Tag: wearable tech

Wearable tech uses geolocation features to track kids

| July 17, 2014

GPS enabled devices allow parents to gain peace of mind by knowing where their children are.

One of the largest worries that parents carry with them all the time is whether or not their children are where they should be, and now wearable tech products are taking on that issue by using geolocation to allow guardians to be able to track the whereabouts of the kids under their care.

These GPS tracking units are designed to provide worried parents with peace of mind.

Since wearable tech has been exploding in products for adults or even pets, it makes sense that devices for children would start making their way to the market shelves, as well. The kidsport GPS is now available for pre-order and comes in the form of either a wristband or an ankle bracelet with promises to give parents an idea of where their kids are located at any given time.

The company behind this wearable tech claims that there is nothing else like it available to parents.

wearable tech tracks childrenAccording to Jason Hicks, the developer of this mobile device, “We did a lot of research and found out there just isn’t anything like this.” These gadgets are waterproof and are available in different bright colors. Moreover, it also comes with a number of emergency features. There is a panic button that children can push in case of abduction, which will send an alert to parents. Parents also receive a notification in the case the wearables are ever removed or cut off. They are compatible with iPhones, iPads, and Android based devices.

The product is being marketed as a device that will give children the freedom that they deserve and that was available to their parents when they were small, but it will still give those parents the ability to know that their kids are where they should be. The advance sale price for these wearables is currently listed at $129.

Soon enough, these will be far from the only child tracking wearable tech devices that will be available to parents. LG Electronics has also unveiled their LG KizON which will be available in North American and Europe in the fall. That brand is already well into the wearables market with their LG G smartwatch as well as their LG Lifeband Touch. Their child focused product will operate for 36 hours on one charge and will function on 2G, 3G and WiFi networks.

iWatch development team may now include 2 former Nike Fuelband experts

| July 16, 2014

This hiring only adds a larger amount of certainty that Apple is indeed pouring itself into wearable tech.

The latest technology news with regards to the iWatch is now crossing over with the announcement that Nike made earlier this year that it would be downsizing its Fuelband team as it changed its focus from having been on hardware toward software, instead.

This caused many to believe that the Fuelband would soon be finished, but it opened up an opportunity for Apple.

At the same time that nobody seems to know whether or not Nike will be moving ahead with its own wearable technology, Apple appears to be snatching up the former members of the Fuelband team and many are justifiably assuming that those individuals are being added to the experts working on the so called iWatch. The latest in hiring in this field has included two of the execs that had been a part of the efforts for the fitness band, and who are likely now placing their focus on the first smartwatch from the iPhone maker.

The two new members to the assumed iWatch team include Jon Gale and Ryan Bailey formerly of Nike Fuelband.

iWatch - mobile technologyThese two experts in mobile technology is only helping to add more fuel to the very powerful fire regarding rumors of a smartwatch that the industry believes will be released by Apple as early as October of this year. As is the policy of that electronics company, no official announcements or confirmations have been made regarding the device, as they never speak to any future developments until the official unveiling.

That said, the types of announcements that Apple has made, in combination with the patents that have been purchased and the type of hiring that they have done has made it so that there is little doubt left that some form of device in the wearables category is on its way.

Gale had been a Senior Firmware Engineer on the Nike team and has now been hired by Apple as a Sensing Systems Engineer. Bailey was at Nike as a Senior Test and Validation Engineer but is now a Mechanical Design Engineer at Apple. Both are presumably working on the iWatch.