Category Archives: wearable

OnePlus Builds The Ecosystem

smart watch, smartphone, watch, wearable

OnePlus LogoOnePlus didn’t have any hardware surprises at today’s summer launch event – the Nord 4, Tablet 2 and Watch 2R and Buds 3 Pro were all officially revealed in advance of the show. But what was interesting was OnePlus commitment to an ecosystem of affordable products. OnePlus might have started out with “flagship killer” phones but we’re beginning to see a ecosystem to rival Samsung. Of course, I don’t think OnePlus are going to start selling fridges and washing machines, but for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and earbuds they’re doing a pretty good job of joining the dots. As is de rigueur for today, Nord 4 and Pad 2 will feature “AI” (though I’m still unconvinced that AI does anything useful for anyone normal).

Milano, Italy, hosted the Summer Launch Event, opening with Tuomas Lampen, head of Business Strategy in Europe, revealing the Nord 4 smartphone. It’s priced at £429 / €499 for the 12 GB + 256 GB and £529 / €599 for the 16 GB + 512 GB version and there are some discounts, trade-ins and gifts available at launch. Full specs are over on the web site but the aluminium unibody really makes it stand out from the current crop of glass phones.

Available in three colourways, or Nordtones as OnePlus now brands them, Mercurial Silver is the one to get. Apparently it takes 12 mins to laser engrave the case for that scalloped look. Performance-wise the Nord 4 is running a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, which will outperform a top-end phone from 2022 (8 Gen 1). Charging the battery from 1 to 100% takes only 28 minutes and there’s Battery Health Magic to keep the battery in good shape for at least four years.

James Paterson, Global PR, demonstrated the Nord 4’s Aqua Touch in an artificial rainstorm and fortunately he was in a raincoat as it got pretty wet. Aqua Touch is a feature that allows the phone to respond as if the screen was dry rather than being covered in rain drops. It’s perfect for playing Pokemon Go in bad weather, which is most of the time in the British Isles.

The Nord Buds 3 Pro were next on stage. Priced at £79 / €79 / $79.99, these earbuds have 49 dB active noise cancellation and pair well with other OnePlus phones and tablets. They come in a neat pebble-style charging case with an overall battery life time of 20 hours with ANC on and 44 hours with it off. Two colourways offer Starry Black and Soft Jade.

The OnePlus Pad 2 brings us back to flagship killing with a new tablet built round the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. By all accounts, the original OnePlus Pad and the newer, Go, have been successes for the company. The new Pad 2 is very much in the same vein as its predecessors with the centrally positioned rear camera. Coming in at £499 / €549 / $549, this is an impressive price point for a latest gen chipset (cf Samsung Tab S9 FE+). It’s a 3K 7:5 ratio 12.1″ screen with Dolby Vision and six speakers round the edges for great sound. The Pad 2 has the multitasking Open Canvas from the OnePlus Open baked, which is good for productivity and upgrades to the keyboard and stylus enhance the tablet’s usefulness. There’s tight integration between the Pad 2 and OnePlus smartphones.

Finally, the OnePlus Watch 2R took to the stage. It’s an evolution of this year’s Watch 2 with an aluminium (rather than steel) which makes it about 25% lighter which is handy for a big watch like this. It’s in the style of a super compressor dive watch with two crowns on the right hand side and it’s swimming pool safe. The 2R comes in at £249 / €279 / $229. I like it. As you’d expect, there’s a complementary app to record your activity.

That’s the Summer Launch Event in a nutshell and I think you should be able to see how OnePlus is building that ecosystem to compete with the likes of Google, and Samsung. Yes, it’s a form of lock-in but it’s also productivity enhancing and it looks to have much to offer. Every device competes well on value with devices from the competition and with OnePlus’ commitment to updates for many years, that value will be maintained.

You can watch whole event here – the show starts 5 minutes in.

Xiaomi October Global Launch – Smartphones, Vacuums, Tablets and Earbuds

smart watch, smartphone, tablet, wearable

Xiaomi Logo - an orange squircle with stylised white MI lettersReturning to an in-person event, Xiaomi‘s global launch took place in Munich, Germany with Abi Go, Head of Product Marketing, kicking off the event. Looking at the company, Xiaomi are now #266 in the Fortune Global 500, primarily through 160% growth in the premium smartphone category. The phones are no longer cheap and cheerful, and the Xiaomi 12 received some good reviews, including from myself. Xiaomi isn’t only about phones too – they’re rapidly growing in autonomous driving and robotics as well – but as you’ll see from the launches, Xiaomi is getting well established in consumer electronics.

