Wearable

Apple has convinced its main manufacturing partners, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Foxconn, to makes its parts and/or devices using green energy by 2020. This achievement is a big part of the OEM's current drive towards making its business as sustainable as possible.

Introduced to the world at the MWC trade show back in February, the Nubia Alpha "wearable phone" will go on sale tomorrow. This smart wearable is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 chipset and runs a custom Android build. Sadly, it looks like only China will get it this week and the rest of the world will have to wait.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) vice-president of research Maria Zuber has stated that the university will discontinue its new and existing partnerships with the OEMs ZTE and Huawei. This decision is reportedly connected to suspicions that the two companies have violated US sanctions.

Unveiled back in February, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is now official in Vietnam, where sales will kick off on April 10. US customers can place their orders on Samsung's website already, but shipments are expected to begin in the last week of the month. In Vietnam, this smart wearable is priced around the equivalent of US$237.

Huawei is set to release its latest power bank for sale for the first time in China. This will take place in the coming week (on April 11, 2019). The OEM alleges that this power bank is compatible with devices that can charge at 40 watts. This includes the P30 line of smartphones, as well as some Matebooks.

MiLi is a company that integrates its Furniture Mate wireless-charging pad into any table-top. It aims this product at those in the service industry and also to those who want decor that can charge an increasing number of phones at home. MiLi also makes the Table Mate, a similar pad that can be attached to nearly any table.

Aukey, a common name in USB power and mobile-device accessories, has launched a new technology called Dynamic Detect. It allows a dual-port USB-Power Delivery (USB-PD) charger to recognize the number of devices connected to it and allocate its full wattage accordingly. This could allow an ultrabook to fast-charge at the full wattage it needs.

Xiaomi is said to be on the point of releasing a new product for 2019. This product is to be called the Star Trang telescope, and will be available for sale on April 9. It is set to cost about US$89, and is one of many gadgets the OEM may release for its "Fan Day" event in China.

Amazon will bring its first Alexa wearable to market in the second half of this year, according to a report by Bloomberg. The earbuds will rival Apple's AirPods, which achieved approximately 7.5 million sales in Q4 2018 alone and are being developed by Amazon's Lab126 hardware division.

The Pixel Watch is still rumored to be Google's first own-brand smartwatch. The company has added fuel to the rumor-fire to this effect by filing a patent for a new kind of watch-band clasp. It could be integrated into the prospective Watch in order to make first-party straps as good a business as they have become for Apple.

Beats has unveiled its new Powerbeats Pro on its website. These new earbuds are of the 'sports' variety, and thus have over-the-ear loops built into a completely wireless design. Like the new AirPods, they can activate Siri hands-free and have the new H1 chip for wearables.

The e-reparability authority iFixit had nothing but criticism for the first-gen AirPods when they came out. The wireless earbuds received a rare "repairability score" of zero from the company. Now, the new 2019 versions of these products have received the same rating.

Samsung followed Huawei into reverse wireless charging territory in 2019. Now, the respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo asserts that Apple will do the same. This feature would align nicely with the new capabilities of the AirPods.

The ultimate demise of the AirPower charging mat appears to have been foretold by Apple insider Sonny Dickson several months ago. In the absence of any official word from Apple, other than it cancelled AirPower because it couldn’t “achieve our high standards,” it appears that Dickson’s is the most plausible explanation of what went wrong.

Android is now coming up on 10 years of use as a mobile device OS. Google claims that 2018 was one of its most secure yet. Its report on this subject attributes decreasing rates of potentially harmful apps to the implementation of Play Protect.

In what will surely go down as one of the biggest fails in tech history, Apple has quietly announced that it has cancelled its Qi-enabled, long overdue, AirPower charging mat. Apple quietly made the dumbfounding announcement in a written statement to TechCrunch.

Apple's original AirPods snatched the majority of the true wireless earphone market at the end of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research. Its latest report on the subject put the earbuds' share at 60%. Jabra, Samsung, JLabs and Bose provided the remainder of the top 5 during the time studied.

