Huawei Watch 3 Series and new MatePad Pro Launched with HarmonyOS 2

Huawei has launched a range of smartwatches and tablets powered by its new HarmonyOS 2 operating system, including the Huawei Watch 3 Series and the Huawei MatePad Pro.

Harmony OS has been in the pipeline for a while, but now it’s hitting the ground running in its 2.0 flavour as it is powering a raft of new products.

Huawei is pinning its hopes on HarmonyOS as becoming the Android slayer where BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Phone, Firefox OS, et al failed. Naturally, the company has had its hand somewhat forced thanks to the ongoing political situation between the USA and China.

Harmony OS first appeared on some IoT devices and the much publicised Smart TVs. Now 2.0 boasts apps that will appear on the brand’s Huawei smartphones, such as the P40 and Mate 40, as well as tablets and watches.

HUAWEI Watch 3 Series

Huawei’s brand-new flagship smartwatch, the Huawei Watch 3 Series, features a curved glass 1.43-inch circular AMOLED display that totes a 326ppi pixel density and 316L stainless steel case. There is also a brand-new 3D rotating crown that senses different pressure levels and provides haptic feedback in response to user input.

Naturally, there are stacks of health and fitness tracking baked in, too. The Huawei Watch 3 Series supports more than 100 workout modes. In addition to a broad range of healthcare support options, the watch can now monitor skin temperature with a new, high-precision temperature sensor. It also supports fall detection and SOS functions so that you can monitor and manage another user’s health in real-time.

The Huawei Watch 3 Pro has a quoted battery life of 21 days in ultra-long battery life mode or five in smart mode, whereas the Huawei Watch 3 can last three days in smart mode and 14 days in ultra-long battery life mode.

Connectivity comes through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, and eSIM, enabling you to make and receive phone calls and listen to music using the same phone number and data plan as your smartphone.

Pre-orders run from June 2nd to 17th in the UK, with the Watch 3 going on sale on June 18th priced at £349.99. As for the Pro model, that costs £499.99, and pre-orders are active between June 2nd and 27th, with the watch becoming available on June 27th.

Those who place a pre-order with a deposit – £20 for the Watch 3, £50 for the Watch 3 Pro – will get that money off their watch of choice at purchase and will be able to redeem a pair of the company’s FreeBuds Pro true-wireless earphones at the same time.

HUAWEI MatePad Pro

We’re told that the new Huawei MatePad Pro features a 12.6-inch OLED FullView Display and has bragging rights to a 90% screen-to-body ratio, the highest among all tablets currently available on the market, they say. 

Every display comes with a Delta-E colour difference of less than 0.5 for incredibly high colour accuracy. It promises to deliver a crisp, colour-accurate picture that is on par with professional monitors. The Huawei MatePad Pro also has an ultra-high contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 and supports a DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Loaded with Kirin 9000 series chipsets, the MatePad Pro should deliver the goods as it is also supported by the distributed data management and task scheduling capabilities of HarmonyOS. This means that the tablet can work together seamlessly with smartphones and PCs to double your productivity and creativity in different scenarios, “whether you’re in the office or at the drawing board”.

The nifty MatePad Pro also supports multi-screen collaboration with PCs and supports cross-device file dragging and dropping, delivering a more efficient and collaborative multi-device experience.

The second-generation M-Pencil was also unveiled together with the MatePad Pro. The new smartpen features a new platinum-coated nib for high-precision handwriting and ultra-low latency, accurately differentiating between 4,096 levels of force. 

The MatePad Pro is available for £499.99 and comes with a free keyboard cover and mini speaker when purchased directly from the Huawei website.

The post Huawei Launches HarmonyOS 2 with Watch 3 Series and MatePad Pro appeared first on GadgetyNews.

We were in Berlin for the launch of Huawei’s Mate 30 smartphones as well as the brand’s latest smartwatch, the Watch GT 2. Furthermore, we were lucky enough to come back with a Watch GT 2, and it has been our daily wrist wear ever since.

We liked the look of Huawei’s first smartwatch. The Watch GT was certainly a promising proposition. However, we weren’t quite ready to take the plunge.

Now the Watch GT 2 has arrived. Building on the foundation of its predecessor with two new sleek designs, the Huawei Watch GT 2 sports the same simple user interface but adds more features. 

The trick that Huawei has to pull off is to offer a decent watch with a screen and features that impress along with excellent battery stamina. Have they managed this?

Read on to find out.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Design

The watch comes in two flavours, a 46mm and 42mm. We have been testing out the larger of the two. This weighs in at 41g and sits rather nicely on our not overly chunky wrist.

We have seen the Watch GT 2 on larger wrists, and it still looks good.

The indexed bezel around the watch face looks cool but is fixed. In other words, the bezel does not rotate and is pretty much decorative. 