First up was the Xiaomi 12T series, with the 12T and the 12T Pro smartphones. Both very similar in design, with a large main lens dominating the camera array on the rear. To reinforce this, the Pro comes with a whopping 200 MP main sensor and the standard 12T is fitted out with a still-fairly-big 108 MP sensor. Every part of the imaging system has been optimised, from the lens (8P) to the sensor (1/1.22″) and the software (advanced imaging processing). The new ProCut software uses AI to crop and frame images to make any scene look its very best, and the In-sensor zoom allows 2x zoom at the sensor level for clear portraiture. Both phones have an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro and 20MP selfie camera on the front.

Inside the 12T Pro is a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 with a MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Ultra featuring in the 12T itself. Each chipset offers significant improvements in performance and power consumption over the previous generation. Both phones sport a 6.67″ 1220p resolution and 120 Hz CrystalRes AMOLED display covered by Gorilla Glass 5. The AdaptiveSync display will adjust the screen frequency for a fast and smooth refresh when needed and then revert to a lower power saving rate when not. Sound is by Harmon/Kardon and supports Dolby Atmos for a detailed and rich soundscape.

Keeping the power on is a 5,000 mAh battery with 120 W charging which will charge the battery from 0% to 100% in 19 minutes. With all the improvements to the CPU, the display and the battery, users can expect 13.5 hours of normal screen-on time and nearly 8 hours of gaming. That’s impressive.

Coming in three colours: blue, black and silver, the phones look, and I imagine, feel the part. The Xiaomi 12T Series will be available for sale starting on 20th October via Xiaomi official channels. The Xiaomi 12T Pro (8GB+128GB) will have an RRP of GB£699, and the Xiaomi 12T comes in two storage variants, 8GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB, with an RRP of £499 and £549 respectively.

Next up were vacuum cleaners, starting with the Xiaomi Robot Vacuum X10+ which offers great cleaning for carpets with mop pads that lift up out of the way when the robot encounters carpet. S-Cross AI uses a pile of extra sensors to navigate the home and avoid hazards. X10+ comes with an all-in-one docking station that charges the robot, empties the dirt bag, cleans the mop pads and adds water to the X10+’s reservoir. Of course, the X10+ can be controlled by an app too. The vacuum robot is priced at 899€.

The W10 Wet Dry vacuum series are a series of wet and dry battery powered vacuum cleaners with a variety of features from assisted power, heated water rollers and base stations. Prices start from 599€.

The third set was for TVs and Xiaomi’s second generation TV Q2 series with QLED screens will come in 50″, 55″ and 65″ sizes. All the TVs support Dolby Vision IQ and Google TV is built-in. Prices start from 599€

Xiaomi’s been producing smart bands for several years and this time it’s the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro. It’s a bit bigger than the previous bands but it’s much more stylish in a rectangular design that’s in keeping with current trends, i.e. it looks a fair bit like one of the market leading smart watches. The 1.64″ AMOLED screen is 84% bigger than the previous generation and the 7 Pro now has GNSS (GPS) built-in for route tracking so your smartphone doesn’t have to come along for the tracking. As before, the Band 7 Pro comes in a range of colours with two new vegan bands, pine green and moon grey, added to the selection. Battery life is around 12 days. All this doubles the cost and the Band 7 Pro will be priced at GB£84.99 / 99€.

Finally, Xiaomi announced the Redmi Pad, an all-in-one pad for fun. The Redmi Pad comes as a slim and durable medal unibody and is available in mint green, graphite grey and moonlight silver. At 445g it’s roughly twice to three times the weight of a phone but it’s easily portable. The screen is 10.6″ with 2K resolution at 90 Hz and the viewing experience is enhanced by quad speakers supporting Dolby Atmos. Inside is the MediaTek Helio G99 CPU along with an 8000 mAh battery. The camera is sensitively placed along the long edge to make video calls a little bit more natural (cf Samsung Galaxy Tab series) and FocusFrame tracks the users faces to ensure they’re in the picture. MIUI has been enhanced for the Pad and prices start at GB£269 / 279€ for the 3GB+64MB variant. I like this…

Although not covered in the presentation, Xiaomi also announced the Redmi Buds 4 Pro and Redmi Buds 4. Both offer noise cancellation and charging cases. The Redmi Buds 4 Pro offer 9 hours of listening on a single charge with a total of 30 hours when the charging case is used. The Buds 4 will go 6 hours on a single charge but offer 36 hours total when recharged from the case. Redmi Buds 4 and Redmi Buds 4 Pro available from £49.99 and £84.99 respectively via Xiaomi’s official channels. Available in the UK from 4th October.

