Nike designers on self-lacing shoes and the future of footwear

Tinker Hatfield and Tiffany Beers, the designers behind Nike’s Mag and HyperAdapt 1.0, joined us on stage at CES 2017 to talk about how these self-lacing sneakers came to life. They also discussed how 3D-printed materials could shape the future of footwear, since we’re seeing more of the technology being used for prototypes and models that end up making it to retail. As for what’s next for HyperAdapt, Hatfield and Beers wouldn’t give any details away, but they did say the 2.0 and 3.0 versions are already in the works.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Theranos is laying off another 155 employees

Just three months after the company laid off 340 employees, Theranos’ workforce is being slashed again. The company announced today that it will part ways with another 155 employees, leaving the current Theranos headcount at 220.

“These are always the most difficult decisions,” the company’s official statement said, “however, this move allows Theranos to marshal its resources most efficiently and effectively.”

Today’s restructuring caps off a terrible 2016 for CEO Elizabeth Holmes and company. After the company’s innovative blood test and Edison testing machine turned out to be too good to be true and possibly based on junk science, the company spent the latter part of 2016 fending off multiple lawsuits from investors and its retail partners at Walgreens.

Last month, the company also announced a new leadership team and reshuffled its Board of Directors to help steer the company back on track as it works to develop a new testing platform called miniLab.

Via: Bloomberg

Source: Theranos Newsroom

New Balance’s running smartwatch is all about little tweaks

At last year’s CES Intel and New Balance announced that they would team up to develop a sports-focused smartwatch. One day shy of a year later, and the pair revealed it to the world with significantly less fanfare than before. Intel’s press conference was all about VR, leaving all talk of wearables to a press release that crossed the wire before the event even kicked off. So what does that mean for the New Balance RunIQ?

It’s a pretty neat looking device — certainly not out of place alongside other chunky running watches from other brands like Garmin with its 1.39-inch AMOLED display and fat bezels. If there’s one thing that is disappointing, however, it’s how chintzy the plastic device feels, betraying its intention as a rugged piece of running gear.

It’s also something of a mutt, with the fingerprints of four companies all over its DNA. Intel, for instance, used its hardware know-how to build the device itself, while New Balance shaped its style and overall branding. Google obviously created Android Wear — the first generation of the software, rather than version 2.0 — and Strava is providing native access to its social network for runners. It’s worth adding that this device is aimed squarely at marathoners and their ilk, with all the features geared toward slightly more serious athletes.

One of the reasons the watch is shipping before the arrival of Google’s redesigned watch OS is that Intel is confident it’s done enough to stand apart from the crowd. The company’s Dr. Jerry Bautista explained that his engineers have spent a long time tweaking the power management of the software for a better battery life. One of the other innovations he’s proud of is ensuring that the display will always show the time, if not the rest of the UI.

New Balance, meanwhile, polled users to find out that runners apparently hate touching their watch’s display during a run. So, the company insisted that there be physical controls on either side of the crown for one-touch lap times. As an added benefit, this allows runners to use the device even while wearing gloves. After all, if you’re running in the Pacific Northwest in January, you don’t want to have to expose your fingers to the elements.

Another neat tweak that Intel is proud of is the raised curve that surrounds the optical heart rate monitor on the underside of the case. It apparently encourages the skin on your wrist to push up into the space immediately around the optical sensor. That way, you get less light interference and a better, more accurate heart rate track than you would with other devices.

If Intel is to be believed, this is the best implementation of an Android Wear running watch, as the fitness features are mostly custom. The running app, which is Strava-branded, has been totally rewritten from the ground up for better performance and to be used without a smartphone. Once you’ve used your phone to pair the watch to your account, the device will then independently sync your stats whenever you hit WiFi.

One thing the device is lacking is a better music function, mostly because Intel and New Balance held off on altering the software. Knowing that Android Wear 2 will open up implementation beyond Google Play Music users, the two companies chose to wait for the update before making meaningful changes there. Speaking of which, the device will get an over-the-air update to the latest OS, but not before Intel has had chance to tweak it where necessary.

