Wearable

Oculus Rift virtual reality headset owners have been struggling to operate their devices today due to an issue with the Oculus Runtime Service. Users who have tried to open the app have faced an error message stating “Can’t Reach Oculus Runtime Service.” Technicians at the tech company are currently investigating the problem, which is possibly down to an expired security certificate.

It seems Apple is now ready to dominate the global wearables market after the company claimed top spot in market share for the fourth quarter in 2017. According to data analysts IDC, Apple also led in market share and shipment volumes for the year, improving on figures for 2016. Fitbit and Xiaomi also managed considerable shares of the worldwide wearables market.

Fitbit has announced a special Adidas Edition of its recently released Ionic smartwatch. This is the first result of a collaboration between both companies. The Ionic Adidas Edition features a watch face designed by Adidas, a unique band, and a built-in Adidas Train application.

A report from Bloomberg has stated that Apple is working on some upgrades for its popular AirPods product. The original wireless Bluetooth earbuds were released in 2016 and have contributed significantly to Apple’s successful “Others” division (which includes the Apple Watch). It is rumored an upgrade of the AirPods with a new custom-designed chip will be released later this year, with a water-resistant upgrade being developed for next year.

Apple Inc. has been enjoying tremendous success in the global watch market according to analysts. Shipment data suggests the Cupertino-based company is now beating out famous brand watchmakers such as Swatch and Rolex with its series of smartwatches.

Huawei's upcoming smartwatches could be able to detect writing movements performed in mid-air using fingers. This new gesture control method has been described in a patent dated July 2016, so it might become reality pretty soon.

While disabling "OK, Google" detection on Android Wear devices was a workaround that severely limited their capabilities, a new software update finally takes care of the annoying lag issue that has been around for about a month.

The latest developers beta for Apple's WatchOS 4.3 brings back Apple Music integration, improved fitness information in the Siri watch face, and a new portrait charging mode. Apple's WatchOS holds a 57 percent share of the smartwatch market.

Fitbit, which acquired the Pebble brand in 2016, has announced that they will support the Pebble smartwatch line until June 20th, 2018. In other words, support for Pebble services and devices will end on June 30th of this year, marking the end of an era.

A few days after images showing an updated smartwatch surfaced on Reddit, Google confirmed the release of Android Wear 2.8, highlighting the fact that this is an update for the smartphone app and not the same as the OTA for some wearables.

Nintendo's latest innovation is something completely out of left field: cardboard toys and accessories for their highly successful Switch console. Dubbed "Nintendo Labo," the new project allows Switch users to build things like a fishing pole, a piano, and even a robot suit to enjoy new gaming experiences (and maybe learn a bit about engineering and coding).

The new Garmin Forerunner 645 Music is a GPS running watch with Garmin Pay support that features an integrated music player for enjoying their favorite songs without having to carry a smartphone.

Although it lacks some advanced features, the Garmin Vivofit 4 activity tracker comes for less than 80 bucks and promises to deliver more than a year of autonomy on two SR43 replaceable batteries.

The Huami AmazFit Smart Sports Watch 2 is only available in China for the moment, but Xiaomi plans to launch it for the Western markets under the AmazFit Pace 2 name later on. The successor of the popular Amazfit Pace comes with a more sturdy body and upgraded processing power, along with a new Watch 2.0 version. There is a premium US$200 version that adds a leather strap, while the standard version costs US$140.

Google has revealed the list of Android Wear devices that will be getting an update to Android Oreo. The upgrade looks more about bringing the Wear base OS inline with the Android smartphone OS, rather than bringing major new features.

DJI is getting serious about drone racing. The latest version of its Goggles is targeted at the burgeoning drone racing market and offers a number of feature upgrades over its standard model.

Children's smartwatches have been found to have glaring security holes, some of which can present a serious threat to the safety of the children that wear them. These security issues, along with privacy concerns, have led German officials to ban the sale of children's smartwatches.

Google Clips is a small wearable action camera that automatically takes pictures of what it judges to be special moments. It learns who the important people in your life are via machine learning, and it may pose a serious privacy concern.

*Update in article regarding T-Mobile speeds* Apple Support has told a customer than the LTE versions of the Apple Watch 3 will only work within the country of purchase, meaning those outside the ten supported countries can't import an LTE model. It also means that the LTE functionality won't work while traveling, even if the destination is a supported country. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has said they will throttle the Apple Watch 3 data speeds down to 512 Kbps.

Apple has officially launched the Watch Series 3 during its September 2017 keynote. The new Watch now sports LTE connectivity with a host of new fitness features and will be launching on September 15 with prices starting from US$329.

The Huawei Band 2 Pro which was announced back in July, is now available in the United States via Amazon at US$69. The fitness wearable features an integrated GPS to track activities such as running and swimming without the need to carry your smartphone with you.

Chinese researchers have been able to launch malicious voice command attacks on every major voice assistant including Siri and Alexa. Using ultrasonics, the researchers were able to hack devices with any victim completely unaware that their device had been compromised.

