Smartphone maker Oppo enters wearables market with Watch 41mm

MANILA - Oppo, one of the world’s largest vendors of smartphones, launched its first entry into the wearables market in the Philippines with the Watch 41mm. 

The company, which is known for selling budget-friendly to mid-end smartphones, said the Watch 41mm boasts of new features not found in other smartwatches. 

The smartwatch features a rectangular aluminum alloy frame and a 1.6-inch AMOLED display, which is visible even under direct sunlight, Oppo said. 

It uses the Wear OS2 by Google, which was customized by Oppo.

Oppo Watch 41mm has an intelligent feature that matches the device's watch face to the user’s outfit, the company said.

It also features Oppo’s proprietary VOOC Flash Charging which can charge the watch’s battery to 30 percent in 15 minutes, according to the company. This battery level is enough for a full day's use, Oppo said. 

“OPPO Watch 41mm delivers smartwatch power and a battery life of up to 24 hours when in smart mode and can even be extended to 14 days in Power Saver mode,” the company said.

The smartwatch can switch between 2 processors depending on the usage. It uses a Snapdragon chip for high-performance tasks and an Apollo3 chip when in power saver mode. 

Industry tracker IDC reported that as of June this year, Oppo was the fifth largest smartphone vendor in the world behind Huawei, Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi. 

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Apple considering expansion into wearable glasses: report

Apple Inc. is considering expanding into wearable glass headsets and has talked about the project with potential suppliers, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The wearable headset would show images, along with other information and may use augmented reality, according to the report.

Chief Executive Tim Cook, who has been struggling with a slowdown in iPhone sales in recent quarters, said earlier this year that the company would continue to invest a lot into augmented reality.

Apple, the world's largest technology company, has ordered a small number of near-eye displays for testing but has not obtained enough for production on a larger scale, the report added.

Apple declined to comment.

The move would make Apple the latest tech company to venture into wearable glasses.

Alphabet Inc.'s discontinued its own wearable glass headset, Google Glass, and closed the social media account linked to the device earlier this year, ending its attempt to popularize the expensive devices with consumers.

The device received plenty of attention when it was launched in 2012, but quickly ran into problems with its awkward appearance and privacy concerns over video recording.

Snap, an $18 billion company which makes the popular messaging app Snapchat, also launched its own video-camera sunglasses last week.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

This belt can help you lose weight

LAS VEGAS - Wearable tech can sometimes cut right to the chase: that's the case with "Belty," a smart belt unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show which aims to help people lose weight.

With its embedded sensors, the belt will vibrate when it determines you have eaten too much, and also send a signal when you are sedentary for too long.

The belt also loosens when its wearer sits and tightens on standing, simply sensing body movements.

The prototype device from French-based startup Emiota has garnered considerable attention in the tech and general news media and notched one of the CES Innovation awards at this year's giant Las Vegas tech show.

"If you are sitting at your desk too long, it will vibrate and tell you to get up and take a walk," says Emiota's Carine Coulm

The belt connects to a smartphone app which acts as a fitness "coach," she added.

The belt, expected to be ready for consumers later this year, has been designed initially only for men, in part because the sensors require a thick belt that is more suited to males.

But the startup is working on a female version as well.

"If it is sleeker and thinner it may be interesting for women," said Emiota's Johan Gobba.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com