With all these new
tech toys, both out and still upcoming -- wearables, smart devices, mobile
technology, Internet things, and everything in between, there's so much in
store for tech enthusiasts this 2015. Although some are not yet out in the
market, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 unveiled them recently, along
with the R&Ds and prototypes that were released last year from different
companies and organizations.
So let's take a look
at some of these new and upcoming gadgets to give you a better idea.
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Apple Watch
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Apple has finally
joined the smartwatch battle. Some of its significant specs include retina
display, with the smaller watch sporting a 1.5-inch 272 x 340 display, while
the larger variant has a 1.65-inch 312 x 390 screen. Its display can sense
force via a new feature called Force Touch, which allows the device to
distinguish between a tap and a press for more contextually specific
controls. Another feature is the Taptic Engine, which offers haptic feedback
for your wrist, tapping you with notifications or on specific sides of your
wrist for Apple Maps navigation. It also has a heart rate sensor and Digital
Touch that allows you to reply with a little hand-drawn message instead. When
the Apple Watch does eventually go on sale, there will be three model choices
-- each with two display sizes to suit different wrist sizes. The company
promised to launch the smartwatch on the first quarter of 2015, no precise
date at this point.
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Sony Steel Edition SmartWatch 3
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Sony is also taking
its turn at wearable devices with this matte-finished steel edition
SmartWatch 3. It's powered by a Qualcomm chipset in standard 24mm watch strap
for non-stop hours of fitness activities. What's good about this smartwatch
is that the main module can be popped out and put in other surrounds, making
it easy to change between styles if ever you would like to get all active
with it. Specifications include a 1.6-inch, 320 x 320 transflective LCD
display and built-in GPS to help track your running (a unique part of Sony's
Android Wear device). The Sony Steel Edition SmartWatch 3 will be rolling out
in February this year.
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Smartphone app that helps diagnose sleeping disorders
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Are you looking for
something that can help you diagnose sleeping problems? An app that does just
like that is now under development. A team of researchers at Stevens
Institute of Technology and Florida State University are currently working on
a project that will enable your smartphone to listen to and monitor your breathing
while you sleep without wearables. It was featured in MIT Technology Review
and the said smartphone app will be developed this year.
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Fin
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Over the years,
people have become too bored using the remote control in switching between
channels. Fin, a bluetooth-enabled device, comes with a gesture interface
that allows you to control smart devices like your TV. Fin has three built-in
sensors for the beam signals to work with a 100 metre range between the hand
and the smart device. It's not yet available in the market, although
RHLvision offers pre-order, and that a prototype has already been produced.
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Project Ara by Google
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Reinventing the way
we build, buy, and use smartphones in the future is the main objective of
Google's Project Ara. It's not a phone for now, but a project being worked on
using DARPA philosophy instead. The components of the phone are composed of
magnetic modules that are networked to communicate with each other to
function seamlessly like a smartphone.
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