wearables News - Page 14 of 29 - CNX Software

September 24, 2019October 7, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Energous Launches WattUp Hearables Developer Kit with Near-Field Wireless Charging

We previously wrote about Energous WattUp near, mid, and far-field wireless charging while covering SKIIN smart underwears that could be recharged using WattUp near-field wireless technology, but the technology inside can also support future on the desk (mid-field) or in the room (far-field) charging. The company has now introduced the WattUp hearables developer kit that sadly still does not seem to support mid- and far-field charging yet but provides everything to manufacturers to get started with wireless charging for Bluetooth earbuds, smart headphones, and similar gadgets. The kit offers all hardware and software resource to get started with developing wirelessly charged audio devices: Transmitter reference design with power supply, based on Dialog Semi DA14680 Bluetooth LE chip, DA4100 wireless power transmitter, as well as EN3921 and EN3913M front end ICs. Receiver reference design with DA2223 RF to DC receiver and DA14585 Bluetooth LE SoC Mobile app Reference design user guide […]

September 15, 2019September 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

PineTime is a $25 Smartwatch / Companion for PinePhone Linux Phone

We’ve recently seen Linux smartphones are coming in a few weeks or months, but the $150 PinePhone may not come alone, and soon be joined by a $25 companion, namely PineTime smartwatch. That’s what we learned through a tweet by Pine64 explaining the PineTime is a Linux smartphone companion that can run FreeRTOS or Arm Mbed operating systems. It will be a side-project however, and the focus is still on PinePhone and Pinebook Pro, meaning it will take a while depending on the level of community engagement. Available information is limited to the discussion in the tweet at this stage, but we do know the watch will be made of zinc alloy & plastic, come with a charging dock, a 20 mm wristband, an heart-rate monitor and last several days on a charge. We’ve also seen people interested in porting ZephyrOS to the watch, and others would like to make […]

August 28, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

AndesCore N22 RISC-V Core Supports RV32IMAC or RV32EMAC Instruction Sets

We covered Gigadevice GD32V general-purpose microcontroller with a RISC-V “Bumblebee” core last week, and I was informed that Andes Technology had recently introduced AndesCore N22 RISC-V “Bumblebee” IP core capable of supporting either RV32IMAC or RV32EMAC instruction sets. A web search did not reveal any specific information about what “Bumblebee” RISC-V cores are exactly, or maybe it’s in reference that many can be coupled in parallel. But that’s just a small detail, let’s check out in some details what AndesCore N22 core has to offer. The RISC-V core is designed for entry-level MCUs found in IoT devices and wearables, and is capable of deeply embedded protocol processing for I/O control, storage, networking, AI and AR/VR. Highlights of AndesCore N22: AndeStar V5 (RV32IMAC) / V5e (RV32EMAC) Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), compliant to RISC-V technology plus Andes extensions architectured for performance and functionality enhancements 32-bit, 2-stage pipeline CPU architecture 16/32-bit mixable instruction […]

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Google Glass Enterprise Edition v2 Features Snapdragon XR1 Processor

To be honest, I was pretty happy when it was clear that smart glasses for the consumer market would not take off, and I would be living in a better, smart glasses-free, world. But I also reckoned that those could have use in professional settings, and Google Glass Enterprise edition was first spotted in 2015 with an Atom processor. The company has now launched an upgraded model with Google Glass Enterprise Edition v2 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 eXtended reality (XR) platform. Google Glass Enterprise Edition v2 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 quad-core Kryo processor @ 1.7GHz with Adreno GPU, Qualcomm AI Engine for on-device processing; 10nm manufacturing process System Memory – 3GB LPDDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash storage Display – 640×360 Optical Display Module Audio out – Mono Speaker, USB audio, BT audio Microphones – 3 beam-forming microphones Camera – 8MP, 80 DFOV Connectivity – Wi-Fi 5 […]

December 21, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Omron HeartGuide Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor is Finally Available

Way back at CES 2016, Omron showcased Project Zero BP6000 wearable blood pressure monitor that was meant to be an FDA approved blood pressure monitor fitting into a watch form factor and starting to sell for $200 at the end of 2016. But the device was not particularly eye-pleasing and FDA approval is really hard, so they unveiled the thinner and prettier Project Zero 2.0 model the next year at CES 2017 with the goal of releasing the device sometimes in 2018 for $300. The good is that the product – now called HeartGuide – will up for pre-order, and slated to ship in January 2019. Sadly, the cost has gone way up since it now sells for $499, and will only ship to a US address. HeartGuide (BP8000-M) wearable blood pressure monitor technical specifications: Display – Transflective memory-in-pixel LCD Memory – Blood pressure measurement up to 100 times, activity […]

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 / […]