Items tagged with wearable
Apple has announced that it has disabled the Apple Watch Walkie Talkie app due to a recently discovered security and privacy vulnerability in the app. Apple didn't give any specifics on the vulnerability, only stating that the flaw could allow a person to listen on another customer's conversation without consent. Apple has apologized to users for removing the app, but it is working on a fix. Once a fix is made to address the vulnerability, Apple is expected to relaunch the Walkie Talkie app. Apple did issue a statement on the vulnerability, saying that it disabled the function "as we quickly fix the issue." Apple goes on to say that it will restore functionality as soon as possible. The...
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Foldable devices seemed like the way of the future as manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei rushed to get them into production. The high profile failure of the Samsung Galaxy Fold seems to have put a damper on that rush, however. IBM has filed a patent for a wearable that can be a smartwatch, a smartphone, and a tablet with a display that stacks away when not needed. The multifold display isn't anything like what Samsung used in its Galaxy Fold device. Rather than being one continuous display, the IBM patent outlines a device that uses display tiles that stack into a smartwatch on the wrist and can be folded out into different configurations to give the user the screen size they want for the...
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Google has announced an update to its Wear OS that powers many of the wearables available on the market today. The big change here is that Wear OS now has Tiles, which are essentially little information cards that you can scroll through. The update lets users continue to swipe right-to-left to access information like more detailed fitness graphics and upcoming calendar apartments. Tiles are customizable and include Goals, Next event, Forecast, Heart Rate, Headlines, and Timer. Goals pulls information from Google Fit, Next event comes from the Google Calendar, Forecast comes from Weather, and Headlines draws from Google News. Google notes that the Tiles will let users check progress...
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Garmin has announced a revamp of its Forerunner lineup that brings multiple new devices to the mix that feature integrated music capability, full-color mapping, advanced training, and tracking features. The Forerunner family is designed with runners in mind; the new line includes the Forerunner 45, Forerunner 45S, Forerunner 245, Forerunner 245 Music, and Forerunner 945. The Forerunner 45 and 45S watches are for those who are training for their first race or starting a new exercise plan and aim for ease of use. They can monitor heart rate at the wrist and have integrated GPS to track pace, distance intervals, and more. The 45S has a 39mm case with the 45 offering a 42mm case. Battery life promises...
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Samsung pulled the wraps off its new wearables offering back on February 20, and among the devices was the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. This device was touted by Samsung as the first wearable to support blood pressure monitoring on your wrist. Health features have become a big selling point for wearables since the Apple Watch Series 4 launched, with the ability to read electrocardiograms for those with abnormal heart rates. Of course, high blood pressure is one of the most common medical conditions out there, and people who need to keep an eye on their blood pressure were excited to get a wearable that could monitor it for them all day, discretely with no need for an obtrusive blood pressure...
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The wearables market is growing rapidly with more and more smartwatches available on the market today. Apple has the lion's share of the wearables market with reports indicating it had 50% of the market as of Q4 2018. The Apple Watch Series 4 with its integrated ECG feature is the wearable grabbing headlines, but for those not particularly interested in ECG functionality, the Apple Watch Series 3 might be the ticket. Amazon is running a big sale on Apple Watch Series 3 smartwatches right now that is offering a significant discount on the devices. As of writing the Apple Watch Series 3 with GPS and a 42mm case is on sale for $229, which is $80 off the normal $309 retail price. These aren't refurbished...
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Fitbit has some of the more popular and affordable wearables on the market today. It and Apple are credited with driving some of the growth in the wearable market. In order to keep that momentum going, Fitbit has now announced four new wearables that aim at different price points. Versa Lite Edition The first is a new product that slots into the Versa line called the Fitbit Versa Lite Edition. It's an everyday smartwatch that has most of the core fitness and smart features that the Versa is known for. The device can monitor your heart rate 24/7 and monitors Sleep Stages as well. Support for over 15 goal-based exercise modes is integrated, and the Versa Lite connects to a smartphone for notifications....