What you do get is 3D glass with nicely slanted edges. We have the model with a polished stainless steel casement, and we reckon it looks excellent. The other finish in this size is black brushed stainless steel that lends it a more stealthy look.

Also, the Watch GT 2 has a remarkably slim profile measuring only 10.7mm.

Finally, the bright 1.39-inch (454 x 454) AMOLED display is clear.

Smarts

Under the hood, you get 4GB of storage for your selection of faces and offline music. You can either play the music through the watch speaker or via connected Bluetooth headphones. Nice.

Processing is taken care of by Huawei’s Kirin A1, which is the same processor found in their FreeBuds 3 earphones. The larger watch gets a full 32MB RAM whereas the smaller version ticks along with just 16MB. 

There is some intelligent task management going on inside these smartwatches.

Straps

The 22mm quick-release straps make it really easy to change from the tan leather band and the additional black silicone one included in our bundle.

Always-on display

Having a nice case and choice of straps is one thing. However, it’s the watch face that you’ll be spending most of your time looking at.

We think that the current crop of Huawei watch faces are decent and we particularly like Shadow. However, you are not able to customise the watch faces or download them from anywhere other than Huawei’s app.

You do, however, get the option to have an always-on display or simply go with a blank face until you move your wrist to see the time. 

Listed in the options as ‘lock screen’ you get the choice of digital or analogue faces in monochrome. Again, we like these and understand that the ‘lock screen’ options are pared down to conserve battery life.

Functions

It might be easy to assume that, due to its lightweight and minimalist design, that this would be the same for its feature set. Don’t worry, there is still plenty to play with.

Firstly, there is a pretty accurate heart-rate sensor on the base.

Additionally, there are slits for the speaker output and microphones – yup, you can take calls and play music through the Watch GT 2.

The interface, Huawei’s Lite OS, is straightforward to navigate. Granted, you don’t get as many functions as some other smartwatches, but this makes it easier to use and hands you that claimed fortnight battery life.

All it takes is a downward swipe to access quick settings and a horizontal one to scroll through to the apps such as heart rate, stress, weather, music, fitness logging etc. Finally, an upward swipe enables you to see your notifications and messages. It’s a bit of a shame that you cannot respond to messages directly from the watch, though.

The physical buttons work as short cuts. The top button takes you to the watch’s app list. The bottom one, however, is customisable and is defaulted to trigger to record a workout. Oh, how we laughed at that one as we tucked into a burger.

We’ve used the timer, alarm and stopwatch quite a bit and the compass is a nice touch. That said, the Watch GT 2 isn’t big on multitasking. Let’s say you’ve kicked off a workout, and then someone asks you to set a countdown, or you need the stopwatch – this will mean you’ll have to pause or stop your workout to use one of the other apps. Not a big deal, but could be seen as a shortcoming.

I think you’re fit

We like the addition of stress monitoring and sleep tracking as these are areas that we definitely need to improve. 

Huawei has also included a barometer to measure air pressure in the GT 2.

Overall, the Watch GT 2’s heart rate tracking seemed to be accurate when compared with its competitors and more expensive professional options.

We were impressed at the range of workouts that it supports, too. Sixteen in total, including running courses, outdoor run, indoor run, outdoor walk, indoor walk, outdoor cycle, indoor cycle, pool swim, open water, climb, hike, trail run, triathlon, elliptical, rower and other for gym workouts and the like.

If you’re appy and you know it

The smartphone companion app, Huawei Health, works with Android and iOS, and links to Apple’s Health app, Google Fit and also My Fitness Pal. However, the lack of Strava integration and such will undoubtedly put off more active healthy types.

Sleep tracking we found quite useful. The results are broken down into light, deep and REM sleep, with guidelines on how well you’re resting across all three metrics. We found that the Watch GT2 could even spot when we took a power nap (passed out) during the day. 

If you’re the type to run for fun, then you’ll also like the charts you get to review. Here you get your pace, heart rate, cadence and altitude at different points in the session to mull over. Actually, you can also get further involved and check out performance metrics such as aerobic and anaerobic effort, VO2 Max, and the recovery time required before repeating all that effort. We’re pretty sure our recovery time will be measured in weeks.

Daily activity is tracked automatically. Here you get your steps counted, any exercise you do and your resting/average heart rate.

All very impressive considering that the battery lasts so long.

Battery life 

Like most boasts of stamina, you need perfect conditions to get Huawei’s 2-week battery life. However, we generally clocked in well over a week between charges. 

We guess that turning off the smart features such as heart monitoring and the like might get you that magical fortnight. 

However, get that lock screen always-on display going and then 5-7 days will be the best you can achieve. That said, we think it’s still impressive.

We were slightly disappointed that battery charging isn’t wireless. However, the upside is that it’s quick.

From empty to full tank only takes an hour and the magnets in the cradle snap securely to the Watch GT 2. 

