Orbi’s 360 degree camera glasses are set to ship this spring

A delicate balance must be struck when using action cameras, between capturing your adventures and keeping your hands free. But with Orbi’s 360 degree camera glasses, you’ll no longer have to choose.

In development as a crowdfunding project since 2016, the Orbi Prime glasses are finally set to begin shipping, the company announced at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. The water-resistant frames hold a pair of HD cameras at each temple and can record up to an hour of 1080p video onto the onboard microSD card between chargings.

The Orbi’s associated mobile and desktop apps enable users to quickly edit and stitch together their recordings, though the glasses also offer built-in WiFi so that you can share these videos without having to first offload them to a PC. The Orbi Primes are expected to begin shipping to IndieGoGo backers around April, according to a company rep, and will retail for just over $400 once they do go on sale.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Velco’s smart handlebars use lights to guide you home

Smartphones are great for getting you where you want to go. But when you’re on two wheels, it can be tough to keep track of your progress. You either have to pull over, or attach your device to the handlebars. Velco’s “Wink” smart handlebar solves that issue while also adding additional security to any bike it’s attached too.

The Wink handlebar uses lights adjacent to both grips that indicate which direction you need to go after the rider has created a path with the companion app. If the right light is illuminated, you turn right, if the left, you turn left. If both are illuminated, you go straight. It’s turn-by-turn navigation without the non-stop barrage of notifications coming from your phone.

But if you’re someone that needs to be connected, the Wink will notify you when you receive a text message or call.

On the security side, the handlebar is equipped with GPS and can be tracked in case your bike is stolen or more embarrassingly, you forgot where you parked it. With a three-week battery life, it’ll be easier for you or the proper authorities to track down your missing bicycle, or at the very least the handlebars.

In addition to keeping the bike safe, it’ll notify a predetermined friend or family member if the handlebar determines there’s been an accident thanks to the onboard accelerometer.

And finally, it’s also just a light for riding with two beams ready to pierce the night. Of course, all these fancy features come at a price and a hefty one at that. The Wink’s launch price is €280 ($337) . It’ll land in Europe this March and North America and Asia by the end of the year.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

SureFire’s ARON ecosystem enables augmented reality without Wi-Fi

SureFire is laying the foundation for a post-Wi-Fi world. Its new platform, ARON, is a communications system designed to transmit real-world data via infrared light, allowing users to access an augmented reality view of their immediate surroundings. It’s a lot like Google Lens — but it doesn’t rely on Wi-Fi, cellular data, geolocation or orientation tools.

ARON stands for “augmented reality optical narrowcasting” and it’s able to transmit any type of digital file format, including high-definition video and images, up to 400 meters during the day and 1,200 meters at night. The data travels on square beams of infrared light, creating a secure connection between the device — whether a smartphone, car, computer or wearable — and the sensor in the real world.

Ditching Wi-Fi and data creates a secure connection, but it would also come in handy wherever internet connectivity is weak or nonexistent, and in the face of natural disasters, which typically wipe out Wi-Fi. SureFire imagines a few happy scenarios where ARON could be handy, too: It would allow visitors to see information about stores or restaurants while walking around a foreign city (typically without a data plan). Or, baseball players could wear sensors allowing fans with smartphones or AR glasses in the stadium to see their stats, superimposed directly over their bodies as they run around the field.

ARON isn’t something that can be rolled out on a massive scale overnight. It would require sensors on buildings, athletes, highways, cars and anything else that needs to transmit data. Plus, smartphones and other devices would need the proper receiver. Right now, ARON exists in a limited demo form.

Dr. Narkis Shatz, one of the inventors behind ARON, said one thing needs to happen for this ecosystem to take off: A major provider of electronic communication (think Verizon, Comcast or AT&T) has to invest in it. SureFire revealed ARON at CES and the company is in Las Vegas for the week, showcasing the technology at the IEEE booth, hoping to lure big-name investors.

L’Oreal and John Rogers built a thumbnail-sized UV sensor

L’Oreal is not a name that you’d normally associate with CES, but the cosmetics giant is now a regular exhibitor at the show. This year, the company is demonstrating a thumbnail-worn smart device that’s less than two millimeters thick. UV Sense is a battery-free electronic sensor that’s designed to monitor your sun exposure and, with the help of an NFC-enabled smartphone, help limit your skin cancer risk.

