Sound on the Go: Portable, Sleek Design, Sound Quality and Volume
Two that have Caught My Eye (so far) in terms of portability coupled with innovations that produce quality sound and party level volume when you want it. Libratone “TOO” and POW Audio “MO”
Don’t let their size fool you, both can fill a room with big, reasonably rich, authentic sound. Both not exactly cheap, but affordable. My experience with both of these confirmed their claims.
In their words:
Libratone “TOO” is a wireless speaker made for adventure. You can take it with you wherever you go, indoors or out, and never compromise on sound quality with its 360 FullRoom® technology. The TOO comes ready for action, with 12+ hours of battery time, splash proof design and slim, yet sturdy, frame, meaning it can keep going long after the party stops.
POW Audio “MO” is reimagining speaker construction with the ultra compact Mo, the first expression in a family of expandable, portable Bluetooth speakers. Using POW Audio’s patented WaveBloom™ technology, which expands to create a voluminous wave chamber, Mo brings listeners enhanced bass, loudness, and improved overall sound quality within a super portable, affordable package. When not in use, Mo folds down flat and listeners can pop up Mo and expand its WaveBloom™ chamber to allow for stunning sound quality, deep bass, and huge volume.
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KITSOUND VOICE - One Smart Speaker
KITSOUND VOICE - Smart, Voice command activated, great sound - all for £129.99
Last Gadget Standing finalist
Blending the style of the past with the technology of the future, the Voice One’s component-like sophistication oozes rich sound with stunning clarity – making a statement anywhere you care to appreciate good music.
Developed in collaboration with Amazon, combining the intelligence of Alexa with KitSound’s audio expertise, the Voice One features a stain-resistant Nano coated grill to protect against those little stains and splashes.
With built-in multi-room technology, you can connect up to 8 Voice One speakers together wirelessly. Stream your favourite playlists or connect an external music source to one of the speakers and re-distribute the sound to other speakers via Wi-Fi, allowing you to enjoy your music in every room – regardless if it’s online or a vinyl.
Immerse yourself in the deep, warm, hi-fi audio that’s been carefully hand-tuned to give you the smart speaker you’ve been waiting for.
HEARTGUIDE Wrist Watch - Blood Pressure on the Go, on the Couch, even while you Sleep. Cardiology Department on your Wrist?
I am always seeking what I call “technology enabled, consumer driven change”.
There is growing evidence that health conscious consumers will instigate much of the rapid change in healthcare, rather than organically in the healthcare industry itself. This is effectively where personal emphasis on wellness and preventative healthcare will emerge rather than from the reactive nature of your relationship with your healthcare provider.
So here is one more personal item that could change the dynamics of heart health not just in terms of monitoring vitals, but also in building a very valuable contextual database of clinical data specific to the wearer! Normal Looking, and according to Omron, “Clinically Validated & Accurate”
The HEARTGUIDE Wrist Watch works with a smartphone App and has a long list of vital sign monitoring sensors, but now Omron adds one measurement that has been missing from wrist wearables to date - a Blood Pressure Monitor.
It syncs with the Omron app to track and share vital data about your heart health and keeps track of physical activity and sleep as well.
Currently undergoing FDA testing, available later this year for about the same price as an Apple Watch.
But the real bonus for me came from a discussion I had with Dr. David Albert, MD, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of AliveCor - an affiliate company to Omron Healthcare who I met with on the Omron booth. It is likely that the EKG Atrial Fibrillation sensing and recording of Alivecor’s Kardia Band device will also be incorporated in future versions. Kardia Band is an available product, a clinical grade wearable EKG which is already FDA-cleared and replaces your original Apple Watch® band. It provides access, analysis and data storage of a 30-second EKG anytime, anywhere.
Add that to your personal heart health Database!
A Cardiology Department on your Wrist!
Meater - Fantastic APPcessory for the Kitchen!
My Mantra: "The role of complex technology is to create simplicity." Mission accomplished!
The Meater Wireless Meat Thermometer from Apption Labs creates great results, but now that I have set one up and used it, it delivers great results as well. The slick device plus Smartphone application couldn’t have been easier to use.
This small skewer-like device produces perfectly cooked meat every time, to your specification on BBQ, oven or grill.
Dual sensors monitor internal meat temperature plus ambient temperature inside oven as well.
Simple to setup and simple to use. Connect the thermometer to your phone via Bluetooth. Also works with AppleTV, Kindle Fire and Alexa skill.
