Time to read: 2 min
The week’s top hardware news.
January 20, 2016.
Products
The Most Normal-Looking Smart Glasses
Another product that stirred some wonderment at CES was a pair of seemingly regular prescription glasses from Zeiss. They look normal, but perform as fully functional smart lenses. Who knew smart glasses didn’t have to look creepy?
+ further improvements on Google Cardboard
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Another popular gadget at CES this year was the small and unassuming Thermo, a $100 smart thermometer from Withings. The sleek, white design definitely scores points, but the wow factor exists in its capacity to display your temperature after just two seconds of touching your temple with its 16 infrared sensors.
Knitting for the Masses
Move over Grandma, 3D printers are doin’ the knitting now! Footwear company J&S Enterprises launched a Kickstarter to sell lightweight, form-fitting, and customizable knit shoes for the masses. Just tell Grandma you made it yourself.
+ an awesome DIY 3D printed watch (that doesn’t tell time)
+ PrintABowl: developed in Seattle, obviously
Industry
Hard Times for GoPro
GoPro is predicting a tough year. After announcing low 2016 revenue forecasts, their stock dropped over 23%. And with pressure to find new revenue streams, the company is also restructuring, aka laying off over 100 employees.
Jawbone: The Good and the Ugly
Good news is fitness band maker has pulled in a $165 million round of funding from The Kuwait Investment Authority. Bad news is that president Sameer Samat just left the company to return to Google. As in they poached him before and now he’s going back.
Wearable World’s New IoT Accelerator
Big news for Wearable IoT World: they just raised $4.5M to start a new IoT and emerging technologies accelerator in Hong Kong. Their CEO notes that this marks “a long-awaited milestone” for their company.
+ Neura raised $11M to focus on IoT privacy
