Last Wed, we had a small intimate QS Meet Up event, mainly focused on exchanges and new products. Please find a summary of our discussion below.
New devices by Laurent Eymard
We start with some discussion on the latest iPhone announcement. Not focusing on the possible loss of fingers web your phone get stolen and the new data to resell / illegally reproved that we will now be able to give the Apple and others accessing their infrastructures, we mainly talk about the M7 processor. Indeed, this iPhone 5S comes with a processor, called M7 or Motion Processor, dedicated processor to capture moves and manage the accelerometer, which would lead to a lot of autonomy and a lot more battery life, as all data associated with movement will be manage by this new chip and not the general CPU of the computer. Also, the phone is presented as twice as fast that the previous models. To test and validate.
We had to pleasure to welcome Laurent from http://red-dolphin.com , always testing the latest gear and devices for its online community. Laurent delivered its test results of three product that we then discussed.
Shine – It does surely shine, but it is not as bright as expected
Based on a crowd funded project, Shine is a motion tracker from misfit wearable. It’s USP is to be quite classy and elegant, and with 4 month of battery life. Indeed, it has been thought to be nice and classy from the start. All covers and in aluminum, and not plastic, and the device is fully waterproof (until 10bar – quite a margin to swiss daily).
You need to touch it twice to activate. You can see progress to reach the setted goads with led scales. If you click three times, you see the time too ; )
Goal are set in points, translated into activities. 800 points is one hour of walk, 30 min of running or 20min swimming. Compared to other trackers, on average, you get 10% less steps measured that with FitBit.
To set it up, set goals or indicate your current activity, you are supposed to place it on iOS devices and it’s detected. But it works also next to it as it’s bluetooth 4.0 enabled. You need to choose the activity before you sync, and then it will track this specific activity. You will activate the trackers by tapping three times, but the activity itself has been selected from the iOS device. Strange, and not very smart, and definitely not convenient. Yes, it tracks more things that Jawbone but it’s really not effort less.
Laurent also mentioned that app detect the language device and you cannot change the language – which is annoying.
A good thing is the easy feedbacks function within the apps, and even more, the quick feedbacks that you will get from Shine as well as a kind and good support form the staff.
As said, battery should last at least 4 month with Lithium battery. The great option, you forget about it for a long time.
Currently on sales for 120 USD in USA in Apple Store in exclusivity. We can get elsewhere if did you finance the crowd funding campaign. Now, only iOS UI, no web or desktop interfaces, but surely in planning.
More info: an appropriate section on red dolphin (link).
ALIVE COR
Alive Cor is a shell / cover for iPhone that measure your heart beat.
Laurent tested it with professional medical partners that said that quality of signal measures was great, and with “a clean trace and graph”.
Once you use the AliveECG, you can measure the heart beat, can change your scale of vision and export results in PDF and more.
The tech concept is interesting. Indeed, to track, you put your hands on the sensors, as on a fitness machine, the device creates a unique sound that you do not hear, based on your heart beat, and then the iOS device capture the sound and measure the heart beat. The interface is impressive and results seems usable.
Check the video
It can be used by doctor to draft quick diagnostic. It could really be useful for people with weak heart condition, such as arrhythmia. It only measures, and provide no diagnosis, only data… as a classic ECG in hospital that needs doctors to “read” it for interpretation. It could provide diagnosis based on standard data models but I think such diagnosis would be a really heavy responsibility, even with all the possible disclaimers.
It cost circa 150 USD, now sold only in US and UK. Not really “authorized” in Europe, hard to understand why.
Other provider of similar devices right now and in the pipe, such as OmSignal or Citizen Science.
BAC Track –
The BAC stands for Breath Alcohol Content. This mobile tracker is meant to measure the level of alcohol in your breath. The company behind it also provides a bigger more precise version that is used by US police, so they are really a credible player in the market, not just an other gadget maker.
The devices is impressively precise. And quite funny to use. (show some print screen). In case you did know you were drunk, it tells your level of alcohol and the time to reach sobriety (=zero alcohol). The great thing to have in parties – in my perspective, more as fun than prevention devices. Still, I did not find (yet) a video while searching for Bac Track Contest or similar search ; )
Yetis – CrossBow
Last but not least, Laurent spoke the CrossBow from Swiss company Hyetis that intends to build the ultimate Swiss watch !! It really has impressive functions, like a combination of a smart watch and a James Bond tools. It needs to be charged daily by induction. It now on pre-order at 1200 USD (which is not so expensive for a Swiss watch) and really looks like a first of its kind. Check the site, it’s worth it. On a personal level, I always thought that Quantified Self and self-tracking are a part of the future of the watch industry, especially for low / mid budget watch that are not fully mechanic.
More Quantified Self information
Sad to have missed it all ? Us too, we’d like to see you there.
No worries, join our group on Meet Up and we will be happy to meet you at the next Quantified Self Geneva.