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The PowerWatch 2 delivers GPS powered by your body heat
When I first heard the pitch for the PowerWatch 2, a GPS running watch that didn't have a 'battery' and generated power from your wrist, I was incredulous. GPS is notoriously power-hungry, as is optical heart-rate tracking. But after a week with the latest PowerWatch, I found the makers have made good on their claims, even if there are more than a couple of caveats. Curious?
Matrix adds a solar cell to its battery-free smartwatch
In announcing the third in its range of battery-free smartwatches, Matrix Industries is going where few others have gone before. Whereas the first two PowerWatches relied upon thermocouples to generate power, the new model has two different ways to get energy. As well as drawing a charge from the heat on your wrist, the PowerWatch 2 will harvest solar radiation to keep itself going.
Matrix shows off its battery-free smartwatch and IoT platform
Matrix is the company behind both the PowerWatch and the PowerWatch X, two timepieces that don't require batteries to work. Both were announced at the same time, but it's taken the X slightly longer to get here, but that's okay because there's a reason for being patient: The PowerWatch X, while still using the heat from your wrist to generate power, is also capable of offering up smartwatch notifications.
Matrix PowerWatch hands-on: The promise of a world without chargers
When Matrix co-founder Douglas Tham handed me my review unit of the PowerWatch, I had to fight the instinct to ask for a charger. This thermal-powered wearable doesn't need one -- it gets energy by converting your body heat into electricity. It's been a year since I saw an early prototype of the PowerWatch -- a smart(ish) watch that tracks basic fitness metrics. Now, the self-proclaimed energy-harvesting company is finally ready to ship PowerWatches to the early adopters who backed its Indiegogo campaign. I spent some time with this first-generation watch in all its chunky, rugged glory and, while I still wish it were smaller and did more, I find its potential compelling.
POWER Watch fan controller with LCD gauges
Racing fans everywhere will surely appreciate the new "POWER Watch" fan controller from Japanese manufacturer Scythe, which displays all of your PC's vital signs on a large, tachometer-like LCD, and which would perfectly complement your NASCAR-branded desktop from Cisnet. Besides letting you tweak fan speeds and constantly monitor your machine's health, the POWER Watch also includes Powered USB capabilities, a few connectivity ports and a handful of memory card slots, which actually seem to be more of a necessity when you consider how this monster will hog all of your free drive bays.