Conclusion

If you are looking for a smartwatch with excellent battery life and some health tracking smarts, then the Huawei Watch GT2 is what you’re looking for.

The design is great from any angle, and the full-colour AMOLED panel is gorgeous.

We like the always-on lock screen and loudspeaker, almost as much as we love the week+ battery life.

The Watch GT 2 does fall short on some functions when compared to others out there, and it won’t play with third-party apps, so might put off serious fitness freaks. However, for the rest of us seeking a good-looking watch with a great health tracker for less than £200, the Huawei Watch GT2 gets our vote.

Price and availability

The Huawei Watch GT 2 46mm comes in two flavours, the black-cased Sport (black or orange strap) which costs £199 and, the silver-cased Pebble Brown (leather strap with a spare sports strap included) for £219.99 as reviewed here.

If you just want a fitness band, perhaps check out Honor’s Band 5 that costs less than £30!

The post Huawei Watch GT 2 Review – Just how smart is it? appeared first on GadgetyNews.

We were in Berlin for the Honor Band 5’s launch at IFA 2019, and now it’s time to see what we think about the inexpensive fitness wearable.

Looking down at my increasing waistline I for one can do with being more mobile. Most gym-dwellers, pavement-pounders, and all-round fitness types will have some sort of fitness tracker attached. Those that mean business will no doubt have one of the pro-level trackers from a big-name brand. These generally cost big bucks.

But, what if I told you that there was a nifty little device that will cover most things for most people. Even better still, thanks to a recent update, it also monitors your Pulse Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) and adds remote music control of your phone. All for under £30.

Honor Band 5 design

The Honor Band 5 boasts a 0.95-inch AMOLED full-colour display, an upgrade on the previous iteration’s OLED screen.

Now, the colours are brighter and more vivid. Furthermore, and more importantly, the screen is even easier to read.

You also get 282 pixels-per-inch, which is pretty decent and, all-in-all, everything is easy to see, even in bright sunlight (we remember summer still, right?).

As a fitness band, it is a narrow wearable as well as having a slim profile. This makes it an ideal gym partner as you are unlikely to whack it into equipment – something that more chunky designs risk.

I haven’t the thickest of wrists; however, I was pleased to see the amount of range that the molded strap allows for. From slender to giant (more-or-less). I have tested fitness bands before, but they have been much more limited in the fitting. Nice one, Honor.

The compact Band 5 is also light and will not hamper your chosen torture – errrr, fitness regime.

The Honor Band 5 is available in Midnight Navy, Coral Pink, and Meteorite Black – choose carefully as the band is not interchangeable. What you can do, however, is change the watch face design – and there are plenty to choose from. Can’t find anything that tickles your fancy from the installed selection? Well, there’s even more to download.

Overall the design has been well thought out with the textured strap and everything. However, I guess you’re also limited to what you can do and it would be difficult to pick out the Band 5 from a line-up of other sports bands, to be fair.

Honor Band 5 features

For less than thirty notes, the Honor Band 5 is packed with all kinds of fitness-focused tech. For instance, you get an always-on heart-rate monitor, sleep tracking, multiple workout modes, and so much more. 

The Band 5 links up with the Huawei Health app, which also gives you more information and a way to track your progress.

Compared to the Band 4, there are even more exercise modes. Added to the already fairly comprehensive list including favourites such as running, cycling, swimming (the Band 5 is waterproof to 50m), is Rowing Machine and Cross Trainer. 

Naturally, there is also Step tracking which features as default on most of the watch faces. As you would expect at this price, there’s no GPS.

Heart rate tracking has been made more accurate with Honor boasting that it’s almost as good as a traditional chest-mounted heart rate monitor. Not having such a monitor to compare the Band 5 with, I will have to take Honor’s word for it – although I am sure that if you are really serious about this kind of thing and its accuracy, you will be looking to spend more than £30.

Being pretty rubbish at sleeping, I like the new-and-improved sleep-tracker. It also dishes out advice, as the Honor Band 5 can identify your sleep structure and monitors your changing patterns. Additionally, this brings me on to the way the Honor Band 5 tracks your heart rate. Unlike some other monitors, the Band 5 uses non-visible light, meaning it won’t irritate you as you’re trying to nap.

Latest update

The latest update for the Band 5 has brought along Blood oxygen saturation monitoring. This measurement is a vital indicator of the oxygen supply to cells and tissues. 

Proper blood oxygenation is necessary to supply energy to your muscles to function well. Blood oxygen levels between 90% and 100% are healthy, while a SpO2 value below 89% could be a signal to stop exercising or seek medical attention. 

Additionally, Honor added Music Control. This requires you to flick the function on in the Huawei Health app. Once that is sorted, you can then use the Band 5 to view and control your music apps right from your wrist. Apps supported include Tidal (thankfully as that’s what I use), Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube, Shazam and many more.

