Wearables DevCon Wrap-up

I recently attended the first Wearables Dev Con, hosted by BZ Media, as research for an upcoming book project. The convention was packed; having nearly twice as many attendees as expected. Understandably so- wearables are so hot right now, that nearly every major consumer electronics company is vying for a piece of the very, very large pie expected of the sector. READ MORE

Watch Your Privacy, a Google Glass app that identifies surveillance cameras

Privacy implications are one of the most prevalent criticisms of Google Glass, but the makers behind one third-party application believe the most effective solution is to wear the device. READ MORE

SD Times Blog: Why developers hate the Oculus deal

In case you haven't noticed, developers and backers of the Kickstarter-funded Oculus Rift are furious over the company's sale to Facebook. I'm convinced a good portion of this vitriol is specifically coming from the Internet's tendency to hate change, particularly in things that were, at least in theory, created by the Internet.

The Wearables are Coming!

In Sci-Fi, the world is frequently portrayed to be taken over by computers. Interestingly, in fiction, the computers that take over the world appear in humanoid form, either as physical humanoids as in "The Terminator" or the "I, Robot" or, the human like "Agent Smith" in the Matrix trilogy. READ MORE

WearScript: A JavaScript environment for Google Glass

Google Glass development is evolving beyond Android, as an open-source JavaScript framework opens the wearable platform to new software and hardware possibilities. READ MORE

Why the Moto 360 will succeed where other smartwatches failed

Google is making its push to bring Android to wearable devices official, announcing the Android Wear project to extend its mobile OS to smartwatches and releasing a developer preview. READ MORE

Google announces Android Wear project, launches wearable developer preview

There are some big differences between the Moto 360 and every other wearable: no buttons to push or touchscreens to swipe thanks to a user interface (UI) designed for voice commands. At the core of wearable design is hands-free functionality. The Moto 360 and Android Wear is a breakthrough because, until now, interaction with every other programmable wearable occupied both hands, one to position the wrist-worn device and the other to press a button or swipe a tiny LCD touch screen. At the heart of the design is cutting the time between the user’s intent and action with voice commands. Its design is not only technically sophisticated; it is smart-looking and fashionable. READ MORE

The Future of Wearable Tech & Why You Need to Care

The term “Wearables” has got to be my favorite buzz word that is “blowing up“ all over the place. Everyone is using the term and talking about “Wearable tech“, but like “Big Data“ few people actually have a clue what wearable tech REALLY means for industries or our personal lives. While ABI Research predicts that this year, about 90 million wearable devices will be sold this year mostly in the health & fitness, wearable tech goes far beyond Fitbits and Google Glass. READ MORE

Wearable Computing: Sussing Out the Frontiers of Nonprofit Technology

What’s the use of being in San Francisco if you can’t check out some cutting edge tech conferences now and then? That’s one reason I went to the Wearables DevCon Conference last week to see what’s really going on in the frontier of nonprofit technology: wearable devices. READ MORE

On the Ground at Wearables DevCon

Recently, I got the opportunity to attend the Wearables DevCon conference in Burlingame presented by the folks at BZ Media. Yes, wearables are all the rage these days, with the media proclaiming praise for the possibilities wearables present, as well as the speculators in finance looking for the next big thing to pour money into. READ MORE

Sensors look to put a step in immersive gaming

For a more immersive gaming experience, try putting a sensor in your shoe. READ MORE

Wearables DevCon attendees sound off about the next generation wearables

Wearable tech continues to grow, but as it moves past its infancy, some changes need to be made. Pearl Chen, technologist at Karma Laboratory, surveyed 40 students during her tutorial "Prototyping New Wearable Experiences with Soft Electronics and Arduinos" at Wearables DevCon, asking what they'd like to see more and less of . According to the crowd, it's time to shed the "baby fat" off smartwatches and learn that sharing is important than patents. They also want to end the struggle against battery life and see less of the same thing repackaged. For more insight into the findings, check out this infographic.

Wearables DevCon: Thought-reading and other reasons why the future will be freaky!

Since wearable computing devices such as FitBit, Jawbone and others are in the news these days, last week I crossed the bay to attend BZ Media’s first-ever Wearables DevCon in Burlingame. The small conference had an informal feel and a small group of exhibitors, but I came away with a sense that the potential for this market is explosive. READ MORE

Sony shows SmartEyeglass prototype to developers With Google Glass starting to pick up steam, Sony doesn’t want to get left too far behind.