Jabra has released its latest generation of neckbuds, the Evolve 65e. The audio company claims that this wireless set of earphones has consumer-grade comfort with professional levels of audio. This product has attained Skype for Business and UC certification, which may appeal to the business customer in need of mobile connectivity.

Huawei also introduced some new products to complement its latest flagships, the P30 and P30 Pro. They include the FreeLaces, a pair of 'neckbuds' with an innovative design. The OEM also now offers a power bank with its SuperCharge technology, which can charge at 40 watts: enough for laptops as well as smartphones.

Huawei also revealed the existence of some new wearables at its early-2019 launch event in Paris. The least expected of these are the new 'smart' glasses the OEM has developed with the eyewear company Gentle Monster. Their main function is in fact to deliver audio via Bluetooth, and also charge via a new and interesting route.

Apple's market share in China has reportedly fallen by 26.6% in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the culprits are more 'local' OEMs such as Huawei and Xiaomi, who offer more innovative features in premium handsets that go for less than those from the Cupertino company.

Beats by Dr. Dre has been an Apple subsidiary for some time now. The brand's next product may be a pair of truly-wireless earbuds. According to a CNET report, they may run on the new Apple H1 chip, which is also found in the newly-released AirPods 2.

DigiTimes has cited sources at a components supplier in a new report that alleges the AirPower accessory is finally going to be released soon. This article also asserts that the long-awaited wireless charging pad will work with at least one generation of the Apple Watch.

Oculus and HP have unveiled their latest VR headsets during GDC week in San Francisco. The new headsets are a step up their previous efforts and feature improved optics, comfort and overall performance.

Apple's latest press release has unveiled the AirPods 2. These new earbuds integrate handsfree Siri activation, faster switching between different devices and wireless charging. However, their design is largely unchanged compared to their preceding generation.

LumiCharge made a good impression among tech correspondents with its first-gen desk lamp. This product had an LED clock, not to mention ways to charge iOS and Android smartphones with built-in wired connections. Now, the company is back on Indiegogo with the LumiCharge II, which adds wireless charging to this set-up.

If smartwatches have one problem, it is their restricted battery capacities. The company Togvu has announced its "battery case" that may solve this problem for Apple Watch users. It is a strap for these devices that integrates wireless charging and a 600mAh battery.

Our article about the possible detrimental health effects of wireless devices including Apple’s AirPods, among others, seemed to strike a chord with a lot of readers. We are exposed to a lot of EMF radiation on a daily basis and 250 scientists with stellar reputations have signed a petition asking the UN to act on the issue. So what can you do to help reduce exposure to potential harm?

Concerns have been raised by a group of scientists about the possible carcinogenic effects of electromagnetic radiation emitted by modern devices. Of particular concern are wireless headphones like Apple’s popular AirPods as they sit in the ear canal exposing fragile tissue to potentially dangerous levels of radiation.

Some companies have developed transparent displays to the point where they may be the immediate future of head-mounted, heads-up and state-of-the-art shopfront technology. A new analysis has shown that their market may be worth US$2.591 billion by 2023. This market will be made up of see-through OLEDs and LCDs in a range of display sizes.

Ming-Chi Kuo is back to stick another thorn in Apple’s side with more news about Apple’s future product plans. This time around, Kuo has revealed that Apple’s rumoured augmented reality glasses could be coming as soon as late 2019 or early 2020.

According to a fresh report by IDC, Apple shipped more than 46 million wearables in 2018 out of a total of 172.2 million such devices sold worldwide. Smartwatches accounted for almost 30 percent of the entire wearable market and Apple's growth is expected to continue thanks to the Watch Series 4 smartwatch.

A start-up called Energous has announced a collaboration with Vivo. This move could bring Energous' over-the-air charging technology, WattUp 2.0, to the smartphone OEM's devices. Vivo has said that this move could alleviate "battery anxiety" for its customers.

Apple’s smart watches may be able to recognize arrhythmic heart rates using its ECG function but they may have slept late another neat feature: sleep tracking. The manufacturer based in Cupertino is currently working on making improvements in this area. However, apple watch customers will have to practice patience till 2020 for this new function.

