Incidences of AFib grow with age, but are often asymptomatic or not persistent in the initial stages. The ability to take readings at home, over time and easily share results with cardiologists and physicians between checkups greatly increases the chances of detection. As well as ECG results, all data from the Withings BPM Core, including actual audio recordings of the heart, can be shared with a person‘s medical and caregiving team.”

Withings is currently seeking FDA approval for the system. It’s on-track for a Q2 release, priced at $250.

When Apple added EKG to the Apple Watch for the Series 4, you knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the industry followed suit. This, however, is a bit of a surprise. The recently resurrected Withings just announced that it will be bringing the heart monitoring tech to its line of hybrid smartwatch.

The company says the Move ECG is “the world’s first analog watch to record an electrocardiogram (on-demand), and I’m not sure anyone can really refute that claim. The watch features a trio of electrodes — two on the rear and one in the bezel (versus the crown with the Apple Watch) — which take a reading in around 30 seconds.

While Withings isn’t the first smartwatch the add the technology, there’s probably a lot said for bringing it to a simpler product with an analog face. I suspect that many users at risk of AFib and other series heart conditions might gravitate toward a more classic design. And Withings has already proven that it’s capable of making some solid devices in that category.

Beyond that, you get the standard array of sleep and fitness tracking, including the on-face dial, which show how close you are to achieving your daily step count. The watch is water resistant up to 50 meters and should get as much as 12 months of battery life.

The Move ECG will be available in Q2, priced at $130.

LG unveiled the LG HomeBrew a few weeks ahead of CES. I’ve seen the device today, and it looks like a gigantic, inconvenient machine.

It’s hard to grasp the size of the device based on photos, but it’s as big as a full-size espresso machine. You’ll need a big counter in your kitchen. But that’s not the issue.

The system uses a set of capsules. There’s a big tube-shaped malt capsule and three tiny Nespresso-shaped capsules for yeast, hop oil and flavoring. All these capsules come in a single box every time you want to start a new batch. But the capsules are not the issue either.

The main issue is that it takes two weeks to brew your beer once you’ve started the process. At the end, you get 5 liters of beer, or around 10 pints. Once you’re done, you need to replace the capsules and wait another two weeks.

Unlike traditional home brewing methods, you can’t start another batch while the machine is still brewing. So you’ll be out of beer quite regularly. Sure, you can buy two machines. Maybe LG should have designed a rackable system so that you can stack them up. But that defeats the purpose of an all-in-once, self-cleaning machine.

It’s unclear how much the machine and capsules are going to cost and if beer tastes any good. We couldn’t try the beer. There will be five different tastes — American IPA, American Pale Ale, English Stout, Belgian-style Witbier and Czech Pilsner.