wearables News - Page 13 of 27 - CNX Software

November 30, 2018March 7, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Ambiq Apollo2 Blue Ultra Low Power MCU adds Bluetooth Connectivity

Ambiq Micro unveiled their ultra-low power Apollo MCU back in 2015 with claims of Cortex-M4 performance at Cortex-M0+ energy efficiency by leveraging SPOT (Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology) technology that allows operating the microcontroller at very low voltages (less than 0.5V). Since then the company introduced Apollo2 MCU with 10 μA/MHz power consumption, but still a generic purpose microcontroller. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a new version of Apollo2 microcontroller adding Bluetooth connectivity, and allowing Bluetooth applications that last years on a charge. Meet Apollo2 Blue. Apollo2 Blue key features and specifications: Arm Cortex-M4 Processor up to 48 MHz with FPU, MMU, wake-up interrupt controller with 32 interrupts Ultra-low power memory Up to 1 MB of flash memory for code/data Up to 256 KB of low leakage RAM for code/data 16kB 1 or 2-way Associative Cache Bluetooth 5 Low Energy RF sensitivity – -95 dBm TX: 5mA @0 dBm; RX: […]

September 11, 2018September 11, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Snapdragon Wear 3100 Smartwatch Platform to Deliver Longer Battery Life

Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon Wear 2100 in 2016 for wearables, and the processor ended up in several products such as LG Watch Style / Sport smartwatch. Since then the company released other Wear platform for specific applications such as 4G kid watches with Snapdragon Wear 2500, or wearable IoT applications with Snapdragon Wear 1250 offering NB-IoT and eMTC connectivity. The company has now announced Snapdragon Wear 3100 “smartwatch platform” still based on four Arm Cortex A7 cores, but also including a new ultra-low power co-processor to further extend battery life. Snapdragon Wear 3100 “MSM8909w” or “APQ8009w” specifications: CPU – Quad core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 304 GPU Co-processor – QCC1110 Display – Up to 640×480 at 60fps via MIPI and/or SPI interfaces Cellular Qualcomm Snapdragon X5 LTE modem with peak download speed of 1 Gbps, and peak upload speed of 150 Mbps RF […]

September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Nubia–α Wearable Smartphone is a Smartwatch with a Long Curved Display

We have smartphones, we have smartwatches. and we have… Nubia-α that is something in between, and which the company (Nubia) promotes as a “wearable smartphone”. The device comes with a long curved display, and you’d wear it around your wrist just like a watch with access to fitness apps, and music, but just like in a phone, you could make phone calls and send SMS thanks to 4G connectivity, as well as taking selfies or making video calls with its built-in camera. We don’t have the specifications yet, but the thing is real as it was showcased at IFA 2018, although for the eyes only, i.e. no hands-on or even touching the Nubia-α. Engadget reported about the device, and while the reporter clearly did not like the largish camera on the side, she seems impressed by the brightness and colors coming out of the Flex OLED display. The watch / […]

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

$100 GLIGO E-Ink Smartwatch Promises “2-Year Battery Life” (Crowdfunding)

Wearables are useful little devices, but many of them suffer from short battery life, and in my case at least, I forget to charge mine from time to time. So when I saw GLIGO E-Ink smartwatch promising 2-year battery life on a charge, it caught my eyes. But then looking into the details, it looks like battery life is really 6 months unless you don’t plan on using the display: We adopted an energy-efficient dual-core design:the quartz core has a battery life of up to two years, e-ink screen has a battery life of up to 180 days. Six months is not that bad either, so let’s still have a look. GLIGO E-Ink smartwatch specifications: MCU – Unamed Arm Cortex M3 microcontroller with 128KB memory Display – E-ink segmented display Japanese Watch Movement Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2 LE Sensors – Green light heart rate sensor (HRM), 3D G-sensor, 3-axis accelerometer […]

