All the industry whispers and lighter stories from the past week
Welcome to And finally, the place where we round up some of the rumours and lighter stories from the past seven days.
It’s been another busy week in the world of wearable tech, with the Misfit Path hitting shelves, an FCC filing showing off Snap Spectacles 2.0 and Garmin receiving a new rival in the form of the Amazfit Stratos.
But what else has been on the bubble this week? Read on to find out.
Nike to begin testing connected shoes
After experimenting with connected jerseys for the NBA, Nike is set to begin testing a connected shoe.
According to SportTechie, NikePlus members in New York City will be able to purchase the company’s first connected sneaker — the AF1 NikeConnect QS NYC — via the Nike SNKRS app, with an embedded NFC chip allowing for exclusives when scanned with a smartphone.
Among these opportunities includes access to a program called The Choice, which gives users the option select between exclusive footwear drops around New York, as well as more events throughout the city.
It’s no surprise that Nike is using its Connect platform to gamify the shopping experience, rather than delve into tracking smarts like Under Armour, though just where things progress from here, and if more cities are in line to receive the connected treatment, remains to be seen.
Huawei Watch could feature snappy bands
We already know the Huawei Watch 3 is in the works, but a patent uncovered by Android Headlines appears to suggest the Chinese company is working on a new fast-changing band feature.
The filing’s images don’t show off anything too drastic with regard to the mechanism, though the method suggested does note that the quick release spring can be moved into the watch housing instead of being part of the watch band.
Naturally, it’s important to stress that any ideas hinted through patent applications may never see the light of a production line, but this minor design tweak is the kind of thing that could realistically make an appearance on the next Huawei smartwatch. If it does, expect the company to begin emphasising band customisation in the same way Apple and Fitbit have over recent years.
Roland’s recorder works with Apple Watch
Roland has launched its new high resolution audio recorder and among the features is Apple Watch support so you can take tinker with settings straigh from your wrist.
The R-07 packs in stereo microphones and can deliver recordings at up to 24-bit/96 kHz resolution or up to 320 kbps in MP3. It also serve up simultaneous recordings at different volume levels and wirelessly stream audio to a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
Where the Apple Watch comes into play is that when you are away from your recorder you can monitor levels and adjust settings to make sure you get good quality audio.
Tracker study shows Americans inactivity
Researchers at the University of Southern California have found that those in the US are more likely to overestimate their activity than those in the Netherlands and England.
The study, which took 540 participants from the US, 748 people from the Netherlands, and 254 from England, used fitness trackers to log how active each individual was over a week-long period, before then asking them to self-report on a five-point scale ranging from inactive to active.
The findings showed that Americans had a tendency to overestimate their activity, while actually being much less active than the English and Dutch. Those in the US were also more likely to rate themselves on the extreme ends of the scale, while the two European countries featured participants that would centre themselves on the five-point scale.
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