The HERO7 Black is the top-spec'd SKU of its GoPro camera series. It is now available in a limited-edition alternative finish, Dusk White. This version will be released on March 3, 2019 on gopro.com and selected retailers worldwide.

RAVPower, the well-known accessory-maker, has a stand at MWC this year. It showcases a new PD charger, an ultra-thin (14mm) 'wall wart' based on gallium nitride (GaN) technology. RAVPower also has a new wireless charging stand that is also a power bank.

There is a new alternative to the foldable phone already. Nubia has unveiled the Alpha, a device with a screen that curves along a wide watch-like form factor. This display is 4 inches long, and operates using the Snapdragon 2100 wearables processor.

It seems Samsung is doing more in Barcelona than MWC. The OEM has opened a Bixby Studio in the city's Plaza de Catalunya. This installation gives visitors a sense of what life would be like with Bixby-powered applicances and devices in it.

Jim Harris, an author and speaker on disruptive innovations, has released a new report on consumer tech ahead of MWC 2019. In it, he claims that 59% of all the money spent in the same market in 2018 was expended on smartphones. Harris also asserts that Android is now the most popular software platform.

Huawei maintains a number of physical stores for its devices in China. Reuters has reported that it now plans to open its first international bricks-and-mortar establishment in Vienna. This outlet will reportedly be open by summer 2019.

Microsoft and its CEO, Satya Nadella, will be in attendance at MWC19 in Barcelona, and it is rumored that the company’s new HoloLens 2 AR smartglasses will be revealed. However, at least 50 Microsoft employees have publicly objected to the tech giant’s US$480 million contract with the U.S. Army that involves the augmented-reality headset.

Samsung has released three new types of wearable to go with the Galaxy S10 series in 2019. They are the Galaxy Buds, a possibly improved set of earbuds, the Galaxy Fit, a new activiy tracker, and the Galaxy Watch Active, a new sports-focused smartwatch. All three can charge wirelessly, including off S10 devices.

PlusUs has introduced its Xpad, a charging pad that measures only 2.2 millimeters in depth. This spec leads the start-up to assert that it is the thinnest product of its kind worldwide. It is available as a reward as part of an Indiegogo campaign, which aims to raise US$20,000.

Released a few months ago, the LiteOS-driven Huawei Watch GT is now finally available for purchase in the US. Listed by Amazon for a regular price of US$199.99, this smart wearable will start shipping on February 19. Its specs and features include continuous heart rate monitoring, built-in GPS, sleep tracking, and more.

A new post on the Greek Apple leaks site iPhoneHellas alleges that the second-generation AirPods will launch in March. However, a second tipster, OnLeaks, has also asserted that his sources say they will be released 'in the fall'. Both reports contain different details on what their maker may release alongside or in conjunction with these wireless earbuds.

Codenamed Pulse, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active's successor will hit the market as the Galaxy Watch Active. The upcoming smart wearable allegedly features a 1.1-inch AMOLED display with 360 x 360 pixels and has no bezel ring, so everyone will be forced to use only touch interactions — or move to a device that still has a bezel ring, of course.

Google might be working on building its own brand of wearables. A job posting looking for a VP of Hardware Engineering for Wearables was recently announced that could mean that the Mountain View is looking to expand its hardware offerings into next generation wearables. A posting for a Wearables Design Manager is also in the offing.

Apple Senior Vice President (SVP) of Retail Angela Ahrendts is leaving Apple after five years in the role. Ahrendts was a high-profile hire for Apple, who managed to lure her from her role as CEO of fashion brand Burberry to lead Apple’s retail evolution.

TechnoBuffalo has posted a range of images showing a device with Fitbit design language, but in colors previously unknown to this brand. They are apparently called Cyan Blue, Silver, Rose Pink and Purple. The renders have led to speculation that they are for the Fitbit Versa 2, but are more likely to simply be new color options for the pre-existing Versa.