The Honor Band 5 smartwatch skills

You can also use the Band 5 as a regular ol’ smartwatch. Yes, it tells the time but, when not working up a sweat, you can access other nifty things. Firstly, it will display the weather, notifications and that kind of thing.

As well as SMS and Facebook messages, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you can add Twitter, Snapchat and even Discord to that list. Granted, emojis and the like won’t display so you will get the occasional blank message, but still, a handy thing to have.

I also like the fact that you can control your phone’s camera shutter from the Band 5. Whether its Star Trails or similar long-exposure shots or Selfies, having the Band 5 as a remote trigger is another bonus.

Honor Band 5 battery life

With the message notifications on, as well as the heart-rate monitor, the Honor Band 5 was clocking in about 5 days battery life from a charge. To me, that’s not bad. Naturally, if you were looking to use it purely as a fitness buddy, then some of the juice-draining options can be stopped and so increase the band’s stamina.

Still, I think a working week between charges is fair, especially when being used as a smartwatch.

Honor Band 5 review conclusion

The Honor Band 5 is undoubtedly worth your money in my opinion. It’s more than a fitness tracker thanks to all its health monitoring skills. Furthermore, it can even out-smart some smartwatches.

The screen is responsive although there were moments where I must not have been tapping the Home button in just the right way. The less said about that, the better.

Also, for £29.99, you’re risking less than a month’s gym membership and are more likely to still be using the Honor Band 5 in six months. 

The post Honor Band 5 Review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

The new, stylish and practical accessory costs under £30. The HONOR Band 5 is perfect for those looking for a fitness tracker and smart band that also packs sleep monitoring into its slim build.

The HONOR Band 5 boasts a 0.95-inch AMOLED full-colour touchscreen, 24-hour heart rate monitoring, multiple sports and fitness modes and eight custom watch faces.

24/7 Health Monitoring 

Powered by the latest HUAWEI TruSeen 3.0 heart rate technology, the HONOR Band 5 provides accurate, 24-hour real-time continuous heart rate monitoring. 

The heart rate monitor also switches to an invisible light while you sleep.

The HONOR Band 5 also features TruSleep tech which automatically records light, deep and REM sleep, so you know your sleep quality.

Supported by Huawei AI technology and certified by the Center for Dynamical Biomarkers at Harvard Medical School, TruSleep precisely identifies six common sleep disorders. Furthermore, it also offers more than 200 customised suggestions to improve sleep quality. 

Professional Fitness Tracker

HONOR Band 5 is a reliable exercise companion, closely tracking your workouts and providing recommendations for improvement. 

The new Band supports a variety of outdoor and indoor activities, including outdoor running, indoor treadmill, outdoor riding, indoor cycling, free training, walking, elliptical trainer, rowing machine and indoor walking.

Additionally, HONOR Band 5 also features a full range of swimming tracking options. Naturally, this also means that it is water-resistant in depths of up to 50 meters. 

Band 5 tracks the number of strokes, speed, distance, intervals and calories burnt, giving swimmers a clear view of their progress. It also tracks your SWOLF score, a combination of stroke count and time spent in the water. We’re told that this helps swimmers improve their technique.

Notifications and Battery Life

The Band 5’s 0.95-inch AMOLED touchscreen has a resolution of 240x 120 pixels at 282 PPI which makes it easy to read. Moreover, a single charge provides 14-days of normal usage.

When paired with a smartphone, the HONOR Band 5 will also alert you of incoming calls, SMS, email and SNS notifications. 

There’s even a remote-control function that enables you to capture photos from both the rear and front cameras of your phone in a single click. 

When the Band is connected to your phone by Bluetooth, you can also use the nifty “Find phone” function to locate your handset.

Olivier Dobo, Marketing Director at HONOR UK, told GadgetyNews:

HONOR Band 5 provides the perfect mix of technology and style, meaning you can keep track of your day and night routines while still expressing your personality. By combining complete control of your notifications, a full suite of fitness tracking and better than ever sleep monitoring, Band 5 becomes the perfect accessory for any activity.

Price and availability

The HONOR Band 5 is available now for £29.99 at Amazon. You have a choice of Classic Navy blue, Meteorite Black and Dahlia Pink

The post HONOR Band 5 Fitness Tracker – IFA 2019 appeared first on GadgetyNews.

At the usual small gathering of close friends and family, the Cupertino firm has unveiled its iPhone 11 range of handsets. Naturally taking cues from its rivals, the new iPhone range features more cameras than ever before. Additionally, the new fruity phones pack an updated processor that’s faster yet more economical with power.

Apple iPhone 11

Apple stated at the show-and-tell that the two Pro models would last between four to five hours longer than their XS predecessors.

5G-less

An area where Apple has yet to catch up to the competition is by outing a 5G model. Granted, the 5G infrastructure is yet to be anything like useful at the moment, but, interestingly, companies such as Huawei can fit modems that are ready for full-fat 5G. Apparently, the lack of 5G is down to Intel not being able to develop the required modem in time. 

