Rumors and lighter stories from the week gone by
What a week. We saw the return of Snap Spectacles, rising from the ashes like a phoenix with a second-generation that’s lighter, water resistant and has the ability to take photos.
Then we learned that Fossil is teaming up with Puma to make some sporty smartwatches. It gives Puma the ability to enter the smartwatch fray while also letting Fossil make something a little sportier rather than outright fashionable.
Fitbit was also in the headlines fixing some Versa connectivity issues and adding more apps and Fitbit Pay support to its smartwatch line. But that’s not all that happened this week.
Below, we’ve collected even more news stories for your consumption. As always, if you’re still a little hungry you can head over to our dedicated news section.
Apple’s working on a powerful AR/VR headset
We know Apple is looking forward to the day it can release its own AR headset. We’ve already heard how its got an operating system called rOS that’ll power it, and ARKit is already building out an ecosystem of apps and games.
Now CNET is reporting that Apple is working on a hybrid AR/VR headset that will be powered by its own chips. Sources familiar with Apple’s plans say there’ll be an 8K display for each eye, and that it would be untethered from computers and phones.
Instead, it would work like a wireless version of Magic Leap One. The headset would connect wirelessly to a box that would contain the custom Apple processors. This would likely allow the headset to be powerful, light and thin.
We’ll have to wait a couple years to see this one though, as it would reportedly only be ready as soon as 2020.
Smartwatches fueling Verizon’s growth
Smartphones have long been the key driver of subscriber growth at cellular networks. It’s why all of the ads keep screaming at you that AT&T is the best place for Galaxy or Verizon is the best place for iPhone. Well, that era may be changing.
Verizon’s subscriber numbers surged last quarter, and it was all thanks to smartwatches – not smartphones. Monthly subscribers topped 260,000, skating by analyst estimates of 159,000, reports Bloomberg. As the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE has proved immensely popular, it’s likely – but not certain – that it was one of the main devices driving growth.
US Soccer will not collect wearable data from academies
Earlier this year, US Soccer and STATSports announced a deal that will have all members, from national teams to youth academies, to don wearable trackers. Now, US Soccer has clarified that while it will collect data from the national teams, and while the youth academy players can wear the trackers, it will not collect data from the academies. This is likely to be related to the subject of data privacy and whether there should be access to information related to youth academy players.
OLED light therapy wearable for depression
Depression can be a crippling condition, but now a trio of research groups led by Germany’s Franhofer FEP has created a new wearable aimed at helping treat people.
The wearable uses flexible electronics and emits OLED light at specific wavelengths. If worn on the head, the researchers claim that red and yellow LEDs from the device can help offset depression. It can also be tuned to assist healing on either the arms or legs.