The livestream is available here.

Xiaomi Shows Off New Product Line Up

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In a keynote online presentation today, Xiaomi showed off its upcoming new Mi products in a range of categories from smart bands to scooters. The company is 10 years old in 2020 and is ranked 24th in Boston Consulting Group’s 50 most innovative companies, with its smartphones ranked in the top 5 in over 40 companies. Xiaomi has built a large ecosystem of consumer electronics, wearables, TVs, scooters, smart home devices and smartphones.

Here are the new devices announced.

Mi Smart Band 5

Xaoimi’s fitness trackers have been previously well received (over 100 million sold) and I think we can expect the same for the Mi Smart Band 6. Available from tomorrow priced at only GB£39.99, the Mi Band 5 will come in six fun colours, including a bang on trend camo green (which is described as mint green in the presser – best to check). The Mi Band has a 1.1″ AMOLED display (126×294 px), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE and is water-resistant to 5 ATM or 50 metres for swimming and snorkeling.

In terms of activities, the Band 5 supports eleven exercise types, with five new ones including yoga, skipping rope and elliptical trainer. The heart rate tracking has been improved by up to 50%, there’s better sleep monitoring and brand new stress detection. Female owners can track menstrual cycles with helpful reminders.

There’s up to 14 days of battery life and is charged via a magnetic coupling. You can also use the Mi Band as a remote shutter for your smartphone camera.

Available from tomorrow (16 July) priced at €39.99 from mi.com/uk. UK pricing will be confirmed then.

Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic

The Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic provide 5 hours of listening time per charge with the charging case able to deliver three further charges. Charge time is about 90 minutes and the case is charged via USB C. Hurrah!

With Bluetooth 5.0 BLE and a range of 10 m, the Mi Earphones offer all the usual features including dual mic environmental noise cancellation, auto pause when removing an earphone and support for the SBC/AAC codec. The Earphones work with both Android and iOS. Availability is from 16 July for an extremely reasonable GB£49.99 from mi.com/uk.

Mi Electric Scooter 1S and 2 Pro

With rental electric scooters now legal in much of the UK, there’s hope that personal scooters will be usable soon too.

Xiaomi announced two new electric scooters, the 1S and 2 Pro for the UK. Powered by a 300W motor, the Pro 2 can reach speeds of 25 km/h with a range of 45 km depending on terrain, taking in slopes of up to 20%. Weighing just over 14 kg, it can be folded up in less than three seconds. The Pro 2 comes with lights, reflectors and disc brakes. The Pro 2 is priced from €499.

The 1S is a slightly less powerful model (250W) which still reaches 25 km/h. Range is reduced to 30 km and can only tackle 14% gradients hills, but the benefit is less weight at 12.5 kg. The 1S will cost €399.

UK availability and pricing to be confirmed.

Mi TV Stick

The Mi TV Stick is an AndroidTV 1080p media streaming with Chromecast built-in and a Bluetooth remote control. Prices will start from €39.99.

Mi Curved Gaming Monitor

It’s a whopping 34″ curved gaming monitor with a 21:9 WQHD display supporting a 144 Hz refresh rate. That’s big…Pricing starts at €399.

Redmi 9 Smartphones

Xiaomi updated its entry-level phone series, Redmi, with the 9, 9C and 9A. Some of these have been available in other countries but they’re now officially coming to Europe.

  • Redmi 9 – 6.53″ display with Helio G80 chipset, 5020 mAh battery, quad rear camera and NFC. 3GB+32GB version is €149. 4GB+64GB is €169.
  • Redmi 9C – 6.53″ display with Helio G35 chipset, 5000 mAh battery, triple rear camera. 2GB+32GB is €119, 3GB+64GB is €139.
  • Redmi 9A – 6.53″ display with Helio G25 chipset, 5000 mAh battery, 13 MP rear camera. 2GB+32GB is €99.

Overall, that’s a pretty impressive selection of products coming from Xiaomi in the next few months.

