This week on WDD’s HotSpot, brought to you by Components Corporation:
- Samsung announced that the Innovator Edition of its Gear VR headset will be available in December for $200 or $250 with a Bluetooth gamepad included. This early version of the goggles uses a Galaxy Note 4 to created augmented and virtual reality environments. Developers and people with a lot of time on their hands will need to build out the app ecosystem but Samsung is already partnering with DreamWorks and Marvel to assemble some suitably cool content. The company is also in-housing some visuals for the Gear VR through Project Beyond, a round device with multiple cameras that captures 360 degree HD video and also stream in real-time. Samsung also announced a reference design that takes a Gear S watch and packs the band full of sensors in order to gather crazy amounts of biometrics and hopefully improve your health. So soon you’ll be able to improve your life or just live in a fake world. Either way, it’s cool.
- LTE Direct, Qualcomm’s device-to-device proximal discovery product, will be available commercially in 2016, according to the senior director for Qualcomm Research. The company refers to LTE Direct as a “digital 6th sense.” It essentially turns your phone into an always-on beacon that can send short messages and let you know about near-by friends, services, deals and other relevant stuff. Qualcomm has already partnered with Facebook and the Sacramento Kings to test out the new technology, which works over LTE and Wi-Fi.
Qualcomm promises LTE Direct is a better option than Bluetooth Low Energy because it provides 10 times the range and won’t drain device batteries just because the number of users increases. - How’s your slouching coming along? Are you slouching right now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLkmYkEpxA (0:17 – Don’t sell yourself short, judge. You’re a tremendous slouch.) Well your slouching days are numbered. Upright has created a wearable device that attaches to your back and gives you a “gentle” vibration when your posture goes bad. The company says that 15-minute training sessions for 2-3 weeks might help you finally sit up straight. Upright uses Bluetooth, sensors and an advanced algorithm to monitor the movement of your vertebrae and buzzes you when your posture needs correcting. Upright hits its IndieGoGo funding goal and now the device is available to pre-order for $90. Along with giving up your vertebrae privacy, it’s a small price to pay for not being such a slouch all the time.
- Mimosa Networks announced the C5i, a hotspot-to-the-home gateway that connects to outside access points. It’s designed for urban environments where getting Wi-Fi into homes can be costly and complicated. It’s essentially a nice dish with a 4×4 multi-user MIMO radio. You stick it to your window and it connects to any outside 5 GHz access point and then broadcasts inside the home via an integrated 2.4 GHz radio. Mimosa says it can deliver downlink speeds of up to 500 megabits per second to Wi-Fi devices. That’s fast. Best part is you don’t have to wait for a service technician to show up between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., like you have nothing better to do than just wait around all day. You just install yourself.
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