We’ll reserve judgment on if the litany of small tweaks set the RunIQ ahead of other Android Wear devices in the same category. But while we wait to review the device, you can pre-order the watch for delivery on February 1st. Oh, and if you notice, we have images of a cool gold-and-gray model — an alternative to the stock all-black edition. It’s a limited paint job of just 1,500 that will be available on a first come, first served basis when the device hits stores.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Source: New Balance

Basis’ wearables are (probably) dead

When you’re sitting across from Dr. Jerry Bautista, the vice president of Intel’s wearables division, you have to ask about Basis. After all, Intel has been weirdly quiet about the fate of wearables startup it bought, especially after recalling the Basis Peak due to overheating concerns. Bautista wouldn’t give a definitive answer about the future of the brand, but from what he didn’t say, it’s clear we’ll never see a new Basis device.

I asked if, instead of releasing devices off its own back, Intel would double-down on partnering with third-parties. The plan, as he explained, was to pair up with various companies to address different parts of the watch market. So, for instance, it teamed with Tag Heuer for a premium timepiece and New Balance for a runner’s watch. Bautista said that these partnerships are “a very good example of our strategy” to let other companies sell Intel-made products. He added that by teaming up with “iconic brands” enables those firms to “focus on the product in a way that we can’t.”

So, farewell Basis, we hardly knew ye.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Kodak brings back classic Ektachrome color reversal film

Kodak Ektachrome color-positive film, beloved by portrait photographers and indie filmmakers alike, is rising from the dead. Kodak Alaris will start selling the classic 135-36x 35mm and Super 8 movie films in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said in a statement. The stock (also called reversal or slide film) was discontinued in 2012, and is known for its extremely fine grain and saturated colors. It’s also cherished by indie filmmakers for its ability to be “pushed,” producing an artistically grainy effect (see the trailer for Buffalo 66, embedded below).

After a campaign of sorts by filmmakers like Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan, plus a deal forged with major studios, Kodak agreed to keep movie film stocks alive for the foreseeable future. Then, last year at CES 2016, the company unveiled a new digital hybrid Super 8 movie camera and film to go with it. Via a Kickstarter arrangement, Kodak also agreed to provide free film stock to student filmmakers to further encourage its use.

Ektachrome is an unusual format that produces a positive print suitable for slides or professional pre-printing processes. For that reason, it “became iconic in no small part due the extensive use of slide film by National Geographic Magazine over several decades,” Kodak Alaris wrote. The E6 development process is more onerous than for regular films, but the company says many pro labs can still do it.

Kodak said the brand was in high demand by analog photographers. “We’ve been listening to the needs and desires of photographers over the past several years and wanted to bring back a color reversal film. In assessing the opportunity, Ektachrome was the clear choice,” says Kodak Alaris President Dennis Olbrich. At this point, there’s no word on whether it’ll bring the stock back to Super 35mm or 16mm movie films.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Via: PetaPixel

Source: Kodak

Whill’s all-terrain wheelchair is built for rough surfaces

Danielle Kent rode her wheelchair toward a black ramp at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where CES is taking place. She gently pressed on a small controller on the right armrest before the powered wheelchair went over a three-inch bump to climb the incline. Seconds later, Kent made a smooth turn onto a stone-covered path. The personal vehicle, designed by a wheelchair-making company called Whill, navigated the bumpy end of the ramp with ease.

Over two million people rely on wheelchairs in the US alone. Still, accessibility vehicles like wheelchairs have seen little improvements over the years. While some companies have been building powerful machines that can help people with disability navigate the streets, most electric wheelchairs continue to be too bulky for public doorways and tend to get stuck on turns and rough surfaces. The limitations keep many manual wheelchair users from switching over to powered machines. The latest model from Whill, however, is designed to instill confidence in the users so that they’re able to move independently.

Model M is an all-terrain EV with omni-wheels and a sturdy build. It enables people with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries to use the same machine both indoors and outdoors. According to Kent, the director of product marketing at Whill, the new design takes up almost the same amount of room as her old manual wheelchair. The compact machine pushes the wheelchair to run at three speed modes plus a stationary mode that keeps it stable in case someone knocks into it. But that’s not all the machine will do.

The company also has plans to introduce autonomous driving for people with disabilities, suggesting the built-in software has the potential to evolve as driverless technologies become more capable of moving wheelchairs. Additionally, Whill has a mobile app in the making that will wirelessly help control navigation for safer mobility.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

The Engadget Challenge: 2017 edition

The most ridiculous spectacle to ever grace the Engadget stage is back as the Engadget Challenge returns for 2017. This time out, we’re testing to see if people’s knowledge of tech companies is as deep-rooted as their love of fast food. After all, since most toddlers can identify the McDonald’s logo from 30 paces, we should be able to guess Twitter from a couple of vague hints, right? Right?

