| Cult of Mac

AirPods most popular brand in ‘hearables’ market

By

AirPods sales
35 million pairs of AIrPods sold in 2018.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple sold some 35 million AirPods last year. That makes the wireless earbuds, which had a rocky rollout, the most popular “hearables” device in the U.S., according to Counterpoint Research.

But Apple has competition within earshot from Sony and Samsung, both of which are only a couple of percentage points off in market share and are expected to grow.

Wearable tech? This jacket lets you wear all your tech

By

This guy happens to have a MacBook on his person.
This guy happens to have a MacBook on his person.
Photo: SCOTTeVEST

The hoodie that allowed you to thread your earbuds through a special sleeve near the collar seemed as cool as that first-generation iPod. It was a true technical jacket.

Clothing company SCOTTeVEST makes that hoodie seem as vintage as your great-, great-, great- granddaddy’s buckskin jacket. It’s latest quilted jacket features 29 pockets for all gadgets, including a MacBook, yet keeps the silhouette bulge-free.

EyeForcer is no slouch at keeping kids upright

By

They better sit up straight or the EyeForcer will shut off their devices.
They better sit up straight or the EyeForcer will shut off their devices.
Photo: Medical Wearable Solutions

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageYou can warn your kid about too much screen time until you’re blue in the face. They’re too absorbed to listen. You need an enforcer or, better yet, an EyeForcer.

It’s another gadget for your kid, but this one works with you. Looking like eyeglass frames without lenses, the EyeForcer shuts down your child’s device when it senses he or she has been on it too long. It promotes good posture by switching the device off when the young user begins to slouch.

Multi-sport sensor will help you reach PIQ performance

By

Think you have game? PIQ will give you the data to help you prove or improve.
Think you have game? PIQ will give you the data to help you prove or improve.
Photo: PIQ

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageYour god gave you athletic gifts, or so you believe. But don’t listen to yourself or buddies who play alongside you and talk trash about your skills.

PIQ, a multi-sport sensor, can quickly tease out the divine delusion with Earthly performance metrics that, if you’re honest with yourself, can help you improve your game, whether its golf, tennis, skiing or 21 other sports.

Popular fitness app makes U.S. debut in time for New Year’s resolutions

By

No weights, classes or gym. The Freeletics app designs a workout program that uses your body weight.
No weights, classes or gym. The Freeletics app designs a workout program that uses your body weight.
Photo: Freeletics

You have a gym membership, but you’ve talked yourself out of going. You paid for a personal trainer and found reasons to cancel.

Maybe fitness can be achieved through your smartphone or smartwatch, but the excuse that now grinds the revolution to a halt is too many apps from which to choose.

Freeletics, a workout app that made its U.S. debut earlier this month, wants to make this an easy choice. First, it invites you to join more than 7 million other users, a community, the company says, grows by more than 6,000 users a week.

Wearable recorder keeps your mic close at hand

By

Kapture puts an omnidirectional mic on your wrist.
Kapture puts an omnidirectional mic on your wrist.
Photo: Kapture

There are people who walk this earth with a recorder and mic much the way a photographer does with a camera. Like the eye, the ear picks up rich and textured details, from the husky-voiced uncle spinning a yarn at Thanksgiving to swirly gusts of wind rousting the last leaves of fall clinging to their branches.

Whatever peeks your audio curiosity, Kapture is a discreet recorder ready at the wrist to save the ambient sound that orbits your ears.

Smart necklace keeps you connected and looking fabulous

By

The Miragii pendant can project messages onto your hand and stores an earpiece for calls or music.
The Miragii pendant can project messages onto your hand and stores an earpiece for calls or music.
Photo: Miraggi

Some fashion and tech pundits have written that the Apple Watch is a little industrial looking or too geeky to appeal to women. Why can’t a woman be connected in feminine style?

A startup company says she absolutely can with a smart necklace that looks like a stunning piece of jewelry while equipped with a tiny projector that displays texts and calls onto the hand.

Ingenious braille smartwatch puts time at your fingertips

By

The Dot smartwatch has a changing braille face to help visually impaired users receive digital information.
The Dot smartwatch has a changing braille face to help visually impaired users receive digital information.
Photo: Dot

We hear all the time how technology makes our lives better. But many such advances leave the world’s 285 million visually impaired people in the dark.

Not so with this invention: A South Korean startup has developed a smartwatch with a face that has four sets of six dots that represent braille characters.