UV Sense is a big leap from L’Oreal’s last offering, My UV Patch, which was just a sticker loaded with a series of dyes. These dyes changed color depending on how long they’ve been exposed to light, and users could track the changes by taking pictures with the corresponding app. This time around, the sensor is designed to be worn more than once, and will store up to three months’ worth of data at a time.

Would-be owners can affix the sensor to their thumbnail — where, apparently, you get optimal sunlight exposure — for up to two weeks. Then, they’ll need to re-apply it with a fresh adhesive patch, several of which will be included in the packaging.

UV Sense needs an iOS or Android device with NFC, since you’ll need to tap your handset on the sensor to transfer data. From there, the companion app will tell you about your risks to ultraviolet exposure and will suggest better habits, including when to get out of the sun and when is best to reapply lotion.

L’Oreal is working with MC10, the medical technology wearables outfit set up by professor John Rogers at Northwestern University. Rogers is famous for developing the “wearable tattoo,” circuit boards no thicker than a band-aid that attach to people’s skin. The eventual goal for such technology is that it will replace the bulky and invasive monitors strapped onto hospital patients.

The fact that the device is so small, and yet is packing a flexible circuit board, capacitor and an LED within its tiny frame is encouraging. After all, if the partnership can solve the issues of power and transmission, then it’s possible that future devices in this range will be more autonomous. That should dramatically reduce the sort of bulk that hospitals normally invest in, and make patient lives a little bit easier.

If you’re interested in testing UV Sense, it’ll be available at point this summer in the US for an as-yet unspecified price. A further, global roll-out is due in 2019, while My UV Patch will also be made available via the Laroche website.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Google Assistant will unlock Schlage Sense deadbolts

Schlage’s Sense smart deadbolt now works with (almost) any virtual assistant under the Sun. The lock maker has revealed that Sense will support Google Assistant early in the first quarter, letting you check on your door (and, of course, lock it) from your Google Home or mobile apps that use the AI helper. You’ll need the Sense WiFi adapter to make this work, but it’ll give you the choice of Assistant, Alexa or Siri (via HomeKit) — not bad when some rivals only offer one or two options.

The solution won’t be cheap when you’re looking at a $229 official price for the deadbolt itself and another $69 for the WiFi adapter. However, it might be worth the outlay if you want remote control of your door and don’t want to be forced to use a specific platform or smart speaker.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Source: Schlage

First SpaceX launch of 2018 carries a secret payload

SpaceX’s first mission of 2018 has more than its share of mystery. The company has successfully launched “Zuma,” a mysterious government payload, into orbit from Cape Canaveral. How mysterious was it? The codename is basically all we know about it — SpaceX couldn’t even show every step of the launch, like it typically does. It did, however, successfully land the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage.

This was a long-overdue mission, we’d add. The Zuma mission was supposed to take place in mid-November, but SpaceX put it on hold to investigate the results of testing for another customer. It then set the launch for January 5th, but had to push it back due to harsh weather.

Whatever was aboard the rocket, its success is at least symbolically important. SpaceX is edging ever closer to the first launch of Falcon Heavy, and the last thing it needed was a problem with a (mostly) routine mission. In a sense, Zuma clears the path for Heavy and lets the company focus on the next big step in its conquest of space.

Source: SpaceX (YouTube)

Skully plans to ship its Fenix AR motorcycle helmet by summer

It’s been a rollercoaster year for Skully. After failing to deliver on its IndieGoGo crowdfunding promises, the company appeared all but dead in August of 2016 when LeEco passed on acquiring the firm. However Skully has since found new owners, resumed development of its AI-guided, AR-enabled Fenix motorcycle helmet and announced plans to begin shipping by this summer.

Skully showed off the latest prototype of its helmet at CES Unveiled on Sunday night. It boasts a rear-facing camera, a visor with heads up display, and smartphone integration which will enable GPS navigation and audio turn-by-turn directions.

The Fenix AR has long been promised but also has repeatedly met with production delays and missed shipping deadlines, however the company’s new owners appear confident that the helmet will ship in the summer of 2018. To make up for the IndieGoGo debacle, Skully has launched its “Make It Right” campaign, which promises one Fenix to anybody who ordered one through the crowdfunding site.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Xenoma builds smart clothing for dementia patients

Smart fabric company Xenoma is looking for ways to integrate its technology into our lives, and is looking to do so in the medical space. The Japanese outfit is showing off a set of smart pajamas that can be worn by patients in hospital, with a specific focus on dementia patients. It’s thought that, rather than confining people to rooms or keeping them under observation, the clothing can do the job automatically.