Our second challenge is a fan favorite from last year, as we examine if it’s possible to be an active participant in life through social media. You may not have been out clubbing last night, but if that celebrity Instagram star was, you can kinda feel as if you were, too. So, we’re going to ask our contestants if we can accomplish something through the eyes (and hands) of another person. Yup, it’s the cocktail challenge, back for another year.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Amp’d Energy hopes to make pollution-prone diesel generators obsolete

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve assumed the gleaming white, person-sized box standing next to me was some kind of high-end appliance. Things are rarely so straightforward at CES’s Eureka Park, though. It was actually what Hong Kong startup Amp’d Energy calls a “silo” — turns out, the thing I had casually rested my camera on top was an array of 1,792 batteries designed to keep critical buildings up and running without the nasty environmental effects that come with using diesel generators.

According to co-founder Brandon Ng, a single, 17kWh silo can power a 10-person office for between three and four hours before running dry. Need even more power? Up to three can be daisy-chained together (for now, anyway) to keep even larger buildings running when the power goes out, and they should kick on with incredible speed — it’s possible people inside those buildings won’t even notice the transition. People outside won’t notice either, which Ng says is crucial to the company’s vision. For a startup so physically close to China’s crazy air pollution, the appeal of helping dial down noxious emissions is one that can’t be denied.

And yes, as I pointed out earlier, the Amp’d Silo is surprisingly pretty. It clearly draws more inspiration from home appliances and modern consumer tech trends, making it what might be the friendliest backup power solution out there. Consider how you keep tabs on silos in action: the team ultimately wants to build a way to manage them remotely, but for now you just walk up to a unit and start fiddling with a clean, touchscreen interface. Seriously: it looks like something you’d find on a pricey bit of connected home kit. In a way, though, Ng hopes you never have to use the touchscreen. The silos were designed with a system of micro-fuses that’ll trip to prevent massive failures, and since the whole thing is solid state, the risk of breakdown should be minimal.

The concept has proven popular enough that the team recently locked down $3.7 million in seed funding, which is pretty damned substantial for as far as Hong Kong startups go. For now, though, the team’s focus is on building around 1,000 first-run units to test in Indonesia, India and the Philippines in early 2017.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Keep five of your devices charged up with this Quick Charge 3.0 charging station for just $20!

Aukey is currently offering its five port USB desktop charging station for just $20 with coupon code AUKUSBC5, a savings of $5. Don’t get stuck looking for multiple outlets to charge up your gadgets, and instead just use one to get them all charged. This hub has 4 regular USB ports, along with one USB-C port for easy charging on just about anything you have around. Being Quick Charge 3.0 it will charge compatible devices up to four times faster, and it is still completely safe to use on anything that doesn’t support QC 3.0.

Remember, you will need to use coupon code AUKUSBC5 for the $5 savings here. If you’ve got a bunch of devices to charge up, this is definitely the easiest and best way to do it.

See at Amazon

Google Calendar now integrates with Google Fit to track your workout goals

It’s good to have goals.

New Year’s means New Year’s Resolutions, and everyone wants to help you lose weight, exercise more, eat better, or whatever else you drunkenly decided to do over the holidays. Even us. Google Calendar wants to help you with them, with their Goals on Google Calendar.

Goals on Google Calendar allows you to set goals and the frequency with which you want to meet them, such as getting on the treadmill twice a week. It’ll also help you find the time to meet those goals by automatically scheduling and rescheduling times depending on your calendar appointments.

The feature’s been around since April, but for all the new fitness goals being set this month, Google has added integration with Google Fit and Apple Health to help you mark your progress. When you do an activity, they can tell Google Calendar you met your goals. These health tracking apps can also help quantify your progress so you can see how you’re doing right in the Google Calendar appointments. (There’s also Apple Health integration if you use Calendar on an iPhone.)

Are your resolutions already broken? Maybe Goals on Google Calendar can help get you back on track? Doing well with yours? Well, good for you, maybe Goals on Google Calendar can help you kick yours up a notch.