According to app analytics firm App Annie, Google’s $35 Chromecast dongle is now the most popular connected device in the U.S. Based on analysis of the top apps associated with connected devices across iTunes and Google Play, the Chromecast app experienced the most downloads, followed by Fitbit, DirecTV, HP ePrint, Kodak Kiosk Connect, Square Register, GoPro, AT&T U-verse, DISH Anywhere, and HP All In One Printer Remote. Gartner predicts 26 billion connected devices globally by 2020. Continue reading Google Chromecast Now Most Popular Connected Device App

Google Fit, a health data aggregation service, is expected to launch at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco next week. The service will compete with Apple’s new HealthKit app framework, which launched last week. It will also compete with Samsung’s Sami, a similar biometric data platform. Google Fit aims to store data from wearable activity tracking devices — including Fitbit, Jawbone UP and Nike FuelBand — along with the related smartphone apps.

Continue reading Google to Launch Health Data Aggregation Service Google Fit

Apple plans to release its newest version of iOS this year, and its biggest feature is expected to include integrated health and fitness tracking. This latest development indicates Apple will likely introduce the iWatch, sources say, and iOS 8 will also feature a new app currently codenamed “Healthbook.” The app and wearable combination is said to be able to monitor fitness statistics, track weight loss, and keep an eye on users’ vital signs like blood pressure and hydration levels, among other indicators. Continue reading Apple iOS 8 Rumored to Feature Health and Fitness Monitoring

At a panel provocatively titled “The Sixth Sense is Digital,” several wearables pioneers gathered to discuss the evolving changes and direction of the burgeoning industry. NeuroSky CEO Stanley Yang started it off with a series of important questions: “First, you have to ask — do I need to wear anything? If I do, what’s helpful? After motion tracking, what do you do with it? Who can design the next wearable technology for the masses with the functions we need?” Continue reading CES Panel: Sixth Sense is Digital, Say Wearables Innovators

Even a cursory look at the news coming out of CES makes it clear that wearables have garnered a lot of the buzz. Smartwatches, augmented reality headsets, digital health solutions and fitness tracking monitors are all the rage here. What’s not clear is if wearables will ever intersect with the entertainment industry. Although the question itself may seem risible, it’s worth remembering that most people dismissed the mobile phone as an entertainment device only a few years ago. Continue reading Will Wearable Tech Have a Future in Entertainment Media?

Smart TVs and appliances, 4K displays, cars with built-in mobile technology and wearable devices are all the rage at this year’s CES, and technology-loving consumers are lining up, wallets in hand, to make big purchases. But what’s most likely to capture the attention of millennials isn’t a 105-inch TV or a refrigerator that can send text messages, but wearable devices that are affordable, stylish and truly convenient alternatives or aides to the smartphones and other devices we already own. Continue reading CES 2014: What Millennials Will Be Talking About and Buying

On the heels of an announcement that Fitbit has partnered with fashion designer Tory Burch for a range of high-fashion wearables, Fitbit co-founder and CEO James Park spoke to CES attendees about what else is new for the pioneering fitness activity tracker. “Android compatibility is important for us,” said Park. “We’ve worked with Samsung and expanded to 12 more devices. Motion Tracker is a new feature of our iPhone app that gives people an introductory experience to fitness tracking.” Continue reading A Conversation with Fitbit CEO and Co-Founder James Park

Charles and Kai Huang, co-founders of RedOctane (“Guitar Hero”), have teamed with Coleman Fung, founder of OpenLink, to form interactive fitness startup Blue Goji. The company recently launched Goji Play, a $99 set of exercise equipment-friendly game controllers with velcro straps, that encourages users to play games while working out on a treadmill, elliptical machine or stationary bike. An activity tracker measures how quickly you’re moving, and powers game characters. Continue reading Goji Play Transforms Fitness Equipment into a Game Machine

What the introduction of the iPhone was to the world of personal computers, wearable technology may become to the current, rapidly evolving tech landscape. And unlike some industry experts, Cisco Chief Futurist David Evans doesn’t believe the personal computer is on its way out, but rather, it’s becoming more personal — and even smaller. Wearable technology like Google Glass will become prevalent, and other seemingly futuristic advances are right around the corner. Continue reading Wearable Tech Poised to Become the Smartphone’s Successor

Chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor has created the world’s smallest ARM-powered chip (called the Kinetis KL02), which touts 32KB flash with 64 byte flash cache, up to 4KB RAM, a 32-bit processor and multiple flexible low-power modes. Measuring only 1.9 by 2 millimeters, the chip is a full microcontroller unit that includes RAM, ROM and an I/O control unit — all the requirements of a miniature computer. Continue reading Freescale Offers Smallest ARM-Powered Chip in the World

CNET announced the winners of its official “Best of CES” Awards program on Thursday morning. Hundreds of new products were judged by the CNET editors, while the People’s Voice Award was selected by an online audience. This year, both the Best of Show and People’s Voice Awards went to the $999 Razer Edge, a PC gaming-oriented Windows 8 tablet. Other winners included the Lenovo 27-inch Horizon Table PC, Samsung’s 4K UHDTV and the Android YotaPhone with e-ink display. Continue reading CES 2013: Razer Edge Takes Top Awards in CNET Best of CES