Tag: wearable tech

While power pack technology is continually improving, it won’t be for a long while before it makes it to devices.

There is no doubt that wearables are going to continue to be produced and are evolving very rapidly, but the one thing that doesn’t seem to be changing is their need for backup battery packs.

Because of that, many in the industry say the value of the devices will need to improve significantly.

The short lifespan of the built-in batteries means that regular users of devices such as smartwatches will need to get used to carrying portable battery packs with them in order to ensure that they don’t run out of juice before the end of the day. For that reason, the device makers behind wearables like that will need to step up their game and prove to users that the gadgets are well worth the extra effort.

Fortunately, innovation is far from running dry in wearables, so battery packs are likely here to stay.

Battery life is one of the main concerns of the wearable technology industry at the moment. While designers and manufacturers are attempting to be able to create products that will impress, they’re also trying to do so in a way that will last for a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, the current market appears to be swamped with devices that run slowly, that contain software that doesn’t have much of a “wow” factor, and that aren’t all that attractive as something to be worn on the body. This is improving, but battery power isn’t.

Since the technology for making sure wearables last longer between charges doesn’t seem to be getting better at much of an impressive rate, many in the industry are recommending that the companies behind these wearable technology devices focus on different features. The improvements to the lifespan will happen, but that looks like it will be a long way off. Therefore, the key to success at the moment seems to be in making sure the devices themselves are worth the added effort of charging more frequently.

By making wearable technology as important to users as their smartphones, they will be certain to think that carrying battery packs and connecting to them now and again will be well worth keeping the smartwatches on their wrists.

The company behind the popular app is reportedly hiring experts in the field of wearables.

Some of the latest reports about Snapchat are now revealing that the company has started hiring wearable technology experts not for the purpose of creating a mobile app, but that are instead focused on the creation of hardware.

This is interesting because it would take the company well out of the current limits of mobile software.

While the initial assumption had been that Snapchat was looking to create mobile apps that would be supported by wearable technology, the discovery that the hires they’re seeking are not necessarily focused on software, but that are actually in the hardware category, has changed this prediction altogether. This has sent the rumor mill spinning and many speculations are that the company is seeking to make its own device, more specifically in the form of smartglasses.

The Snapchat app is exceptionally popular and using it through wearable technology could be interesting.

At the moment, this social network boasts more than 100 million daily users that make up its user base. By adding wearables to the mix, it could break away from its current format in quite the unique direction.

Among the more notable hires that have already been made in the wearables hardware category are: Mark Dixon, who was a Microsoft HoloLens recruiter; as well as Eitan Pilipski, who had been a part of the Qualcomm Vuforia team that was focused on creating augmented reality computer vision tech. He was hired in January as the engineering director.

While this strategy by Snapchat is quite interesting and will be new to the company, it won’t entirely be a first in the social media world. Facebook did, after all, make the $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014. Still, the willingness of Snapchat to take a new direction with wearable technology that remains primarily untested is quite a striking move and is one that is quite likely to keep the social app in the spotlight for quite some time. These rumors are further supported by indications that Snapchat would be making moves in the wearables market for some time now, through research and startup acquisitions.