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Using the electrically conductive single-cell organism known as "slime mold," the researchers created a watch that only works when the organism is healthy, requiring the user to provide it with food and care. They then tested how this living device affected its wearer's attitude toward technology, changing the usual one-way service into a mutually beneficial partnership. The watches were designed and built by Lu to tell time and measure the wearer's heart rate. However, the second function is dependent upon the health and unique characteristics of Physarum polycephalum, a species of slime mold sometimes called "the blob," for its rapid...

We're looking out for new watches from Apple, Google, Fitbit and Samsung throughout 2022. It's shaping up to be a big year for smartwatches. While we're expecting to see typical updates like the next-generation Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch, 2022 might also mark some notable milestones. Google, for example, is rumored to launch its first Pixel Watch in the spring or fall. Fitbit, which Google owns, could also release its first watch running on Wear OS. A Pew Research Report from 2020 says 1 in 5 Americans use a smartwatch or fitness tracker, while Counterpoint Research's data says the...

RUSH: The Drive-By Media and willing accomplices sense that the walls are closing in on President Trump and that more and more of the people around him who were there to protect him are abandoning him, which makes them all believe they’re going to have a clear head shot, political head shot at Donald Trump sooner than later. And we’ll get into the weeds of all this stuff in a minute. But I have to share this with you. For you tech people in the audience, I’ve got a stumper for you. I’ve got an Apple Watch. I have two...

he smartwatch market has hit its first bump, and it’s all Apple’s fault. Vendors shipped a total of 3.5 million smartwatches worldwide last quarter. This Q2 2016 figure is down 32 percent from the 5.1 million units shipped in Q2 2016, marking the first decline on record. .... As you can see above, Apple’s market share decreased 25 percentage points (from 72 percent to 47 percent) and it shipped less than half the smartwatches (1.6 million). But the company still holds almost half the market, with every other vendor shipping fewer than a million units.

Future Interfaces Group, a research lab within Carnegie Mellon University, released a look at a novel solution to this problem: making the skin on your arm and hand act like a touchscreen for your smartwatch. The system uses a signal-emitting ring worn on the finger to communicate with a sensing band attached to the watch. When the finger wearing the ring touches the skin, a high-frequency electrical signal spreads across your arm. It uses the distance between the ring and four pairs of electrodes in the watchband to triangulate the position of your finger in 2D space. "The great thing...

If you went and bought a smartwatch in the last year, there's a really good chance it was an Apple Watch.In all there were 17.1 million smartwatches shipped globally in 2015, according to new data out from Juniper Research on Tuesday. More than 50 percent of those shipments were Apple Watches, or roughly 8.9 million in all. That's even more impressive when you realize that the device was only released at the end of April. Android Wear shipments, on the other hand, made up less than 10 percent of sales for the year.The dominance of Apple surely has something to...

Samsung’s new Gear S2 smartwatch reminds me of an Apple product. No, not the Apple Watch — the original iPod. Its clever spinning bezel, which lets you quickly switch between apps and select things within them, offers some of the same discoverable agility as the iPod’s click-wheel dial. “Elegant” is not the word I’d use to describe my experiences with many smartwatches. But after an hour of trying out the S2 (at this week’s IFA trade show in Berlin), that description seems to fit. Fit and feel The Gear S2 — announced Monday and due in October at an unannounced...

Smartwatches are slowly starting to catch on, and they bring with them a new type of digital distraction that could further shrink attention spans and make for ruder masses. My favorite thing about my smartwatch: I no longer need to take my phone out of my pocket 4,718 times a day to check my notifications — 4,707 of which are completely useless and require no immediate action. Instead, I now quickly check them on my wrist. I can also pick and choose which apps I want to show up in my notifications, so I get only, say, 2,846 of them on...

How is the Fitbit faring against the Apple Watch? We now know, thanks to an upcoming report from 1010data's Ecom Insights. AppleWorld.Today received an advance copy of the report, which will be released next week.In just three months of availability, Apple now has 42% of total dollars sold in the first half of the year followed by Fitbit at 31%. Motorola, Garmin, Jawbone, Polar, Pebble and Samsung combined make up just 15%, according to 1010data's Ecom Insights, which measures what consumers are purchasing online. However, when we look at units, Fitbit is number one with 35% of the market...

Anyone who steals an Apple Watch can -- in about 20 seconds -- simply reset it and make it their own. That's because the way Apple designed the Apple Watch makes it surprisingly easy to override your passcode and completely wipe it clean. You can set up a passcode on the Apple Watch. But -- get ready for this -- anyone can just hold down the "Power Off" button, then select and erase all the data on the Watch. By contrast, the iPhone has certain features that make it less desirable for criminals. If you set it up just right,...