Enjoy drinks with your guests, your phone will alert you when your meat is ready!
Smart app on iPhone and Android suggests timing for all types of meat and walks you through every step of the cooking process.
I have one, use it and couldn’t be more pleased with it. And my non-technical gourmet cooking wife loves it too!
PLOTT - Using an AR/VR Appcessory to turn a Creative Idea into Reality in your Home
Saw a really useful measuring device and Smartphone App which lets you spend less time thinking and more time creating your home improvements projects and in decorating your house. Met with Plott Founder and CEO David Xing at CES who demonstrated how the tool allows you to design “virtually” so you can change your design easily without marking up your walls. The Plott brings your design to life by guiding you to points like a GPS so you can then make the change or addition in the real world without any need for measurements or use of math. This reduces the time spent on DIY projects (and risk of error).
Plott takes the real world into the virtual world using AR where you can edit and perfect your idea before bringing it back into the real world. Use Plott to import objects and arrange it the way you want it. Then shows you the hanging points for perfectly level and eye-pleasing finished projects.
And you can then share your projects with the Plott community and also import and use projects from others or download from a product brand.
Throwing a party? Panono Captures it All!
Panono is a throwable panoramic ball camera which captures everything in every direction for amazing 108 megapixel, 360° X 360° full-spherical panoramic images. It has an unprecedented 36 cameras that trigger simultaneously in the air to deliver images that capture every detail in every direction with a super-high resolution of 108 megapixels. 11cm in diameter and weighs 480 grams and connects over WiFi with iOS and Andriod Apps.The Panono Camera is available for preorder.
olloclip Studio, another simple, but great Innovation
Just a few very cleverly designed bits of plastic, but turns an iPhone into a full function camera rig. You don't even need a camera bag for this one, just a pocket or two.
olloclip Studio is the combination of an all-new, more protective case design that incorporates an integrated rail mounting solution and a series of mobile photography accessories. Great for the explorer/adventurer in you that wants to capture the scene and sounds wherever you go but also potentially, all one needs to become a full fledged blogger or news reporter. Great for interviews with a mike and wide angle lens on board your iphone. Case and accessories work together the moment you pick them up so you can focus on capturing the opportunity in front of you and not on building a rig.
olloclip Studio is comprised of the new protective Studio Case to withstand most accidental drops. It also includes an innovative mounting system for standard accessories - mono/tripods, lighting/flash, microphones, plus a portfolio of olloclip macro, wide angle, fisheye and telephoto lenses.
Nice one olloclip. You Caught My Eye again this year!
AromaCare Connected Wellbeing
AromaCare claims this device to be the world’s first connected essential oils diffuser. It allows you to program personalized aromatherapy sessions. Uses organic essential oil blends to improve health and wellbeing in six areas. nice move, but seems a bit restrictive to have to replace the oil reservoir for each type of treatment. Hopefully soon programmable so you could move smoothly from sleep to waking up therepy. Could wearable scent dispensing which reacts to the sensing of conditions be far off? Watch this space!
Augmenting Reality - Add Smell to the Sensory Experience!
13 March 2015 - I have been an outspoken advocate of Augmented Reality needing to be a Five Senses experience simply because our 'reality' experience involves all five, 24/7. I have been working with a stealth start up in the process of bringing context driven fragrance and scent dispensing into the wearable technology space. More on that sometime soon :-)
As a followup to the Wearable Technology Show this past week, I met with Adrian David Cheok, Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University London and Founder and Director of the Mixed Reality Lab in Singapore.
He introduced me to Scentee, a scent spraying APPessory to iOS and Android Smartphones. A bit large to fit in your pocket, but not bad for a first pass at producing smells on demand or remotely over long distances.
Scentee also is the technology for an Oscar Meyer Bacon campaign that made the technology and an APP called "Wake Up and Smell the Bacon" available to lucky contest winners.
Basically when your alarm on your phone goes off, it makes the sizzling sound and produces a puff of the smell of Bacon to get you interested in actually getting up and cooking some!
This all Caught My Eye and my Olfactories!
It's a start...
More to come! Watch this space!
A Wearable with a Mission - OhMiBod
It was inevitable - connected marital aids. I can't really expand on this too much, but I think if I describe some of the functions, you will be able to take it from there. I must admit, the person at the booth certainly understood the use cases!
Stimulation in cadence to heart rate, music, various settings, etc. etc. etc.
Plus remote control stimulation. The world is your oyster! This is definitely a notable step up from the CuteCircuit Hug Shirt!