July 9, 2018July 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

TTGO Micro-32 is a Tiny ESP32-PICO-D4 Module

Unveiled almost a year ago, ESP32-PICO-D4 SiP (System-in-Package) combines ESP32 wireless processor, 4MB SPI Flash, a crystal oscillator, as well as some passive components, and allows more compact or thinner designs such as found in ESP32-PICO- Kit v4 development board. However, so far I had not seen any ESP32-PICO-D4 module, but TTGO Micro-32 fills the void as a compact module based on the SiP. TTGO Micro-32 module specifications: SiP – Espressif Systems ESP32-PICO-D4 based on ESP32 dual core processor + 4MB SPI flash Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2 LE and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 150 Mbps with chip antenna and u.FL (IPEX) connector Expansion – Castellated holes with GPIO, ADC, DAC, VP/VN, Touch, UART, I2C, and power signals Supply Voltage – 3.3V Dimensions – 19.2 x 13.3 mm (45% smaller than ESP32-WROOM-32) There’s no specific software for the module, since it should be software compatible with ESP-WROOM-32 (now called ESP32-WROOM-32). […]

June 29, 2018June 29, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Maxim Announces Wearable ECG and Heart Monitor Development Kits

Maxim ECG Heart Monitor Development Kits

Maxim Integrated has recently announced two wearable development kits for fitness / health tracking: MAX-HEALTH-BAND watch for vital signs MAX-ECG-MONITOR with a chest strap for clinical-grade electrocardiograph (ECG) and heart rate. MAX-HEALTH-BAND Development Kit The MAX-HEALTH-BAND wrist-worn heart-rate and activity monitor features the company’s MAX86140 optical pulse-oximeter/heart-rate sensor, MAX20303 wearable power-management solution, and Maxim’s motion-compensated algorithms. The watch sends raw PPG and accelerometer data via Bluetooth to a smartphone app, and also monitors steps, activity, heart rate and interbeat intervals for heart-rate variability measurements. Battery life is around 7 days on a single charge. The kit also includes a USB charging cable, and instructions to download the Android-based application. The evaluation platform can be used for the development of fitness and wellness trackers, health monitoring trackers, or as a experimentation platform for new use cases and algorithms. In addition to raw PPG and accelerometer data, the MAX-HEALTH-BAND monitors steps, activity, […]

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Snapdragon Wear 2500 Launched for the 4G LTE Kid Watch Market

Qualcomm has made several announcements at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018. We’ve already covered Snapdragon 632, 639, and 629 processors for mid- and high-tier smartphones, but the company has also finally announced a new SoC for wearables succeeding Snapdragon Wear 2100. Meet Snapdragon Wear 2500, specifically targeting 4G children watches. Qualcomm is usually not the best company when it comes to releasing technical details about their processors, but here what Snapdragon Wear 2500 specifications should look like: Processor – 4x Arm Cortex A7 GPU – Adreno-class GPU Connectivity – Fifth generation 4G LTE modem with RF front-end (RFFE), location engine, “Bluetooth streaming architecture”, NXP NFC solution Camera I/F – 5MP Ultra-low power sensor hub working with InvenSense sensors Power – Wearable PMIC reducing Rock Bottom Sleep Current (RBSC) by percent, charger, fuel gauge Compact package Snapdragon Wear 2500 is designed for low power with up to 14 percent longer battery […]

June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ASUS VivoWatch BP is a Fitness Tracker that Measures Blood Pressure

If you need to monitor your blood pressure regularly, you may have used one of those blood pressure monitors that you wraps around your upper arm, and display results on an LCD display, and in some cases, synchronize the data with your smartphone Bluetooth. Those devices do the job, but they may be inconvenient to use daily, and some people just forgo measurements. Omron first introduced a more user-friendly solution with their Project Zero BP6000 blood pressure monitor-in-a-watch in 2016, further refined with Project Zero 2.0 watch in 2017. That’s all good, except for the same details that neither versions of the watch – to be called Heartvue – are for sale, as the company is still working on FDA approval… ASUS has filled the void with VivoWatch BP watch, and IMHO has taken a more clever approach to launching their product, since the watch will be available in Asia […]