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Zungle wearable tech delivers sound with sunglasses

| June 24, 2016

Listen to music and make phone calls via sunglasses.

Zungle wearable tech is revolutionizing the sunglasses wearing experience. Zungle Panther is sunglasses equipped with built-in bone conduction speakers and a mic. With this unique gadget, users can listen to music, make mobile phone calls and look stylish while protecting their eyes. Zungle gives users the freedom to be earphone and headphone-free.

Bone conduction speakers transmit sound through the arms of the sunglasses.

The Zungle Panther Bone Conduction speakers are located on the sunglasses at the ends of both its arms. The speakers transmit sound waves to the skull through vibrations. The Bone Conduction technology allows the wearer to listen to music and make phone calls without blocking external sound. This means that they can remain fully aware of their surroundings, hearing everything around them.

According to Zungle, this technology provides a smoother and safer listening experience. The sound quality is supposedly comparable to earphones. Users can expect superior stereo sound quality and enjoy the freedom of no wires.

Zungle wearable tech is both fashionable and practical.

In addition, the shades are equipped with wireless Bluetooth, enabling wearers to pair the wearable technology with their smartphone. There’s also a built-in noise-cancelling microphone, providing a hands-free talking experience. A USB port is also hidden in the sunglasses so the electronic device can be charged.

As for its actual physical design, the wayfarer-style Zungle Panther is lighter than average sunglasses, weighing only 45 grams. The frames are available in five colors (black, grey, white, neon pink and neon green) and the 100% UV400 protection lenses are replaceable and available in seven different colors (black, blue, violet, ruby, titanium, fire, and jade).

Zungle was founded in 2015 and is composed of a team of entrepreneurs, designers and engineers. The company’s products are manufactured in Korea but are designed in the United States. Zungle is currently running a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for its Panther sunglasses and has already reached over $500,000 in funding, far surpassing its initial $50,000 goal. The expected delivery date for the Zungle wearable tech is November 2016 and the expected retail price is $150.

Samsung mobile payments take different direction than rivals

| June 23, 2016

The Korean electronics company sees its wallet app as a way to sell its devices, not fee-based revenue generation.

Samsung mobile payments are taking on rivals in the United States by using a different approach from what already exists. The company explained its goal to use the wallet app to sell smartphones over collecting fees.

This is a drastically different perspective on mobile wallets when compared to top rival, Apple.

Apple uses its mobile wallet as a part of its overall ecosystem. That said, Apple Pay, like other smartphone payment apps, is struggling for widespread and mainstream adoption. Meanwhile, its top competition, Samsung mobile payments, is going in a new direction. Samsung Pay is a strategy to encourage consumers to buy the company’s devices.

As such, this move breaks away from the typical mobile wallet model. Usually, mobile payments generate revenue through fees paid by financial partners and/or merchants. In Samsung’s case, it is an added selling feature for smartphones, tablets and other gear.Samsung Mobile Payments - Samsung phone

Samsung mobile payments will not be collecting usage fees from its financial partners.

Conversely, Apple Pay is a mobile wallet that mainly generates income by requiring its partner banks and financial institutions to pay a small charge for every completed transaction. The actual figure has not been publicly released. Equally, some reports have indicated that in the United States, it is a fee of 0.15 percent of the transaction.

On the flip side, Samsung Pay does not require its financial partners to pay a fee for its use. Instead, the electronics company aims to make it appealing to consumers, merchants and banks. That way, it will become widely available for use and will be a selling feature for its devices. This strategy uses the mobile wallet as a sales feature, not a revenue generator unto itself.

According to Samsung Pay global vice president, Elle Kim, “We’re a hardware company, and at the end of the day I think what we’re trying to do is get people who hold (one of) our phones and use it…to just love it more.” It will be interesting to see how the Samsung mobile payments strategy works against the competition.