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CES 2016: Skreens transforms your television into a media station

The company’s newest product, the Skreen Plus 4 provides a platform for all mobile devices on one screen.

At CES 2016, it’s not easy to stand out from among the thousands of products and gadgets, but Skreens managed to offer an incredible demo to differentiate itself from the rest of the exhibitors.

The company’s Skreen Plus 4 provides four HDMI input ports and one output to connect all devices to one screen.

The story behind Skreens began with a successful Kickstarter campaign in which it raised more than $470,000 in funding for itself. The result was an awesome demonstration for a product that offers a platform for viewing feed from all your various devices on your television screen. It may sound like a bit of a chaotic mess but its design offers users the ability to organize the display windows to best suit them.

In this way, Skreens can be used to toggle among all devices to give each full screen viewing as desired.

Skreens - Skreen Plus 4 at CES 2016This offers an incredible way to multitask all in one place. Think about it. You can watch a movie, play a game on a console, keep up with a stock or sports ticker and even view a Twitter feed all at the same time. As you want to give each screen priority, you can shuffle from one to the next, resizing windows and moving them around for your customized needs, or simply using pre-created layouts on screen.

Among the components of the demo that was most impressive was the way in which the hubs could be worked into a daisy chain to allow for an even larger number of layout and feed choices. It works smoothly regardless of whether you have four, a dozen, sixteen or more. In fact, the founder and CEO of the company said that if there does happen to be a limit to the number of hubs that can be added, “we haven’t found it, yet.” Moreover, he explained that these feeds can all be run simultaneously without any deterioration in performance, unless it has to do with the WiFi performance in the location. That said, it would not be the result of the Skreen Plus 4 device, itself.

Skreens will start shipping its Plus 4 devices in March, with a two-port option retailing for $249, or a four-port option retailing for $449.

Smart Bra wearable technology launched under OMbra label

A connected apparel maker has now announced its latest form of clothing based wearables.

OMsignal, the wearable technology apparel company, has now announced the launch of two new offerings, one of which is a sports bra that comes with some traditional features as well as sensors that provide feedback on mobile devices.

The OMbra is made out of antimicrobial meshing as well as stretchable fabric into which there are biometric sensors.

These biometric sensors have been worked into the clothing in order to allow it to be used as wearable technology. When worn, the sensors can track various functions such as running economy, heart rate, cadence, and fatigue levels among others. This sports bra works along with the other major offering from OMsignal, which is a running platform called OMrun. It is through that platform that all the various metrics can be observed and tracked.

The OMrun is designed to translate the wearable technology’s feedback inot useful information for the wearer.

Wearable Technology - Image of BraThe OMrun platform also offers the user of the wearables with a “Biometric Coach”. This feature helps to make it possible for a user to see how her latest biometric results compare to some of her previous results as well as with a goal that she has set prior to the run.

While these wearables are clearly designed for a female market, the first launch from the company, back in late 2014, had been meant for male athletes. That was designed in the form of a men’s shirt that has been on the market since that time.

While the products created by OMsignal are quite unique, they are being added to a marketplace that is increasing rapidly in size. Moreover, it is expected to be a category that will see a considerable amount of rapid growth over the next few years, as well. The wearables sector, as a whole, is working hard to reach mainstream status with tech embedded clothing forming a rising part of it.

This suggests that OMsignal is going to be facing an increasing amount of competition over the next few years as more rivals start to make their own product launches.