
This week's Baselworld has showered us with smartwatch news. From Hugo Boss to Tommy Hilfiger to Fossil and Movado, everyone's getting in on the Android Wear game, joined by a lineup of equally intriguing hybrids from Alpina, Marc Jacobs and more.
Elsewhere, of course, Apple and Samsung were still making headlines. Apple debuted some new spring bands for the Apple Watch while Samsung unveiled some cool concepts of its own at Basel, including a hybrid pocket watch, and gave the Gear S3 Classic an LTE edition.
There was a ton of news but, believe it or not, there are a few more nuggets to explore.
Apple Watch may soon have a driving mode
The snoopers over at 9to5Mac have uncovered a new Apple patent that hints at a driving mode for Apple Watch. Basically, the Apple Watch would detect when you're driving based your motion and change how notifications are handled.
Once the Watch knows you're driving it would change what notifications are sent to you, how many notifications you can receive and where you can receive them. For instance, if you've got your iPhone connected to Car Play and an Apple Watch, all your notifications will be routed to Car Play and not on your Watch. Using an Apple Watch while driving is definitely a no-no, and if Apple can figure out a way to make it less appealing to check out the watch while driving then all the better.
Siri and Alexa are dueling for hotel supremacy
Alexa has already made her way into hotels, like the Wynn Las Vegas, but it sounds like she may have some competition as your virtual assistant. Bloomberg reports that Apple and Siri are making a push to challenge Amazon in hotels.
Marriott is currently testing devices powered by each that would allow customers to turn off the lights, open the window shades, control the temperature and change the channels on the TV. Two AIs enter, one AI leaves.
This battle is still in its infancy, since Alexa seems to have the advantage of simple hardware that can be easily plugged into any room of your choice. While Siri is attached to Apple TV and iPhones and iPads. Things'll get really interesting once Apple's rumored Echo competitor is unveiled.
Researchers' new wearable detects dangerous chemicals
When you're working in a lab creating herbicides, insecticides and nerve agents you've got to work with some extremely dangerous chemical compounds, specifically one called organophosphates.
These should never come into direct contact with humans, and so researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a new flexible glove wearable that can detect these dangerous organophosphates on objects.
Each finger is given a different function: the thumb detects nerve agents, the index finger detects enzymes and the other fingers can be set to do other kinds of electrochemical biosensing.
A Bluetooth-connected Casio G-SHOCK Gravitymaster
Casio's G-SHOCK Gravitymaster GPW1000 is a popular watch for pilots. The hybrid watch's GPS and radio system automatically updates the timezone for them in-flight and its ability to track latitude is beloved.
At Baselworld, Casio announced a slight update to the watch. Now the new Gravitymaster GPW2000-1A will also track longitude and, even better, include Bluetooth so that they can sync over pilot data. That means the watch will record "Mission Stamp," keeping track of time and location and transferring it to a companion app.
The new Gravitymaster GPW2000-1A will arrive in May for $800.
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