Just over six percent of Americans plan to buy an Apple Watch this year, according to an online poll of 1,829 US adults conducted by Reuters/Ipsos. If accurate, that means Apple could sell as many as 15 million Watches this year, or more than double the total number of smartwatches sold by all manufacturers in 2014. Who are these Watch watchers? Reuter’s interactive polling tool offers an in-depth and occasionally surprising look at the demographics. According to this poll, Apple Watch fans are democratic leaning and college educated, largely male, but not necessarily Caucasian. They own their own homes and...

The Apple Watch puts the iPhone in its proper place—your pocket. I’ve got a utilitarian view of the year’s most-hyped piece of bling. Sapphire crystal and $10,000 gold alloy aren’t what make the Apple Watch the first smartwatch worth buying. What’s valuable is your time. The Apple Watch is a computer built to spend it better. And if you can tolerate single-day battery life, half-baked apps and inevitable obsolescence, you can now wear the future on your wrist. Smartphones gave us the wondrous ability to take the Internet anywhere. But they’re not always productive. In fact, they’ve become like cigarettes,...

I am a die hard defender of wearables. Back in September when I made the switch (one I regret) to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 from my dead iPhone 5, I decided to get a smartwatch. After doing a bunch of research I decided to get the Samsung Gear Fit. As I've written before, I absolutely love this thing. I paid $107 for it and feel like it's been worth every penny. Notifications are fantastic — short, sweet, comprehensive, customizable. It's curved screen and bright display are stylish and attractive. Fitness tracking isn't perfect, but very solid. For $100 this...

It’s been some time since Apple introduced the world to the Apple Watch, it’s first wearable ever. Few devices could hold our attention for so many months without losing their allure, but because it’s Apple, we’ve been following every move since it first appeared onstage in September. Now, the time has finally come to meet Apple Watch. Here’s what we know so far.A note on updates: We’re updating this post with all the news from the March 9 reveal, so keep checking back.Force Touch, Digital Crown, and other ways to interact Tim Cook relieved a lot of people today when...

Hobbyist Patrick Priebe has created a terrifyingly awesome laser watch that will burn through objects from afar The Apple Watch is already obsolete and it isn't even in the shops yet. The reason is simple – it doesn't contain a laser that can actually burn stuff. If that's what you're looking for in a smartwatch, forget about Apple and look towards the work of hobbyist Patrick Priebe. He's knocked together what he describes as the "Bond-inspired laser watch" and it might well consign the Apple Watch to the bin of history. That's because this isn't just some laser pointer that...

In the past week, I’ve been called “Inspector Gadget” twice, had a near-calamitous accident involving spray-on sunblock, and felt my arm vibrate so often I started treating it as a phantom limb. All because I’m part of the latest tech trend, a bona fide phenomenon in Silicon Valley that is inspiring the kind of pants-wetting excitement usually reserved for new iPhones and Grand Theft Auto games. I’m talking about smartwatches—the tech world’s quixotic attempt to mount minicomputers on your wrist. I’ve been wearing two smartwatches for several days apiece, and so far, it’s been an enlightening experience. Though not necessarily...

We've long known that Microsoft is working on a smart watch device, but we had no idea what to expect when it comes to design or features. Now, due to a patent filed by the software company back in 2012, and grant this week, this smart watch could turn out to be something special. The diagrams show that this device will rely a lot on sensors that are designed to read heart rates among other things. Not surprising, because almost every current and future smart watch we know of are designed with reading the user's heart rate in mind. The...

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, is marching toward the next battlefield in its war against Apple. On Wednesday in Berlin, the Korean mega-corporation unveiled the long-anticipated Galaxy Gear, a wearable smartwatch set for release on Sept. 25. Launched a week before Apple reveals its hyped iWatch, Samsung is trying to dispel its image as a “fast follower,” a common label that it imitates other technologies in tried-and-tested markets, rather than innovating on its own. Whether it has effectively achieved that goal is a matter of debate. Most reviewers have doubted that smartwatches will revolutionize electronics...

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. unveiled a smartwatch on Wednesday that works as an accessory to its market-leading Galaxy smartphone, with a small screen offering basic functions like photos, hands-free calls and instant messaging. The world’s top handset maker hopes the Galaxy Gear will boost the appeal of its range of Android-powered smartphones, as it battles to maintain supremacy in the rapidly saturating high-end mobile market against arch rival Apple Inc. Its launch, timed to coincide with the start of the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, also signals the South Korean giant is more than just a fast follower...

Samsung unveiled its highly anticipated digital wristwatch Wednesday, beating Apple to what could become this year's must-have holiday gift item. So-called smartwatches, which can perform tasks such as displaying email and Twitter messages on a device worn around the wrist, have been around for several years but have failed so far to inspire great interest among ordinary consumers. But with smartphone behemoths Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. joining the fray—and Google pushing its Google Glass gadget—experts see a chance of wearable computers breaking into the mainstream. That is, if consumers can get used to talking to their watch, secret...