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Samsung has announced that it has updated Samsung Health on the Gear S3 and Gear Sport wearables to help users of those smartwatches be smarter about wellness. The update to Samsung Health features 20 indoor workouts that allow the wearables to track 39 different types of exercises. Users see eight different workouts by default, and the display of the wearable can be customized to show whatever exercises the user chooses. The watches can record a series of exercises in succession, such as when users are having an arm day and move from bench press to arm curls. The update also brings simplified sleep notifications that users are shown when they wake in the morning. A "View Detail" button allows...
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The wearables market is booming right now thanks to smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 4 that debuted in September, and other wearables like the Fitbit Versa and Samsung Galaxy Watch. When the wearables segment was young, devices were aimed mostly at technology loving people and were seen almost exclusively as a gadget for tech fans. Wearables are now making their way into other markets as a tool for fitness and to help people monitor severe health conditions like heart arrhythmias. Apple has focused its Apple Watch Series 4 wearable not only at tech and gadget fans but also directly at people with health problems and the elderly who are at risk of falls; the fall detection feature was...
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There are lots of wearable devices out there right now, and two of the most popular are the new Apple Watch Series 4 and the Galaxy Watch from Samsung. Right now, the Apple watch is $399 for the least expensive version packing GPS only. However, a killer sale is going on right now for the Galaxy Watch that makes the 42mm Bluetooth version $100 cheaper than the Apple Watch. Right now, you can get the Bluetooth Galaxy Watch with a 42mm face for $299 via Amazon and Walmart.com. If you buy the wearable via Amazon and are a Prime member, you also get free Prime shipping on the black or rose gold version. Walmart offers free two-day supping to your closest store. If you want the larger 46mm Bluetooth...
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Fitness wearables are normally smaller devices that have features for monitoring things like steps, heart rate, and other data. The problem for people who like to be active in harsh conditions is that most of those wearables aren’t meant to survive bumps and obstacles encountered when skiing, hiking or backpacking. Those activities expose wearables to lots of rain, snow, sleet, cold, sharp rocks, harsh blows, and foliage among other hazards. Garmin knows that normal wearables, like its recently announced Vivosmart 4, aren’t appropriate for many rugged activities and for this more rugged and demanding crowd it has announced the Instinct. Instinct is a strong and very durable GPS smartwatch...
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Love it or hate it, each fall most of the U.S. and other locations around the world adopt daylight saving time where we "fall back" and lose an hour from our clocks until the spring rolls around. Owners of the Apple Watch Series 4 in Australia, where daylight saving time (DST) rolled out already, experienced a bug that had to do with the Infograph faces on the wearable. Owners found their wearable stuck in an endless reboot loop that was reportedly caused by the large Activity complication on the Infograph Modular face spazzing out thanks to the loss of an hour. The Activity complication is meant to give the wearer a timeline graph of the current day broken down hour-by-hour for things like Move...
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The Apple Watch Series 4 launched last month and packed in lots of features that make it one of the most appealing wearables on the market. A few of the big features of the smartwatch include ECG capability to detect abnormal heart rates and fall detection that can call emergency services if you are take a spill and can't dial 911 yourself. Anyone with a history of falls, particularly the elderly living alone, can appreciate that last feature. Falls represent a major cause of hospitalization for the elderly, and in those with conditions that make them unsteady when walking. Those two major health features will likely mean that the Apple Watch Series 4 ends up on the wrists of many senior...
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The LG V40 ThinQ smartphone launched yesterday, and we have our review of the smartphone up right now. Just as a rumor over the weekend hinted, alongside that V40 ThinQ smartphone launch came the launch of LG's latest smartwatch - the LG Watch W7. When the rumor of the W7's launch surfaced over the weekend speculation was that the wearable would run Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform; sadly, that part of the rumor was false. The LG Watch W7 launches with the aging Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform under the hood, has 4GB eMMC storage and 768MB LPDDR3 RAM along with a 240 mAh internal battery. LG's 240 mAh battery is smaller than the battery Samsung offers in either flavor of its Galaxy...
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