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Movano takes on Oura with the Evie smart ring designed 'for women'
Health company Movano has teased its first smart ring, the Evie, designed to track women's health.
Garmin's new smartwatch lets streamers show real-time heart rates
The Garmin Instinct Esports Edition is available now for $300.
Garmin's feature-packed Forerunner 235 GPS watch is just $140 on Amazon
The Garmin Forerunner 235 is on sale for its lowest price ever.
The simple Doppel wearable is built to help you relax
There are wearables, like the Apple Watch and Google's Wear OS devices, that do everything. And then there are wearables that go in the opposite direction, going as minimal as possible. Doppel falls into the latter category -- it looks like a small wristwatch, but instead of telling the time or tracking your steps or sending you notifications, its whole purpose is to calm you down. The wearable is mean to be worn on the inside of your wrist and sends a slight vibration in the same rhythm as a heartbeat. According to Doppel, a vibration rate that's slower than your resting heart rate is meant to help relax you, while one that exceeds your heart rate is meant to energize and focus you.
Livio AI hearing aids are now as smart as most wearables
Among the mountains of sexy technology on the market, it's fair to say that hearing aids don't feature too highly when it comes to innovation and aspirational living. But as Starkey Hearing Technologies demonstrated with its Livio AI device last year, there's a lot to be done in this field -- and now its smart hearing aid has gotten even smarter.
Apple donates 1,000 watches to eating disorder study
The use of Apple Watches in medical studies now includes research into eating disorders. Apple is donating 1,000 smartwatches to a University of North Carolina study (the Binge Eating Genetics Initiative, or BEGIN) that will help understand bulimia nervosa patients and others with binge eating behavior. The wristwear will track heart rates over a month-long period to see if there are any spikes ahead of binging incidents. If there are, it might be possible to alert caregivers and patients before these acts take place.
Google redesigns Fit to get you moving
Sitting kills. Specifically, a sedentary lifestyle can kill you. Google and the American Heart Association want to save your life, or at least, encourage you to be more active. The tech giant is giving the Google Fit app its most serious overhaul since it launched in 2014, and the changes will apply to both the phone (iOS and Android) and Wear OS versions. The redesign focuses on movement and cardiovascular health, aiming to show people that it doesn't take a whole lot to meet scientifically determined weekly goals.
Michael Kors' latest Wear OS watch features a popular design
Michael Kors is going back to its roots for the next model in its ever-expanding Access smartwatch line. It's reviving its long-serving Runway watch as a Wear OS smartwatch, giving it the familiar case and steel bracelet options while throwing in new silicone strap options and, of course, some digital underpinnings. The new Runway models still use the old Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor (a bit ill-timed with Qualcomm's next chip on the way), but they won't be hurting for features. The resurrected Runway includes heart rate monitoring, NFC for Google Pay purchases, GPS tracking and a "swimproof" (3 ATM) design.
AliveCor wearables may detect unsafe potassium levels in the future
AliveCor is working on a new application for the technology behind its KardiaBand for Apple Watch. Last year, the FDA approved KardiaBand as a medical device, and it can record your heart rhythm and report on any rhythmic abnormalities that could be linked to dangerous health issues. Now, The Verge reports, AliveCor is developing a way for its technology to be used to detect high levels of potassium in the blood.
Apple's fitness-focused watchOS 4 is available for download
As you might have guessed, iOS 11 isn't the only treat Apple has in store for its mobile device owners. The tech giant has also released watchOS 4, a major update to the Apple Watch that focuses on the health-conscious crowd. It includes many more workout types, lets you switch activities in mid-workout and will even sync with gym machines to provide consistent data. Also, heart rate monitoring is taking giant strides forward -- watchOS now provides a more detailed history of your heart rate, offers a view of your heart rate from your watch face and will warn you if there's a spike in heart rate when you're inactive.
Fitness wearables will soon diagnose by design, not by chance
Apple has been very busy. This week, on the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, the company unveiled a 4K-ready Apple TV, three new phones and a campus and theater dedicated to late founder Steve Jobs. It also announced the Apple Watch Series 3, which sports a barometric altimeter to track your elevation, can now stream music and connect to a cellular network so you no longer need your phone for all your notifications and calls. But while those additions all sound useful, what really stuck out was a feature that has the potential to save lives.