Personally, if I were going to be signing up to a three-year contract, I’d want to know that my smartphone was at least ready for next year’s tech.

The iPhone 11 sports a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display, which is the same size as the screen on 2018’s iPhone XR. Also the same as last year’s model is the position and size of the notch.

The dimensions of the phone are 150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, and it tips the scales at 194 grams.

You should be able to bathe with your iPhone 11 as it’s water-resistant, boasting an IP68 rating. 

Camera

On its glass-covered rear side, the new iPhones introduce an “ultrawide” camera, offering 2x optical zoom-out.

The Pro models add the new lens to the telephoto and standard lenses as per the last generation’s XS and XS Max, giving them three lenses. Some have likened the lens format to a fidget spinner while other reports say that the design has triggered people’s trypophobia (the fear of small holes).

The cheapest iPhone 11 rocks a dual-lensed rear with an ultrawide and standard lens.

Night Mode

Apple has watched Samsung, Google and especially Huawei sprint ahead in the low-light photography stakes and so proudly announced the iPhone 11’s new Night Mode.

The iPhone 11 Night Mode automatically brightens the image if needed as well as mitigates the digital noise produced as a result.

Deep Fusion

More interestingly, Apple’s Deep Fusion was touched upon. The sci-fi-sounding tech takes nine snaps with a variety of exposures and then sorts through them “pixel by pixel” finding the best parts from each to create a superior image.

The uprated camera tech also includes the ability to shoot slow-motion videos with the front camera as well as the rear.

Power

Under the hood, you’ll find the upgraded A13 Bionic processor.

Apple boasts that its CPU and GPU are both more potent than those featured in any Android phone.

Additionally, the chip’s “neural engine” has been optimised to handle matrix calculations better. Furthermore, they say its 20% faster than the A12.

No Poking

If you were fancying using the Apple Pencil stylus with the new iPhone 11, well, you can’t. Also, the new phones are not able to wirelessly recharge other accessories, unlike Samsung and Huawei’s premium phones.

iPhone 11 Price and Availability

The iPhone 11 starts cheaper than its XR forerunner in the UK, ranging between £729 and £879 depending on storage. That said, the Pro models are more spendy than the XS ones, with an asking price of between £1,049 and £1,499. 

The new iPhone 11 comes in Purple, White, Yellow, Green, Black and Product Red. 

You can pre-order the iPhone 11 from September 13, and it’ll ship (and be on the shelves) from September 20.

Apple Subscription services

Tim Cook announced that the upcoming Apple subscription services that would each cost £4.99 per month – Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade.

The Apple Arcade all-you-can-eat game service comes with a 1-month free trial. 

You also can get Apple TV Plus for free for a year if you buy an Apple device such as a set-top box or computer. This TV show and movie-streaming platform will carry exclusive content and make its first programmes available on November 1.

In the presentation, it wasn’t stated whether Apple would bundle these new services with the company’s existing cloud storage, and music offerings for a discount, as was previously rumoured.

The New iPad

The seventh-generation model has a 10.2in (25.9cm) Retina Display screen – making it bigger than before.

The new iPad runs on the new iPadOS and will also connect with a full-sized Smart Keyboard.

Powered by the A10 Fusion chip that promises impressive performance. This means that it should handle games as well as multitasking. On the subject of gaming, you can pair an Xbox Wireless Controller with Bluetooth, PlayStation DualShock 4 controller or MFi game controller with the iPad to create a portable games console.

Going on sale at the end of the month the new tablet will start at £349, a £30 increase on the earlier model.

Apple Watch Series 5

Apple has also revealed a new version of its smartwatch. The latest wearable features an “always-on” display.

The Series 5 Watch adjusts how often it refreshes the screen to as little as one frame per second. That way, it can retain the18-hour battery life as the previous version.

The new watch also adds a compass and sleep-tracking software to its skills. Also, there’s a new titanium case option.

The company added that it will keep selling its Series 3 model, which will cost £199. A nifty way of offering an affordable entry-level to Apple Watch ownership. The Series 5 Apple Watch starts at £399.

The post Apple iPhone 11, Watch Series 5 and new iPad appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Flare Audio has announced the development of a small wearable device that enables users to ‘upgrade’ their ears and “hear in high-definition”.

Like glasses for your ears, earHD takes you on a slightly surreal ‘true audio’ journey according to the earphone company.

Insert the small, non-electric, meticulously designed ear lenses into your ears and take a walk. For the audio-curious, it’s said to be a revelation. 

With no wires or other kit required, a walk in the country can sound more beautiful and a concert more immersive. We are told that some have described the sound as ‘cleaner’. 

Furthermore, independent testing by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton, has found earHD to improve speech intelligibility, increase the signal to noise ratio and enhance frequency response.