Embedded in both the shirt and pants are cloth sensors that are customized to pick up on specific inputs tailored to each item of clothing. The circuits running along the hips and legs are designed to detect motion, so professionals know when the wearer is moving. The technology in the shirt, meanwhile, is designed to monitor vital signs such as breathing, while an additional pair of ports on the sternum can be connected to an ECG, should it be required.

One of the most interesting innovations is the fabric sensors themselves, which don’t require gel or liquid contact to maintain conductivity with the skin. Even more importantly, the company claims that the cloth can be washed more than 100 times before showing signs of wear — making it as hardy as regular clothes.

At the top of the chest is an Iron Man-style plastic disc that holds the battery, Bluetooth LE unit and an accelerometer and gyroscope. The two-inch-diameter device should last for up to eight hours on a charge, although it’ll need to run for far longer than that in clinical scenarios. Speaking of which, Xenoma is conducting a limited clinical trial of the clothing with an as-yet unnamed German hospital in the near future.

It’s hoped that the hardware will be ready for medical use by 2020, at which point the cost per garment will be less than $100. Of course, that’s still a couple of years away, but it bodes well for a future where hospitals are far friendlier.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Source: Xenoma

Nuheara’s wireless earbuds can also help you hear better

Now that the totally wireless earbuds craze is here, companies are looking to find ways to stand out from the crowd. Thanks to the Over-the Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017, the US government freed up access to certain assisted hearing devices in a move that should also make them more affordable. At CES 2018, a number of companies are showing the tiny audio devices that can help people hear better, announcing products or plans for gadgets that will offer assistive listening. One of those is Nuheara.

The company is showing off its IQBuds Boost here in Las Vegas, a set of wireless earbuds that create a custom listening profile by evaluating the user’s hearing. The device uses an app called Ear ID to do just that, calibrating the earbuds automatically to tailor them to each person. Nuheara says the app offers a hearing test you’d usually have to visit an audiologist to get.

Of course, that personalization will also help users who can hear just fine but want a more custom sound from their earbuds. The customization extended to the touch controls on the outside of the earbuds as well. You can set specific controls (volume, play/pause) for a tap, double tap and long press. You can expect five hours of listening time or 20 hours of Bluetooth audio and 40 hours of sound amplification when you factor in the extra charges the case offers. There’s no word on price just yet, but the IQBuds Boost are slated to arrive by April.

If active noise cancellation is a deal breaker when it comes to headphones, Nuheara’s LiveIQ offers that feature in a set of wireless earbuds. The company says the model is “one of the first intelligent truly wireless earbuds” to pack in ANC, pairing it with “unique hearing intelligence software.” What’s more, they’ll offer four hours of audio (up to 16 hours total with the charging case) and cost under $200 when they arrive this summer. Pre-orders will begin soon.

Nuheara has also extended the battery life for its IQBuds that have been on sale since January 2017. With the updated model, you can expect up to 20 hours of Bluetooth streaming and up to 40 hours of speech amplification. Not too shabby.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Samsung adds Bixby voice control to its Family Hub smart fridge

Samsung is fulfilling its promise of spreading Bixby beyond mobile devices — it just unveiled a Family Hub 3.0 refrigerator whose star attraction is (you guessed it) Bixby voice control. The company hasn’t said exactly what its in-house voice assistant allows, but it will personalize responses to individual voices: you can ask what’s new and get your personal calendar and news updates.

The fridge also better lives up to the “Hub” side of its name. It now integrates into Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem, letting you control the lights, tweak the temperature or monitor a security camera. This might also be the first fridge good enough to replace a dedicated speaker in the kitchen: the Family Hub has a built-in AKG speaker that promises richer bass and midrange sounds. You can stream music directly from your phone, if you’d like.

There are a few practical software updates to boot, including a Meal Planner that personalizes recipes based on preferences, restrictions and even when your food expires. You can add bargains directly to your shopping list, and customized sharing of everything from calendars to notes. Samsung is promising a wider array of content thanks to partnerships with the likes of HomeAdvisor, Pinterest, Tasty and The Weather Company.

Samsung hasn’t mentioned pricing yet, but the new fridge should reach shops this spring.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Source: Samsung Newsroom