The specs for Gear Fit2 Pro fitness band have already been leaked and Samsung only confirmed them with the official announcements, but it also revealed the new Gear Sport smartwatch and the wireless IconX (2018 model) earbuds.

Fitbit's first smartwatch comes with its proprietary operating system, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity, Pandora Premium support, smart notifications, improved sensors, extended battery life, and is expected to hit the market in October.

The Gear S4 is set to be unveiled at IFA next, according to Samsung's mobile chief DJ Koh. Although not revealing any specifics about the device, Koh did hint that it might feature more health sensor technology.

Thanks to a leaked product page, we now know several details of the upcoming Gear Fit 2 Pro fitness tracker/smartwatch from Samsung. While there aren't many changes from the previous Gear Fit 2, the Gear Fit 2 Pro will be water resistant to 50 meters.

HTC matches the US$200 price cut Oculus gave its Rift VR headset, slashing the price of its Vive VR headset to US$599.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seems to suggest that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 3 might support VoIP instead of traditional phone calls, possibly to avoid user experience issues and also due to the lack of internal space within the device for a proper SIM slot.

First announced several months ago, the Movado Connect is now on sale in the United States from $595. The device is targeted at fans of the Swiss watchmaker's premium analog watches and is priced accordingly. It is differentiated from the standard Android Wear competition by edge-to-edge crystal covering the digital dial.

In addition to offline Spotify support and an integrated GPS module, this upcoming wearable is rumored to offer 5 ATM water resistance. It is expected to show up on August 23, alongside the new Galaxy Note.

Intel has announced that it will be retiring the Atom x5-Z8100P, the CPU used in the Microsoft HoloLens, by end of October this year. With Microsoft likely being the only customer using this SoC, it could have very well been the EOL initiator for these CPUs.

Shortly after surfacing on FCC, the Gear Fit 2 Pro (SM-R365) was also spotted on an official Samsung website. Sadly, there are no details to talk about right now, but it is very likely to see this wearable unveiled next month.

The upcoming fitness tracker from Garmin features a round face and an overhauled UI more reminiscent of Garmin's own Fenix line of wearables. This may position the Vivoactive 3 against competing smartwatches, especially Fitbit's upcoming smartwatch.

The Tempo Tread Watch features stainless steel links that can be equipped with interchangeable tools, similar to the existing Leatherman Tread bands. This timepiece would be Leatherman's first watch and is scheduled to hit the market in November.

The wearables giant Fitbit has announced that their highly-anticipated smartwatch should be ready in time for the holiday season later this year. The smartwatch was delayed earlier this year, and while there isn't a hint of a specific release date, the device should be ready by Q4.

The Acer and HP Windows Mixed Reality Headsets are now listed on the Microsoft Store for US$299 and US$329 respectively. The requirements listed are much higher than what was originally promised, but since these are targeted at developers, those might only be the specifications for development.

HP has announced the 'HP Z VR Backpack' designed for virtual reality use in a business environment where red accents and flashing LEDs look out of place. It uses an i7-7820HQ, 32 GB RAM, and a Quadro P5200.

This year's Tech World has even more prototypes on display from wearable smart glasses to fully autonomous electric vehicles.

Atari has announced the "Speakerhat", and it is just what you think it is... a Bluetooth hat with stereo speakers built into the brim. The Speakerhat has a retro appeal and the potential to become annoying in public.

Google has revealed that Glass has returned, but this time with a focus on the business and enterprise markets. Trial programs in factories have shown productivity increases, but the issue of privacy may rise to the surface again.

Following the success of affordable virtual reality devices such as Samsung's Gear VR, Facebook is working on a new Oculus device. Codenamed Pacific, it is expected to cost hundreds of dollars less than the Rift and be completely standalone.

Tambour Horizon is the first smartwatch coming from Louis Vuitton. The model features a colorful 1.2-inch AMOLED display, a multitude of watchfaces, and brand-specific apps, such as city and traveling guides.

Unveiled back in April 2016, this Alexa-powered wearable has changed its name from CoWatch to iMCO Watch in the meantime and is now finally available for purchase via Yerha.com.

By using a kinetic charging system, the Sequent smartwatch promises to be the world's first fitness tracker and smartwatch with an "infinite" battery life.

While the Wena Wrist Leather with a new FeliCa module is scheduled to arrive in December, the basic steel band simply known as Wena Wrist should hit the market next week, but it will only be available in Japan.

LG has announced a massive 77-inch OLED display that is both flexible and transparent. While this giant panel probably won't find its way into home theaters any time soon, its technical and professional applications are intriguing.

Both the MyGlass Android app and the firmware on Google Glass devices have been updated out of the blue.

HMD Global launches a few Nokia digital health products, bringing back what was once the brand known as Withings. The two first such products are the Nokia Body scale and the Nokia BPM blood pressure monitor.