Wearable technology is getting quite popular what with smartwatches, smart bracelets, smart clothes and smart rings. Several smart rings have been developed out there including the MOTA SmartRing, Smarty Ring, Ringly and Fin. Now we have the Ö Bluetooth Ring that tells you the analog and digital time, gives email alerts, Twitter notifications and much more.
The Ö Bluetooth Ring is a 3D printed ring fitted with a monochrome OLED display of 64 x 32 resolution, a touch button, a 16MHz microprocessor and a 40mAh rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery having a life of 4+ hours. The chipset is NRF51822 with 256k of flash and 16k of RAM, most of it taken up by the Bluetooth gear. The ring connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth and gives you alerts and notifications.
After seeing many crowdfunding campaigns for smart rings, Kevin Bates, creator of the Ö Bluetooth Ring wanted to see if he could himself make one. He told Gizmodo in an email:
“I made this just to see how small I could get the technology. I became inspired after seeing several crowdfunding campaigns for smart rings become hugely successful. I wanted to see if it was possible to develop a technology more advanced than what they had displayed in their promotional materials. …
In general, I think people should be more skeptical of hardware crowdfunding and demand to see more behind the scenes operation of the underlying technology.”
He has made a prototype of the ring which you can see in the video below:
Kevin Bates has already got several quotes from manufacturers and he will be pushing ahead with production of the first batch this year. Price of the Ö Bluetooth Ring has not been revealed yet.
Key-rings haven’t been the concentrate of abundant innovation over the years however a replacement crowd-sourced campaign is progressing to modification that. Dubbed GOkey the device brings a Bluetooth-enabled key locator, an exterior battery, a USB flash drive and a USB cable (or Lightning if that’s however you roll) into one.
The cool trying piece of tech has a battery of its own, that in keeping with the manufacturer can offer enough juice for 2 hours of speak time for those emergency cases. It’s an integral cable (either micro USB or Lightning reckoning on the version) therefore you ought not to carry that moreover.
Using that cable, GOkey may be used for tethering your smartphone or tablet to your portable computer or computer for each charging and knowledge synchronization functions. The device is Bluetooth-enabled therefore you’ll combine it together with your phone and use it for locating your misplaced keys. To sweeten the pot even more there’s in-built memory therefore GOkey will act as a separate thumb drive – 8GB, 16GB or 32GB reckoning on the version you decide.
The operation has achieved over double its original $40,000 goal in precisely four days, however there are still plenty units up for grabs on its Indiegogo page.
You can presently get AN 8GB or 16GB unit for $49 (or $59 if you would like it dispatched globally), whereas the 32GB version prices $59 ($69) for initial adopters.
There are special optical device incised units and concessions if you get 3 units, if you would like to pledge a lot of.
You can now use your smartphone for in-car entertainment. Sony’s latest XSP-N1BT double-DIN smartphone cradle receiver has been released. It is powered by Bluetooth with NFC so that when your smartphone is docked into it, you can get the phone’s audio through the car’s speakers.
Sony’s XSP-N1BT is essentially a stereo with a cradle to dock for your smartphone. The receiver allows you to fit your smartphone in the dock at the front and play audio through the car speakers. The phone can also be used for hands-free calling and can be charged through a USB.
Once your phone is docked in, the NFC pairing and the Sony app will transfer the control of the stereo to your smartphone and you can either listen to the radio or CD through the stereo or listen to music from your phone which will be transferred over Bluetooth to the car’s speakers. You can control the smartphone through its voice control feature for audio playback, navigation etc. If you don’t have a smartphone, the XSP-N1BT can function directly.
All Android phones can be used with the XSP-N1BT audio receiver. It has a 1.5amp USB port and cable for charging. If your smartphone is a Sony one, it will charge automatically through the dock, no cable is needed.
The XSP-N1BT has a price tag of $249.99 and can be bought from Amazon or Crutchfield. The device will be start shipping out from May29, confirming to the May release commitment made by Sony.
