It remains to be seen whether there's a legitimate market for head-mounted, augmented reality devices, but as ever, Google is having a pretty good go at building a suitable device for this emerging space. The Explorer Edition of Google Glass has just spread its wings to the United Kingdom, opening the door to a wider roll-out in the run-up to the eventual consumer-end release, but while Glass is commanding the lion's share of coverage, plenty of other companies are working on something similar. Lenovo, to whom the Big G recently sold Motorola, has a product on the go that looks almost identical, and having just taken the wraps off the unnamed HUD, also gave a very brief overview.
Concepts are a double-edged sword in that while they often dazzle, leaving us wishing that they were real, it's often the case that these products are unrealistic, infeasible, or simply impossible to create in the real world. With the smartwatch market currently experiencing something of a boom, we've seen a fair few wondrous concepts in this department already, yet the new, innovative design you see before you is not only extremely creative in beaming notifications using its projector, but it's also something that you can, quite literally, get your hands on.
Even though we're on the cusp of the iPhone 6 taking things to the next level with a svelte, 7mm-thin body and sleek profile, you don't have to think too far back to remember the times when handsets were a little more, well, bricky. But while many of us would struggle to fathom the idea of carrying around a device such as the iconic Nokia 3210 in this day and age, the world's first ever cellphone offers a true reality check on how far we've come along in just three decades. Launched back in March of 1984, the monstrosity you see before you would have set you back a cool $4,000 at the time - more than double that in today's money - but intriguingly enough, it was the ever-present figure of Motorola that brought it to the scene.
Any mobile gadget looking to attain FCC certification must, at this moment in time, have certain details branded onto the product itself, stating that said device has indeed been approved. However, the agency has today relaxed these rules somewhat, and mobile devices, including the Apple iPhone, may no longer need these details to be etched onto each and every unit as standard.
While everyone is fawning over the idea of Apple announcing a watch with a 2.5-inch touch-screen, Withings has announced its own offering, called the Activité. Shipping this fall in two colors - white and silver - for the rather high price of $390, the Activité is actually more a fitness tracker than a smartwatch, though. Designed to be absolutely stunning rather than packed with more sensors than a Terminator, the Activité 'only' tracks steps taken and quality of sleep, with the number of calories burned also being calculated based on those steps.
The smartphone and tablet markets have revolutionized the modern digital spectrum, but having become completely integrated in our lives, OEMs have sought new ways to digitalize every aspect of our existence. Along with Google's work on self-driving cars, the Project Tango mapping and of course, the head-mounted Project Glass, numerous companies are trying their hand at smartwatches, but while Samsung was the first major outfit to follow the Pebble with its own wrist-worn gadget, the Korean juggernaut has also dreamt up its very own "Smart" pushbike.
Apple's well-documented acquisition of Beats Electronics was officially announced only a couple of weeks ago, but even though co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine clearly enjoyed their first publicized engagement alongside Tim Cook and the other Apple executives, the company is still very much on its game as far as the business of releasing new products is concerned. Having already taken the wraps off the new Solo2, Beats has just announced its very first wireless earbuds in the form of the Powerbeats2, and like the original Powerbeats, they are designed with the active, sporting individual in mind.
The world of wearables is currently amid something of a boom. Google is hard at work with Project Glass, and the search giant is also in the process of developing Android Wear, opening the door for a number of vendors looking to get into the smartwatch game. But while many companies seem to be following the crowd with head-mounted face computers and watches that do more than tell the time, Japanese mobile carrier Docomo has thrown together an interesting wearable SIM concept.
Over the weekend, it emerged that Nike was essentially closing off its FuelBand endeavors, laying off a large quantity of the project's workforce in the process. Given the close relationship between Nike and Apple, and with the so-called iWatch on the horizon, there was always going to be a conflict of interests, but with Nike having calmed its project down to a virtual halt, the stage looks set for the iWatch to launch. However, a new report suggests that Nike and Apple are to collaborate in the creation of an apparently separate "smart band," which will feature gesture controls and supposedly launch in the fall.
So, wireless charging. Plenty of smartphone makers have taken a stab at killing off the charging cable over the years, with Nokia in particular doing its best to make wireless charging into something that's less of a novelty and more of a real feature. While the likes of Apple have so far refused to bring wireless charging to iPhones and iPads, there's no doubt that there's something inherently cool about charging something just by putting it onto a plate.