The Japanese company showed off its SmartEyeglass prototype at the Wearables DevCon conference just outside San Francisco this week, where it was trying to drum up interest among developers, who will need to build applications for the device. READ MORE

CEO of Fullpower Philippe Kahn keynotes at Wearables DevCon

On Thursday, March 6, CEO of Fullpower Philippe Kahn discussed "Vision: Wear them, Forget them. What that means for the Underlying Breakthrough Technology" during his keynote. See some of the highlights in these videos. READ MORE

Google Glass Success Depends on Niche Apps

Prototyping applications will be key to the success of Google Glass and other wearable glasses, speakers at Wearables DevCon said today. The conference, being held March 5-7 near San Francisco, is designed for wearable makers, software developers, and app creators trying to pick up practical technical knowledge. READ MORE

Wearables DevCon: The ideas behind Google Glass

If we were all chickens, it might be easier to design interfaces for wearables devices. So said Jenny Murphy, developer programs engineer at Google, in her keynote address at the Wearables Developer Conference this morning in San Francisco. READ MORE

Got Wearable Tech? Then You Need Apps! Wearables DevCon Exceeds Expectations

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 5, 2014 — The first edition of the WearablesDevCon kicked off today and it has proven to be extremely popular. So popular that the promoters, BZ Media, announced that next year’s event will be moving to a larger facility to accommodate the expected increase in attendance. This year’s event was originally set for 500 registrants. Instead, there were over 1,200! They will also be changing the name from “Wearables DevCon” to “Wearables TechCon” to better reflect the focus of the event. READ MORE

BZ Media’s Wearables Developer Conference to Expand in 2015

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 5, 2014 — BZ Media LLC today announced a significant expansion of Wearables DevCon™, the technical conference and expo for software developers, builders and designers of wearable computing devices. The announcement was made onsite today at the first Wearables DevCon, which blew through its projected 500 attendees with registrants exceeding 1,200. READ MORE

SD Times Blog: One ring to rule all the devices

One Ring to rule them all; One ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. READ MORE

Samsung unveils software development kits

Following the Mobile World Congress announcements of Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Samsung Gear 2, the company introduced software development kits (SDK) to accompany the new devices. The company also announced an SDK for its Gear Fit, an upgraded Samsung Mobile SDK 1.5 and an S Health SDK. The company says they will continue to provide SDKs for their mobile devices in order to maintain collaborative relationships with development partners and present customers with great content and services. READ MORE

SD Times Blog: A fashion-friendly alternative Google Glass

Google Glass comes in different colors, can be used as sunglasses and is also available as a prescription lens, but according to one company, technology like it forces users to sacrifice personality and style. READ MORE

Pebble shows off easy app Development and Integration

Pebble, which started as a humble Kickstarter campaign, continues to evolve with the rollout of its new Pebble Steel smartwatch and App Store, which already features mainstays Yelp, Pandora, and ESPN. The catalog of apps should grow exponentially as developers get acclimated to the increasingly popular wearable technology. READ MORE

SD Times Blog: Apple patents headphones to track fitness and healt

Health and fitness wearables may seem like a new trend, but Apple has been interested in the niche for years. The company was just awarded a patent, filed in 2007, by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a “Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets.” READ MORE

SD Times Blog: Google Glass Do’s and Don’ts

Google Glass explorers have been living in a state of augmented reality for over two years. But as the program expands to more developers while the product inches toward a late 2014 wide release, Google is answering more and more questions about the wearable computing devices. READ MORE

Fitness enthusiasts design a wearable for your ankle

Working out has always been a passion for husband Jimmy Leu and wife Beatrice Chu. But Chu, being an devoted cyclist, had a hard time finding a wearable fitness device to accurately track and monitor all of her workouts. Leu, with a master’s degree in electrical engineering (along with a strong background in image-processing development and mechanism design), set out to find the perfect wearable wristband for his wife. But, he found that the wristbands on the market only detected movement through the swinging of arms, which don't sufficiently track data when riding a bike, according to their Kickstarter page. READ MORE

Wearables DevCon Wants To Teach Developers About The Next Wave Of Computing

Designers and developers interested in creating apps for wearable tech will want to mark Wearables DevCon on their calendar. Located in San Francisco, Wearables DevCon will run from March 5–7, 2014 and is being organized by the same team behind the successful AnDevCon (The Android Developer Conference). READ MORE

Join Glass Explorer Jeris JC Miller at Wearables DevCon

Learn to develop top-notch apps for at . The time to learn how to do right is now! 

