Facebook is reportedly building a smartwatch that’ll offer instant messaging on the go. And help users stay fit.
Of course, the Facebook watch will have to go head-to-head with Apple Watch, the 500-pound gorilla of the wearables market.
A new device shown off at CES may look like an Apple Watch knockoff, but its maker says it can do something Cupertino’s wearable can’t: accurately and noninvasively measure a person’s blood sugar level.
Japanese manufacturer Quantum Operation says its prototype employs a miniature spectrometer to scan blood in the wrist for biomarkers that reveal glucose levels. The user supposedly just puts on the smartwatch and activates the monitoring with a touch. After 20 seconds, the wearer receives the blood sugar data on the device’s screen.
The Apple Watch essentially launched the smartwatch category, and continues to dominate it. And rather than competitors catching up, Apple’s share of this market in increasing. It took in 51.4% of the worldwide revenue from shipments of smartwatches during the first half of 2020, a significant rise from the same period last year.
Whoop is the latest wearable being enlisted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical researchers hope the fitness band company’s data could prove an invaluable tool for measuring symptoms caused by the coronavirus.
The Cleveland Clinic and Central Queensland University in Australia are partnering with Whoop to study changes in respiration rates. Whoop’s wearable collects health data 24/7. It could possibly be used to create an early warning system for people infected by COVID-19 but not exhibiting symptoms yet.
| Even with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus battering Apple’s supply chain, Apple hasn’t revised its shipping forecasts for its crazy popular AirPods, a report published Friday claims.
Digitimes notes that Apple is “expected to stick” to its plan to ship 90 million pairs of AirPods in 2020. That’s an increase of 50% from Apple’s shipments last year. The report cites sources from the supply chain. |
The newly-unveiled Oppo Watch borrows heavily from the Apple Watch. But this China-based company nevertheless built in some features that fans of Apple’s wearable can appreciate.
Chinese phone maker Oppo gave the world a first glimpse of its upcoming smart watch. And it’s a total Apple Watch clone.
Apple dominates the wearables market, and Oppo seems like it wants to borrow some of its thunder.
Apple’s current AirPods Pro supply woes could soon get much worse, thanks to the new coronavirus spreading throughout China.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Apple ordered suppliers to produce 45 million AirPods units to catch up with the huge demand. Then, manufacturers shut down production lines through February 10 due to the fast-spreading virus. Now a new report cautions that suppliers might not have enough components to fulfill Apple’s order when production resumes.
When Apple reported an all-time record for quarterly revenue Tuesday, it got a big boost from one of its smallest products: the AirPods Pro.
Despite severe supply constraints, the new wireless earbuds helped Apple sell $10 billion worth of wearables and accessories in the holiday quarter, a 37% jump from a year ago, the company reported. Revenue for the wearables sector grew 17% to a new all-time record of $12.7 billion.
The first Apple earnings report of 2020 was a smashing success that shattered most of Apple’s previous records. Thanks to shockingly strong iPhone sales and a surging wearables business that is bigger than the Mac and the iPad, Apple managed to surpass even the most optimistic expectations.
Apple CEO Tim Cook held a call with investors after the numbers came out to dive deeper into the impressive quarterly results. Cook dished on everything from the success of Apple TV+ and problems with AirPods Pro supplies to the Wuhan coronavirus affecting China. If you didn’t get a chance to join the call, don’t worry, Cult of Mac has you covered with all the need-to-know info.
