wearable

With watches, glasses, and clothing that can double as tech devices, it seems like wearable inventions are only going to continue to proliferate.

How about wearable technology that can read a person's muscle movement and then use that data to control other devices?

This is something that Thalmic Labs has been working on for the past year. The company explained the project in detail in a video released Wednesday.

Dubbed the MYO, this one-size-fits-all armband is a remote control of sorts. When worn on the body, it instantaneously reads the electrical activity of the muscles to track the movement … Read more

Welcome to the start of a new franchise here at CNET -- the first episode of Hooked Up! It's the only show where the world of celebrity and technology collide.

This week, Kevin Frazier checks out Cee Lo Green's Las Vegas show "Loberace" and the technology that's involved in creating a massive production that only Las Vegas can do. Cee Lo also talks about his personal health goals, Goodie Mob's comeback, and their search for the next big music artist.

I'll also break down some of the best ways to bring the biggest … Read more

Technology has tiptoed into kids' pajamas with onesies covered with QR codes that link to bedtime stories.

"It's time for bed, Tommy. Brush your teeth, put on your PJs, and let's scan you."

Smart PJs, called the world's "first and only interactive pajamas," require downloading a free app for iOS or Android and scanning one of dozens of codes from the Smart PJs with a smartphone or tablet. The device then reads aloud a story, sings a lullaby, or broadcasts pictures of animals or other bedtime-appropriate cuteness. … Read more

From the moment I first looked at the Pebble Watch, it was clear that this was a device designed to be purely about apps. Unfortunately, none were really available until a week ago, when Pebble at last released an SDK, and along with it, updated firmware for the Pebble watch and a revised smartphone app.

Now, the number of user-made indie Pebble apps is steadily growing, and there are even places to go to browse them: Pebble's own watch face community message boards, and sites like My Pebble Faces.… Read more

Not satisfied with just smartphones, MP3 players, and computers anymore, the rumor mill has now tacked on "smartwatch" to the list of potential hot items that Apple will develop and manufacture. Dubbed "the iWatch," chatter about Apple producing this sort of wearable tech is timely, considering that smartwatches seem to be on the mind of a number of other companies as well.

From bendable glass to an OLED screen, we gather all the dish on Apple's iWatch. Please note that we'll continue to update this roundup periodically and feel free to let us know … Read more

This may not be TomTom's first foray into the GPS sport watch business (that distinction came with the Nike+ SportWatch), but the announcement of the TomTom Runner and Multi-Sport are proof that the GPS hardware provider is getting serious about the fitness tech segment.

The Runner and Multi-Sport are based on identical core hardware but feature different software, wristbands, and accessories. The core unit uses a large, high-contrast, monochrome LCD display covered with Gorilla glass, so it should be up to being knocked around a bit. TomTom tells us that the display is not e-ink, but has been … Read more

Google promised last week that Google Glass Explorer Edition prototypes would be in developers' hands within a month. That month-long wait has now turned into just a few days.

The Web giant sent out an e-mail today to everyone on the Glass Explorers list to say that a few of the $1,500 wearable devices had already come off the production line. Anandtech's Brian Klug posted an image of this e-mail on Twitter (see below).

Here's another scrap to add to your "Apple's Next Move" file.

Recent remarks from Bill Campbell, an Apple board member and close friend of Steve Jobs, suggest that rumors about an iWatch -- or perhaps even an Apple competitor to Google's high-tech Glass specs -- might be worth heeding.

At an event for Intuit employees this week, Campbell sat down with Intuit CEO Brad Smith for an hourlong chat, discussing, as Businessweek puts it, "things that make a product great, how managers should behave, and some of the recent highs and lows he's … Read more

Why wear a smartwatch? You might have said the same thing about carrying a smartphone before those got smart enough to be truly useful. Smartwatches are a sort of mini tech trend of the moment, but here's the brutal truth: we wouldn't recommend that our friends buy any of these, unless they're early-adopter watch fetishists. The smartwatches of today have a muddy mix of good, bad, and flat-out ugly features. At best, they're quirky and stylish. At worst, they're hobbled with short battery life or don't work at all.

None of the smartwatches we'… Read more