Flare founder, Davies Roberts, told GadgetyNews:

We hoped that with earHD we might improve what we hear slightly, but what we’ve got to has really astonished us and the testers. They conducted three main tests, and earHD surpassed all our expectations.

Flare earHD Testing

Data shows earHD to: 

1. Significantly improve how well we hear the human voice. The speech intelligibility test measured earHD’s performance at how well it can receive the human voice from one emanating source. EarHD took the natural human ear from 0.49 (fair) to 0.64 (good). 
2.  Increase our ability to hear sound coming from one sound source while reducing external (unwanted) reflected (Also known as signal to noise ratio.)

Test results show that at 8kHz, there was an average signal to noise ratio increase of 19dB while wearing earHD. 8kHz and up is classed as high frequencies. i.e. detail in sound. 

By improving the signal to noise ratio, our harmonic reception is enhanced at this vital frequency, which enhances our sound experience.

Wearers will notice this in spaces with hard walls where sound reflects chaotically and makes a high-quality sound experience of any kind impossible without wearing earHD. 

1. Enhance our frequency response from 6kHz and above. Typically, the human ear loses the ability to hear detail in sound from 6kHz and above, particularly as we get older. Things like listening to the tv, birdsong and speech get harder to hear as we age. When earHD is used the 1.5kHz to 6kHz resonance is drastically reduced, and high frequencies from 6kHz and above are boosted, giving you back lost detail.

This is incredibly exciting but what’s even more impressive is that it’s a small non-electrical device.

How earHD works

Because our ears are on the side of our head, they are especially great at determining where sounds are coming from. Handy for hunters to triangulate where their prey is.

The outside of our ear, (the pinna) has evolved to help us do this. However, but what we gain in the placement of sound we lose in definition and sound quality.

Our ears are very good at receiving quality sound from the sides and from devices like headphones, as this sound travels straight into our ears bypassing the pinna.

However, when we put our ears into venues and different shaped acoustic spaces, we suddenly hear sound from all sides, and we need to focus on the sound that is in front of us. 

Ear Satellite Dish

To receive higher levels of detail from the front, earHD acts like a satellite dish and diffraction shield combined. 

By using a precise acoustic lens that focuses sound uniformly into one central location, the sound is accurately reflected straight into our ears. The result is a higher definition sound from where you are facing. The diffraction shield aspect blocks unwanted higher frequencies from outside the desired 60-degree reception window that would have otherwise entered our ears at a much higher level which typically damages harmonic reception.  

EarHD features a 60-degree reception from left to right to focus sound coming into our ears.

Simply put: where we look is where we hear in high definition. The sound coming from elsewhere is reduced.

earHD Trials

 A select group of people have been trialing the top-secret prototype.

One is ‘curious mind’ Stephen Fry, who remarked:

I hadn’t realised before that listening is something you can actively do, to the smallest thing. You have to keep taking them (earHD) out to hear the muddied version you usually hear. All I can do is recommend them… (and) I have no reason other than enthusiasm to recommend them to you. They’ve given me a new relationship with sound.

Colour us intrigued.

Price and availability

Pencilled in for delivery June 2020, you can back the Kickstarter project now from £199 which gets you a pair of earHD in aluminium.

The post Flare earHD – A Modern Ear-Trumpet? appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Withings has today extended its cardiovascular product portfolio with the availability of two new at-home blood pressure monitors – BPM Core and BPM Connect.

Withings BPM Core is the first over-the-counter all-in-one device able to measure blood pressure, record an electrocardiogram (ECG) and listen to the heart via a digital stethoscope. All those cardiac tech chops mean that you can detect serious conditions such as atrial fibrillation or valvular heart disease at home.

The Withings BPM Connect is an updated version of the classic Withings BPM, featuring an LED display and advanced sync options that make taking, viewing and sharing cardiovascular readings simpler than ever.

Withings BPM Core

Withings BPM Core enables you to retrieve medical data traditionally only available in a clinical setting. As well as blood pressure and heart rate monitoring, the three-in-one device measures ECG used to identify atrial fibrillation (AFib), the main form of irregular heart rhythm, a significant risk for stroke.

Additionally, the digital stethoscope listens for heart abnormalities to provide early detection of valvular heart disease, characterised by damage to one of the four heart valves that may require surgical intervention.

People with high blood pressure are more at risk from both valvular damage and AFib, as multiple clinical studies have found strong correlations between the three states. However, AFib is tricky and can often go underdiagnosed because symptoms are not continuous.

Within 90 seconds, BPM Core can perform all three measurements. Heart rate, blood pressure and ECG readings with AFib detection. The results are displayed on the device via an LED matrix and also transmitted to the accompanying Health Mate app.

ECG readings, as well as stethoscope recordings, are displayed within the app, along with a qualification of the ECG signal (normal sinus rhythm, atrial fibrillation or inconclusive) and potential detection of valvular heart disease. All data, measurements, graphs and recordings can be shared directly with a personal cardiologist and physician.