Apple Watch Series 3 gains LTE for $399
Just a year after the Apple Watch Series 2 was launched onto an unsuspecting public, Apple has updated its iconic timepiece once again. The Apple Watch Series 3 shares a similar case to its forebear, but most crucially, comes with an optional built-in LTE radio. That means that users can now make calls to their friends without the use of their smartphone, letting you finally live all of those Babylon 5 fantasies.
Apple watchOS 4 comes to your wrist September 19th
It won't be too long before you can give watchOS 4 a spin -- Apple has announced that the upgrade will arrive on September 19th for all Watch models. This isn't as dramatic a release as last year's (which added on-device apps and a revamped interface), but it has more than a few tangible improvements, particularly if you're a health or fitness maven -- including a few that weren't known until now.
Polar unveils an affordable heart rate tracking armband
These days fitness trackers tend to multi-task as standard. The likes of the Fitbit Alta HR and the upcoming Gear Fit 2 Pro offer everything from sleep monitoring to calorie-counting -- with Samsung's wearable also reportedly boasting swim tracking. But, all those features can prove a turn-off for buyers looking to hone in on one specific task. If, for example, you just want to focus on your heart rate, why would you fork out $150 for a bunch of tricks you don't need? That's where Polar's new OH1 optical heart rate sensor comes in. The $79.95 wearable trims out the fat to focus on your ticker, and little else. And (seeing as Polar's been making top-notch activity trackers for years) you can probably bet it does that well.
Panasonic can read your heart rate by looking at your face
Being a sports professional means keeping calm in high-pressure situations, or at least pretending you are when actually freaking out. Spectators are typically none the wiser, but Panasonic will be giving viewers some additional insight into the mind of golfers competing at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship 2017, which tees off in Japan later this month. Coverage of the tournament, which is being broadcast on Japanese TV and online, will show the heart rate of golfers on-screen, so you can watch the nerves kick in as someone steps up to attempt a clutch, chip-in birdie. It's intended to add a bit more drama to the otherwise slow proceedings, but just as interesting is how Panasonic plans on making this happen, using what the company calls "contactless vital sensing" by way of a special camera.
Homemade thrill ride speeds up if you're not scared enough
Roller coasters don't care how scared you are, they always follow their pre-programmed circuit to a "T." That gave Dutch artist Daniel de Bruin an idea: What if a ride could measure your fear and amp up the thrills based on that? Since he's also a designer, he decided to find out by building the Neurotransmitter 3000, a 7-meter (23 foot) high steampunk-looking ride that speeds up or slows down depending on your heart rate, body temperature and muscle tension.
Your clothing could soon have stealthy heart rate sensors
You might not have to wear a smartwatch or a dedicated monitor to track your heart rate in the future -- you might only need the clothes on your back. Scientists have developed polymer optical fibers that are flexible enough to be woven into clothing, enabling sensors anywhere your outfit meets bare skin. And did we mention they're washing machine friendly? You could theoretically slip on an everyday shirt or cap to track your BPM, and you could toss it in with the rest of your laundry at the end of the day.
Smartwatches can tell you're about to get sick days in advance
If you're still on the fence about just how useful a smartwatch can be, a group of researchers at Stanford University have some news for you. The scientists discovered that using algorithms to monitor a combination of vital signs gathered by the Basis B1 and Basis Peak can determine if you're about to catch a cold, days before you actually get sick. Using stats like heart rate and skin temperature, researchers say the smartwatches can indicate the first signs of an impending illness.
Fitbit's Charge 2 helps keep your heart in the zone
We like Fitbit's Charge 2 fitness tracker, but there's no question that it has room for improvement -- in particular, it could do with better guidance when you're in the middle of some activities. Thankfully, you're getting just that. A just-launched firmware update for the Charge 2 has added a slew of genuinely practical features highlighted by heart rate and breathing help. There's an upgraded heart rate zone display (shown at top) that makes it easier to tell whether or not your blood is pumping as quickly as it should. If you need to step up the intensity, you'll know with a quick glance. The breathing-oriented Relax mode, meanwhile, now has Apple Watch-style vibration cues so you don't have to stare at the screen while you calm down.
Moov made a heart rate sensor you wear on your head
When representatives from the fitness tracking company Moov first told me they had made a heart rate sensor that you wear on your head, I thought the idea was ridiculous. But after I saw the Moov HR Sweat headband and swim caps (Moov HR Swim), it all made a bit more sense. The new device sits firmly on your forehead to get what Moov says is a more accurate pulse reading than from your wrist or chest. It then relays that information to a companion app that coaches you to work out better.