Sex tech returns to CES 2020 with Ergo-Fit

ces, wearable

After last year’s sex toy debacle, in which a female stimulation tech toy received an award, had the award revoked, and was then banned from the show, CES seems to have loosened up its ideas about who can come in 2020. Ergo-Fit – the strapless strapon – says it’s the first of its kind when it comes to sex toys. With certain inflatable parts, certain vibrating parts and a remote control, it certainly seems interesting.

Fitbit Announces New Models and Drops Old Ones

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Fitbit has announced a handful of new wrist-worn trackers; the Versa Lite, the Inspire, the Inspire HR, and finally for kids, the Ace 2.

The Versa Lite is available now for GB£150 with a choice of four different colours – white, lilac, marina blue and magenta – and differs from the more expensive Versa by dropping a few features. Missing from the Lite are floors climbed, swim lap tracking, on-screen workouts and music player functionality. Personally, I’d miss the swim lap tracking but if you’re more of track and field person, the Lite version might save you £50. It’s still water-resistant to 50m, so good for surface swimming, and the Versa Lite will go four days between charges.

The Inspire and Inspire HR slot into the lower end of the Fitbit line-up, replacing both the Alta and Flex product lines. Priced at £70 and £90 respectively, the key difference between the two is that the HR has constant heart rate monitoring. Both devices do activity and sleep tracking, calories burned and connect to your smartphone for notifications, but if you want heart rate measurement and sleep cycle tracking, you’ll need the HR and an extra £20. Battery life is around five days for both devices and they’re water-resistant to 50m.

For children, Fitbit have the Ace 2, which will be coming out later in the year. Building the original Ace, the new version even more child-friendly but still does all the usual activity-tracking stuff with a touchscreen that can be customised with new faces. As with the Ace, the tracker becomes part of a family group so parents can monitor their little darling’s activity. 50m water-resistance and five day battery life. Price hasn’t been announced, but the current Ace is £80 so expect something similar.

Sadly, it looks like the Fitbit Zip has followed the One into obsolescence as neither are now available in the UK store. Mind you, the Zip’s had pretty good run (sorry) for a gadget, originally coming out in 2012.

And by pure coincidence, I’ve been notified today by my Fitbit app that I’ve got the Earth badge, which is equivalent to 12,713 lifetime kilometres.

The Wearable Technology Show is Back

wearable, Wearable Technology Show,

The Wearable Technology Show is back next week in London, UK, but sadly I’m not going to be able to attend this year. Co-located with both the AVR360 and Digital Health Tech shows, it’s a great event to see some of the latest innovations from and for the UK market. Over 3,000 people will attend so it’s not CES, but it means there’s much better opportunities for conversation and networking.

I will be bringing some of the announcements from the show to GNC but here’s a sneak peak of some of the speakers, events and new products that will be on show at WTS2019.

On the technology front, there are over 200 speakers on the conference programme with representatives from McLaren Applied Technologies – they’re putting F1 tech into other industries, GB Boxing – who are using wearables to improve safety for their athletes, and Sky Sports – who want to provide more information to their viewers about their favourite teams as they play.

From the health perspective, there’s a couple of big guns, as it were, with both the Health Secretary, Rt. Hon. Matt Hancock, MP, and former Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, speaking at the event. I imagine there’s quite a technology contrast between their residencies in Health, with Patricia Hewitt leaving the role in in 2007.

On the show floor there are 50 exhibitors from 15 countries and a few new products have been pre-announced.

  • Limbic – the world’s first emotion-detection AI for consumer wearables. This AI detects human emotions from heartbeat data, using an algorithm that seeks to bring quantifiability to mental health. Interesting…
  • Thermal Senz by LifeBooster. A new solution that allows users to detect the early indicators of heat-related illnesses like hypothermia and heat stroke.
  • Pulse Ox by Oxitone. The world’s first FDA-cleared wrist sensor and AI-based Continuous Care platform, enabling wearable hospital-grade continuous monitoring with predictive capabilities, creating better patient solutions.
  • HP1T by HP1 Technologies. This graphene pressure sensor for sports and leisure helmets can detect impact time, location and magnitude, to enable better outcomes for the wearer. It was originally designed to capture brain injury data in cycling incidents but has applicability across a wide range of sectors from sports & leisure, to emergency services and manufacturing.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else will be announced at WTS2019.