Tag: wearable devices

The company has now jumped into the wearables market with its own version of a smartband gadget.

Lenovo has now joined the latest entrants into the wearable technology market, as it has now unveiled its  through a quiet addition of the device to its official website.

The Chinese company has clearly taken the popular focus of health and fitness for its new wearables.

The description on the official website says that this wearable technology will help a wearer to be able to track his or her sleep, daily exercise and heart rate. At the same time, it provides the user the opportunity to customize the notifications that he or she receives through the device in order “to improve both work and life efficiency and automatically log in on a PC without entering a password.”

Clearly, there is more than one component to this wearable technology and they have stepped beyond mhealth.

The fitness component of these wearables allows a wearer to be able to track his or her daily calories burned, distance travelled, and the number of steps that have been taken. At the same time, though, it can provide the owner with notifications of the receipt of texts, calls, and appointment reminders. The device also has a “smart” feature, that gives users the ability to automatically unlock their PC when they are within a certain proximity range.

The weareables have yet to be released, but a filing to the FCC was made earlier in October and was spotted online. That said, Lenovo has yet to actually release any of the specific details about the product launch, including where the smartband will be sold, in what regions it will be available, at what its price will be sold, or when the exact release date will be.

This device came as a surprise to some, as many expected that Lenovo would be entering into the wearable technology category with a different type of product, altogether. This is because the company had unveiled a smart glasses product back in July, which would place it in a wearables category that would rival Google Glass as opposed to wrist-worn gadgets.

Medical experts warn that wearable devices could be dangerous to a user’s health.

The arrival of wearable technology may be exciting for many consumers, but some doctors and scientists are not as thrilled about the idea of this technology becoming popular because, according to Fox News, some medical experts say that those who wear these devices are putting their health at risk.

The concern is that wearables will increase a person’s exposure to radio waves.

Due to the fact that it is likely that those who use wearable devices, such as health monitors, fitness trackers, smartwatches, smartglasses, etc. are already using other mobile devices like tablets, smartphones or laptops, at the same time, this can increase their exposure to radio waves.

The director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the UC Berkeley Prevention Research Center School of Public Health, Joel M Moskowitz, Ph.D, said that “Wi-Fi is very similar to cellphone radiation. You definitely don’t want to put these devices near your head or near your reproductive organs” for long periods of time.

Wearable technology is more likely to result in sustained RF exposure despite Bluetooh technology.

Since many scientific studies have already alerted consumers and industry leaders to the fact that various devices emit microwave radiations, the majority of tech companies have resorted to using Bluetooth technology in an effort to avoid health risks. Bluetooth emits lower radiofrequency (RF) levels in comparison to other gadgets that heavily rely on Wi-Fi and most wearables use this technology.

According to Cloud Tweaks, a leading Cloud informational portal, the chairman of Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Hugh Taylor, noted that even though most wearables utilize Bluetooth tech, which has decreased radio waves, the energy emitted from the devices can still build up in the body.

Taylor said that “I worry that wearables may increase our total exposure.” He added that “All that radiation will be adding up. Wearables are something more likely to keep on your body, so you’re more likely to have a sustained exposure.”

In spite of the concern medical experts may have regarding wearable technology and the potential health threat they pose in regard to increased RF exposure, further study is needed.