Withings BPM Connect

Withings BPM Connect, the updated version of the classic Withings BPM, makes it even simpler to take and view cardiovascular readings at home and share them with medical professionals. FDA cleared and CE compliant, it provides highly accurate measurements of heart rate as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Unlike its predecessor, BPM Connect doesn’t require users to have their smartphone or any other smart device around to view and interpret the results. Readings are displayed directly on the BPM Connect via an LED matrix. Additionally, data will sync with the accompanying Health Mate app via Bluetooth or WiFi. Sharing a design feature with Withings BPM Core, BPM Connect’s display also provides colour-coded feedback glowing green for normal, orange for moderate and red for high blood pressure.

Eric Carreel, President of Withings, told GadgetyNews:

We are excited to be introducing BPM Core and BPM Connect, as both medical devices go way beyond simply providing people with easy access to their personal blood pressure information. BPM Core is by far the most sophisticated and wide-ranging, at-home cardiovascular monitor yet that gives people and their physicians a detailed look at their daily heart health from the comfort of their home. On the other hand, our new BPM Connect was specifically designed to offer people that want a simple way to monitor their general heart health a user-friendly and convenient solution they can use without the need of a phone and even while on-the-go.

Availability

Withings BPM Core is available now for €249.95/£229.95 and can be purchased exclusively at Apple Stores or online at Apple.com and Withings.com. Additional retailers will roll out during the summer.

Withings BPM Connect is available now for €99.95/£89.95 at Apple Stores, Apple.com, Withings.com, Amazon and additional retail partners.

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Combining advanced watchmaking technology with a passion for golf, TAG Heuer not only announces its new Golf smartphone app but also a special edition Connected Modular 45 smartwatch.

Designed specifically with golfers in mind, the new TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 “Golf Edition” is linked to the TAG Heuer Golf app. The app enables players to get the most out of their rounds of golf no matter what course they’re playing on.

Following the introduction of the second generation Connected in 2017, the Swiss watchmaker now combines its passion for sports and innovation with its interest in the world’s number one individual sport. The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 “Golf Edition” and the unique 3D course mapping available with the TAG Heuer Golf app are must-haves for every golfer.

TAG Heuer Project Manager Matthieu Soudan told us:

The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 ‘Golf Edition’ was designed specifically for golfers and anyone who is fascinated by the sport. Every aspect of the smartwatch and the app – from design to function – was created to enhance the player’s game. Off the course, the watch is a stylish accessory that features cutting-edge digital technology. It’s important to point out that it is, first and foremost, a connected watch, which means that the Golf app is only one of many other apps and functions that can be used with the timepiece.

TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 “Golf Edition”

The new edition digital wristwatch combines a golf-inspired design and shock-resistant materials with a personalised advanced Golf app. The app features 3D renderings of more than 39,000 courses and provides comprehensive performance analysis.

The classy 45 mm timepiece has a black ceramic bezel ring, which is laser engraved with a scale of 1 to 18 – indicating the 18 holes in a round of golf. Filled in with white lacquer, the scale stands out from the predominantly black finish of the lightweight watch. The bold black ceramic lugs complement the sandblasted case and caseback, which are fashioned from black PVD titanium.

The smartwatch is worn on a white strap with green stitching – how on trend is that?

The 400 x 400 resolution 287 ppi touchscreen is covered with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. Equipped with multiple sensors, such as GPS, NFC, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a mic, the smartwatch also boasts 4 GB of storage and a battery life of 25 hours.

Of course, the Golf edition can do anything that the TAG Heuer Connected watches can do. So, send messages, receive notifications, play music and download other apps to your heart’s content.

Also bundled with this latest edition is a black rubber strap for when you’re not out on the green. Additionally, three golf balls stamped with the TAG Heuer logo are also included in the special packaging.

TAG Connected Golf App

This is the first time that the Swiss watchmaker has developed an app for iOS and Android smartphones. The Golf app is available to download for free and can be used on all TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 smartwatches.

The new app delivers critical insights to improve performance. Here you can record shot distances and scores, it also displays 39,000 golf courses around the world with accurate 3D mapping technology. TAG boasts that this app is more advanced than any similar technology currently available on the market.

The post TAG Heuer Launches Golf Watch and App appeared first on GadgetyNews.

As well as the Mate 20 Series of handsets, Huawei also revealed two new wearables: Huawei Watch GT and Huawei Band 3 Pro. Launched alongside the flagship Huawei Mate 20 Series, the new wearables offer sophisticated ways to track your activities and receive fitness coaching that is based on scientific research.

Huawei Watch GT

Featuring the classic wristwatch design, ultra-high battery life, low power consumption, sophisticated activity tracking and fitness coaching features, the Watch GT is sure to be a favourite.