Check out the video for the XSP-N1BT smartphone cradle receiver:
It has happened to all. You put your phone on the couch, but it’s not there after a while. You put your car keys down and you couldn’t find it when you are hurrying out. You forgot to take your bag and belonging while walking out of the restaurant after lunch. If you have done or experienced this once in a while and it cost you time and money, don’t worry Kensington’s Proximo wouldn’t let you miss your mobile phone, keys, little items & bags anymore.
Yes, Proximo’s design is very much different than other tagging systems available in the market. It also provides protection against theft to an extent; you’ll be alerted to any of your tagging items which leave the range.
Proximo starter kit comes with one fob and one tag. The units are made of ubiquitous black ABS plastic. The fob looks similar to a small car key blipper and its 2x1x0.5 inch (length, width & thickness) in size. The round tag is of size 1.5×0.5 inch (diameter & thickness) respectively. Both tag units have metal rings embedded in them so that can be attached to a key ring. The starter kit includes small and large keyring-style loops to attach to larger items or bags.
The devices uses CR2032 watch batteries. Kensington, the company who manufactures the Proximo claims that the battery would last around six months. The company includes a miniature screwdriver in the starter kit to replace the battery.
Function 1 : Locator
It’s just like the old whistle-activated key finders. In Bluetooth tags, you have to press the “Find” button on the free Proximo Apple iPhone app. One missing feature is that the devices are not labeled in the app’s home screen. If you have multiple tags you have to touch the image to view name and details. The fob appears louder than the tag. The fob can be heard even about 50 or 60 feet away.
The alarm can be cancelled by pressing the button on the fob or you can silent it by touching the “Dashboard” text on the app which takes you to the app’s home screen.
Function 2 : Proximity Alarm
It alerts you when you leave something behind. The function is commonly seen in other tagging system available in market. It helps by alerting when you leave you walled behind while stepping out or when you leave the restaurant without your tagged bag.
Alarm goes off as soon as you go out of Bluetooth range. Both phone and fob would alert with alarm sound. The tag device is limited to standard siren type sound however you can choose alert sound on your Apple iPhone. There are 14 built in sounds to choose from and also you are allowed to choose a sound track from your Apple iPhone music library. You can configure whether the alarm to sound once or continuously until cancelled.
Naturally the distance of the Bluetooth range varies. It’s typically between 40 and 80 feet depending on obstacles like walls, doors, etc., The response is pretty much quick and usually the alarm goes off as soon as you leave the medium size building.
Both function 1 & 2 are typically available in most of the tagging devices available in the market. The next three functions make the Proximo unique and advance from other device. Let’s check them out.
Function 3 : Quiet Mode
The proximity alarms are designed to alert when items are left behind or about however you might not want it to sound at home. Quiet mode comes handy to avoid occasional false alarm in short range when you are at home, especially when you are sleeping.
Quiet mode function allows you to set your home address as a location. The system won’t sound the alarm when the phone is identified to be at home address. The quiet mode function is based on the location of your phone so you will still be alerted when you leave a tagged thing behind when you step out of the house. In the below screenshot the app has recognized that the phone is at home and it wouldn’t sound any “Proximity Alarms” though they are alive.
You can cancel alarm of any tag by just touching the alarm icon to cancel it, especially when you are not taking the item with you.
Function 4 : Distance Indicator
Distance indicator is another distinct feature that the app is capable enough to display a visual distance indicator for each tagged device. The function depends on the randomness of Bluetooth propagation. The below screenshot displays the distance of different tags which are located at different corners of a house. The visual indicator is very useful in noise public places, say in a bar and a fast-food restaurant when the alarm sound of the fob device is less audible.
Function 5 : Phone-Left-Behind Alarm
This function is quiet amazing. The tags have standard one way communication, it can be triggered from the Apple iPhone app but the fob comes with two way communication capability. The fob can alert when the phone triggers alarm and also the fob can trigger alarm on your phone. This is a never before feature in any of the tagging products available in the market.
