Tag: wearables

New OMsignal shirt could be the perfect workout apparel.

This OM Biometric Smartwear is a type of wearable tech that has the ability to act as a fitness monitor and can track breathing rate and volume, heart rate, movement intensity and the number of calories the wearer burns, among other tracking features.

The smartshirt wirelessly syncs with your mobile phone.

The shirt is equipped with sensors, which have been sewn directly into the fabric, which allows it to continuously monitor the wearer. The biometric data that is collected is stored on a little “black box” and is sent to an app on the wearer’s phone, enabling them to instantly view their performance stats.

The data gathered by the shirt is continuously streamed in real time to the app, which alerts the user through data reports and visual and audio notifications. Having the ability to track their progress gives the wearer the advantage of being able to improve their performance.

“Clothing has always been about protection and fashion, but it will now also help motivate us to better ourselves every day,” said OMsignal Co-founder and CEO Stephane Marceau.

The wearable tech can be used for more than exercising.

According to the company, the smartwear they have developed is not only for workouts, it can also be used by the wearer to track their health and stress levels in the workplace. Marceau commented that “with OM, you now get a dashboard to better steer your life, to increase your self-mastery, to push your fitness performance, and live a healthier lifestyle.”

The OMsignal shirt can inform the wearer what is going on with their body, giving them the chance to better manage their health and achieve fitness goals. One of the app features called OM RPM displays the user’s present focus level and physical stress, while another feature known as OM Fuel reveals how much energy the user has left.

Currently, the OMsignal shirt is sold for $199 and there are four different styles for men that are available. There is a long-sleeved shirt, a casual T-shirt, sleeveless shirt and an under-shirt. With these diverse and practical options, this wearable technology can be worn on its own or under clothing, giving the wearer the power to conveniently monitor their health whenever they want.

While mobile chips are becoming faster and more powerful, wearables have now upped the ante.

The mobile chips in high end smartphones and tablets are growing faster and ever more powerful, but those devices aren’t astounding consumers who were buying them as fast as they could hit the shelves, so chipmakers may start looking toward wearable technology for their next area of explosive growth.

Wearables could actually provide chipmakers with the challenge that they need for the next few years.

The growth curve could be quite the steep one as long as those companies can provide what is needed in order to make consumers love wearable technology as much as they have come to love their smartphones and tablets. According to principal analyst, Linley Gwennap, from The Linley Group, it is too early to say whether or not chipmakers will actually grab hold of this opportunity, or even if wearables will turn out to be the next big tech trend, as many of the industry giants are hoping.

Currently, the wearable technology remains a market that is moving less than 10 million units per year.

Surveys are currently suggesting that while consumers have initially been attracted to wearables such as fitness trackers, all too many of them are finding themselves forgotten and buried under a pile of other devices that were enjoyed for their novelty but were then forgotten once that had worn off. Furthermore, the best devices – such as some of the smrtwatches that have been launched – are prohibitively expensive for the majority of consumers and end up collecting dust on the shelves.

Gwennap explained that “We’re talking about [US]$200 or $300 for a smartwatch today. That’s kind of a two-spouse decision.” He added that if the doors are to open for the majority of consumers to participate, then wearable devices under the $100 price barrier will need to start becoming available.

He explained that he feels that one of the best ways to move these devices will be to bundle them with smartphones, for example, the case of Samsung Galaxy Gear being sold along with the smartphones as a bundle, so that as little as $50 can be charged for the smartwatch.

Cheaper wearable technology will be dependent on more powerful and yet less expensive chips. Should this be achieved, it could be an area that will be highly lucrative in the not too distant future.