It is great to see that Huawei has looked to address one of the most common pain points of wearables: battery life.

The Watch GT uses an innovative smart power-saving algorithm that enables it to dynamically switch between performance and efficiency modes, depending on what you’re doing. This allows the smartwatch to stay powered for up to two weeks for frequent use mode. Furthermore, the dual-core architecture of the new smartwatch enables you to enjoy the best of both worlds—it is simultaneously a powerful and highly efficient smartwatch.

The Huawei Watch GT sports a 1.39-inch 454×254 AMOLED high-resolution display. Wrapped around the screen is a dual-crown design body with stainless steel and ceramic bezels. Additionally, the watch is treated with a DLC diamond carbon coating to provide it with a durability that will last.

Finally, the 10.6mm case body is compatible with two band options—a dual-colour silicone band and an elegant leather-rubber band.

Watch GT features

The smartwatch can simultaneously tap into GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO, three of the major satellite positioning systems. What that means for the wearer is that you get precise positioning.

A tracking algorithm then optimises the tracking data to achieve one-to-one positioning even in areas with numerous disparate signals.

Furthermore, the Watch GT supports all-round sports activity tracking. Working with professional sports organisations, Huawei enables tracking for a range of sports, including indoor exercises, outdoor running, mountain climbing, cycling and open water swimming. The watch also supports fitness coaching features. By analysing the heart rate of users with scientific methods, this feature lets users exercise more safely and healthily than ever before.

The TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitoring tech tracks your active and resting heart rate. Combining innovative PPG optical and hardware design and AI algorithms, the solution can monitor your heart rate in high precision. In Sport mode, the watch can be set up to notify you to adjust the intensity of your workout based on a pre-set target heart rate interval. In Rest mode, the smartwatch automatically monitors and records your resting heart rate.

Huawei Band 3 Pro

Following the Watch GT on stage was the new sports wristband featuring a full-colour touchscreen.

While most smart wristbands often feature simple health monitoring functions, the lack of standardisation made a lot of the data unsuitable for medical use. Because of that, Huawei launched Band 3 Pro, a new smart wristband supporting a range of precise and professional monitoring capabilities, including improved heart rate and sleep monitoring.

The Band 3 is also equipped with Huawei TruSeen 3.0, so you get the same accurate heart rate monitoring.

Leveraging the same technology powering TruSeen 3.0, the band can also track sleep patterns with TruSleep 2.0. Moreover, the solution uses big data analysis to provide personalised services and suggestions to improve sleep quality.

As alluded to earlier, The Huawei Band 3 Pro features a 0.95-inch HD AMOLED colour touchscreen.

Price and availability

UK pricing and availability for the HUAWEI WATCH GT Sport edition, HUAWEI WATCH Classic edition and the HUAWEI Band 3 Pro will be available in due course. For more information, please visit: https://www.consumer.huawei.com

The post Huawei Watch GT and Sports Band 3 Pro announced appeared first on GadgetyNews.

The next generation of digital hearing aids is here. The Styletto by Signia is a revolutionary hearing aid. The new device has more in common with a piece of high-end wearable tech than a medical device. Additionally, Styletto’s companion app allows users to control volume and audio settings from Apple and Android phones. The app also offers dedicated audio and technical support features to assist learning and troubleshooting for greater ease of use.

Borrowing from the usability of modern, wearable technology, the Styletto also provides users with freedom and flexibility. The device charges like the latest true wireless earphones. It also comes with a portable charging dock allowing up to four days of continuous use on the go. Furthermore, the charging dock is so small it easily fits into a shirt pocket.

Styletto design

As with all Signia products, Styletto does not fail to deliver on sound quality. We are told that it presents crisp and perfect audio to the user. Signia’s NX Audiology technology ensures industry-leading sound and a top-quality natural voice processor.

Signia designed the Styletto hearing device to fill a gap in a constantly evolving health device market. The company has made a hearing aid that consumers will be proud to wear. This also addresses the needs of ‘baby boomers’ for whom quality, design and function is critically more important than that of previous generations.

In a survey, Eurotrak trends 2018, the top reasons for not wearing a hearing aid were that it would be uncomfortable (57%) and embarrassing to wear (56%).

Maarten Barmentlo, Signia’s marketing lead, said

As well as technology, two other critical components of the Signia concept are design and wearability.

It is the first genuinely desirable hearing aid built with beautiful, tactile materials in a choice of three striking brushed-metal finishes.

With looks more consistent with a piece of high-end wearable tech than a medical device, the Styletto borrows design language we are familiar with.

Words

Hearing aids have long been associated as being out of date and not at the cutting edge of today’s cool technology and we wanted to change that perception. Styletto has implemented the best possible technology to ensure that not only does the product deliver incredible sound, but is also a very user-friendly device.”

For further information, please visit: signia-pro.co.uk/styletto

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