smartwatch News - Page 7 of 13 - CNX Software

November 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Meet Body Heat Powered MATRIX PowerWatch, The Activity Tracker You Never Need to Charge (Crowdfunding)

There are currently several issues with wearables that makes it sub-optimal devices, from displays that can’t be always-on, to unreliable sensors, and in my experience pretty poor reliability, as I’ve managed to go through 4 fitness trackers / smartwatches in a year. Another issue is that contrary to typical watches lasting 10 years with a coin cell battery, most wearables require to be charge every few days, weeks, with the very best devices being chargers every few months. MATRIX PowerWatch promises to solve latter, as you will never need to ever charge it since it charges itself by harvesting energy using your body heat. The company promotes it as a smartwatch, but it’s closer to an activity tracker, since you can’t keep the Bluetooth LE connection all the time in order to receive notifications to your smartphone. It’s basically used to show time, track your activity and sleep patterns, and […]

October 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Samsung Starts Mass-Production of Exynos 7 Dual (7270) Processor used in Galaxy Gear S3 Smartwatch

Samsung has just issued a press release announcing the Korean company had just started mass-production of the first SoC for Wearables using 14-nm FinFET process with their Exynos 7 Dual (7270) dual Cortex A53 processor. Exynos 7270 is also said to be the first such SoC to embed full connectivity and LTE modem integration. Exynos 7270 specifications: CPU – Dual-core ARM Cortex–A53 processor @ up to 1.0 GHz GPU – ARM Mali-T720 Memory – LPDDR3 support Storage – eMMC 5.0, SD card interfaces Display – Up to 960×540 (qHD) resolution Camera – Up to 5MP pixel sensor support Multimedia – HD (720p@30fps) video with HEVC, H.264, VP8 Codec LTE Modem – LTE Category 4 non-CA Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, FM Radio GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou PMIC – Integrated in SiP-ePoP package Package – SiP-ePoP, 10x10mm (SiP: System-in-Package; ePoP: embedded Package-on-Package) The SoC will be packaged inside a SiP-ePOP […]

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Fitbit Introduces Charge 2 and Flex 2 Fitness Trackers

My first activity tracker, Vidonn X5, worked reasonably well and lasted for over a year, but the subsequent models I tried were all mostly disasters, especially as they added some features like a heart rate monitor that did not work reliably, and worse, their lifetime was poor, lasting only a few days to a few weeks before stopping working. My Xiaomi Mi Band 2 died last week-end, two days after a firmware update which decreased battery life to less than a day, and now refuses to charge. While the HRM was utterly useless, it did count steps fairly accurately, and battery life was good. Sadly, it would only last about two months. So at this stage, it might be worth spending more for a fitness tracker, and Fitbit has unveiled two new models with Charge 2 and Flex 2. Fitbit Charge 2 includes a 1.5″ OLED touchscreen display, and an […]

August 8, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

TW68 Smart Bracelet Measures Blood Pressure and Heart Rate for $22 and Up

Some people may need to frequently measure their blood pressure because of their health condition, but it’s often a cumbersome experience, so they may get lazy, and not do it as often as needed. TW68 smart bracelet should make this easy, as it’s your typical fitness tracker with an heart rate monitor, but adding the capability to also measure blood pressure. It’s also very cheap, and I first found it on DealExtreme where it sells for just $24. TW68 specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi NRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller with 2.4 GHz radio Data Storage – 7 days detailed data, 23 days total data Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Display – 0.49″ OLED display Sensors – PixArt-PAH8001EI blood pressure sensor; 6-axis Invensense-MPU6500 accelerometer and gyroscope Function Health tracker: Blood pressure measurement, Heart rate monitor, Pedometer, Sleep tracker Other functions: Call/Message notification, Fall reminder, Social sharing, Time, Alarm clock Misc – […]

August 5, 2016August 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Smartwatches are Hot! So Hot, They May Burn Your Skin

Low power in constrained spaces is a tricky business, even for ARM based SoCs with the Qualcomm 810 overheating saga a few months ago. Now it’s time for Intel to feel the heat, as the company has has to recall Basis Peak smartwatches / fitness trackers due to potential overheating causing skin burns. Josh Walden – senior vice president and general manager of the New Technology Group at Intel Corporation – stated: On behalf of the Basis Science team, I want to personally apologise for this situation, we know that many of you love using your Basis Peak watches and have made them part of your daily lives, and we are very sorry for the disruption this will cause you, we had hoped to update the software on your watch to address the problem, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we aren’t able to develop such a solution without completely compromising […]

July 23, 2016July 23, 2016 by Karl Johnson - 15 Comments

Review of No.1 D6 Android Smartwatch Powered by Mediatek MT6580 Processor

Karl here with a new review. This one is a little different. A smart watch, but not your average smart watch, as most smartwatches supplement a phone. This is a standalone smartwatch. It runs full Android 5.1. It is the D6 by No. 1. It has a 3G radio and SIM card slot. I was really excited when I found out I could do this review. Below are some pics from their website. Another professionally shipped and packaged product and some box pics Here are the specs from No. 1’s website. Product Overview Model NO.1 D6 Product modeling Android Smartwatch System Android 5.1 CPU MT6580 quad core Cortex A7 @ up to 1.3 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU Screen Resolution 1.63″ 320 x 320 resolution RAM 1GB ROM 8GB Wifi Support Google Play Support Features Make calls Support See text messages Support Contacts Support Heart Rate Support Pedometer Support Bluetooth BT2.1 + […]

July 18, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$16 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Bracelet Monitors Babies’ Temperature

With electronics getting cheaper and smaller everyday, I’m expecting medical diagnostic / monitoring tools with become more convenient and affordable, and products from the more advanced Scanadu, to much simpler Bluetooth blood pressure monitors will help people better monitor their health themselves. I’ll also getting frequent request about the availability of soon-to-be FDA approved Omron Project Zero blood pressure smartwatch. Today I’ve come across a simple $16.51 Bluetooth Smart bracelet that could be useful to monitor the temperature of sick babies or very young children. Technical specifications: Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE with up 18 meters range Sensor – Temperature between 32 and 43 degree Celsius with -/+ 0.1 deg. accuracy Smartphone compatibility – Android 4.3+ or IOS 7.0+ Functions – Thermometer; Temperature Alarm; Medical Records; Health Management, Cloud Backup. Power Supply – CR2032 battery Wristband Length – 14~19cm Weight – 19 g The band must be worn in such as […]

June 6, 2016June 16, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Energympro EP-SH09 Bluetooth LE Fitness Tracker Features AMS AS7000 Biosensor

I wrote about AMS AS7000 biosensor designed for heart rate monitors last fall, and one of my regular reader noticed the sensor, made his company evaluate it, and since the results were pretty good, designed a product with it. And here I am with a sample of Energympro EP-SH09 fitness tracker with an OLED display, HRM based on AS7000 sensor, and IP67 ingress protection rating. Some of Energympro EP-SH09 technical specifications: MCU – Texas Instruments CC2640 ARM Cortex-M3 48 MHz Display – 0.86″ OLED display, 96×32 resolution Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Input – Touch area at the bottom of the display Sensors – AMS AS7000 biosensor for HRM, motion sensors Battery – 45 mAh LiPo battery which looks good for 4 to 5 days. Dimensions – 40 x 18 x 12.9 mm Weight – 6 grams Ingress Protection Rating – IP67 The device can pair with smartphone using Smart […]