Check out these Google Glass tutorials:

• Filming and Broadcasting with Google Glass —
• Transitioning from Android to Google Glass —
• Hardware Glassware: Building Bluetooth-Enabled Accessories for Glass — Zack Freedman  
• Wearable Hacking with Raspberry Pi, Google Glass, Motors and Camera — Mark Scheel

Event Preview – Wearables DevCon 2014

Read why Cameron Graham of TechnologyAdvice is excited for the first-ever Wearables DevCon! READ MORE

Mobile data traffic to skyrocket by 2018

For the first time Cisco added wearables to its annual mobile traffic report. It reported 21.7 million wearable devices globally in 2013, and predicted the number will grow to 176.9 million by 2018. READ MORE

Apple seeks a change for charging batteries

One of the biggest challenges companies face when trying to deliver wearable technology is battery life. A customer is unlikely to pick a product that dies a couple of hours between charges.

According to The New York Times, one company could be experimenting with different approaches to improve and reinvent the battery: Apple. READ MORE

The next wearable trend: Books?

Wearable technology is already on your face and wrist, and it’s popping up in some new way, shape or form seemingly every day. Now there’s even such a thing as a “wearable book.” READ MORE

Google Glass will be widely available by late 2014

Google’s wearable computing glasses will be available to consumers by late 2014, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. READ MORE

Google contact lenses can keep track of diabetes

What if there was an easier way for people with diabetes to test their glucose levels other than pricking their fingers several times a day?

Google is developing a smart contact lens that measures glucose levels in tears "using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material," according to a blog post by Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, the project’s cofounders. READ MORE

A list of wearables development resources just for you!

Looking to develop apps for the hottest wearable devices out there, or maybe some up-and-coming ones? Then check out this convenient list of wearable device SDKs, the GDK, and technologies to help the development process. If you see something we missed, please tweet the device or technology you'd like to see added and the link to the developer page. We'll add it! READ MORE

Keynotes Announced for Wearables Developer Conference

BZ Media LLC today announced the keynotes for Wearables DevCon™ a technical conference and expo for software developers, builders and designers of wearable computing devices.

The three-day conference takes place in Burlingame, CA, March 5-7, 2014. It begins with one day of intensive workshops, followed by two days of more than 30 technical classes. The conference will include a tabletop exhibit area for companies selling products and services for Wearable device builders and app developers. More than 500 app developers, software engineers and product designers are projected to attend Wearables DevCon. READ MORE

Patent filing reveals Samsung’s eyewear plans

On the heels of news that Microsoft is testing a prototype eyewear device similar to Google Glass, it looks like Samsung has wearable computing glasses in the works as well.

The Wall Street Journal discovered a Korean design patent filed this month categorized as “sports glasses.” The picture below, from the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service, shows one glaring difference between this device and Google Glass: an attached USB. READ MORE

Microsoft testing eyewear to rival Google Glass

Microsoft is testing prototypes of Web-connected wearable devices similar to Google Glass, but the technology is far from ready.

A source told the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft is asking Asian component manufacturers to supply cameras and other technology for the eyewear, but the device may never reach mass production. READ MORE

Dueling fitness smartwatches from Adidas and Nike

A day after Nike announced the Nike Fuelband SE, its latest wristband fitness tracker with improved tracking and new neon colors, Adidas fired back with its own offering.

The Fuelband SE, priced at US$149 and set for release on Nov. 6, will now have to compete with an as-yet-unnamed Adidas smartwatch announced at the GigaOM Mobilized conference, set for a Nov. 1 launch. READ MORE

Wearables: A technological revolution, and a conference

Once the stuff of science-fiction shows and , wearable devices are now becoming reality. While still in its infancy, wearable technology is already poised to redefine the technological landscape, and the newly announced Wearables Developer Conference will gather the developers behind it into a unified industry.

Taking place from March 5–7 in Burlingame, Calif., Wearables DevCon will bring together more than 300 app developers, software engineers and product designers for intensive tutorials, technical classes, product exhibitions and services. READ MORE

The Google Gem smartwatch is coming

Google is poised to make the next big splash in wearable technology, courtesy of its forthcoming Google smartwatch, reportedly called the Gem.

A source told 9to5Google that the company is putting the finishing touches on the product, which may be announced in tandem with Android KitKat 4.4 on Oct. 31. READ MORE

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