Verizon Communications Inc.’s wireless subscriber rolls surged last quarter, but it was thanks to smartwatches and other wearables — not the phones and tablets that were once its mainstay.
Monthly subscribers climbed by 260,000 in the first quarter, the carrier said on Tuesday, marking its fourth straight period of growth. That topped the 159,000 average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The results renewed optimism that the largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier can cope with a maturing industry. Even as the company lost phone and tablet subscribers, new customers using mobile service for Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. watches, vehicles and other applications offset the shortfall. The results sent the shares up as much as 3.6 percent to $50.39.
… the 3 Fitness has exceptionally accurate health-tracking sensors. When I estimated my sleep time at about seven and a half hours, I woke up to a full sleep quality report that clocked seven hours and 28 minutes of snoozing, along with time spent in a “deep sleep” state. The heart-rate monitor was also impressive for its accuracy—nailing my resting rate down to the very beat after I checked it manually.
The only thing that wasn’t especially accurate was the watch’s distance tracking. Using manual calibration, the watch significantly overestimates step count, and is very sensitive to everyday movements. However, once I calibrated the watch using the tethered GPS feature in Suunto’s smartphone app, my readouts got a little more accurate. My step counts each day always came in a little high, but after comparing my runs across two different run-tracking platforms, the GPS was accurate within a few hundredths of a mile.
A report from Which? has claimed that some fitness trackers and apps are so inaccurate that they could measure as many as eight miles too short, or too far, over the London Marathon course. So how can you measure how far you have really run?
A few weeks ago, Wednesday afternoon was winding down. I changed into a pair of shorts, put on a pair of smart running shoes, and smugly informed my co-workers that I was going on a run.
But one thing led to another. I had to write photo captions; I answered a couple emails. By the time I had resolved these very pressing issues, I had been sitting at my desk for 45 minutes in running clothes, with only fifteen minutes of paid childcare left on the clock.
It wasn’t enough time to run, but it was enough time for me to kick off my shoes, unroll a yoga mat, and fire up the Coach app on the Fitbit Versa for quick 7-minute workout.
That’s what Fitbit is all about—making your life healthier, one tiny, incremental change at a time. After a few weeks of using the Relax app to do two-minute deep breathing exercises while my children acted like a pair of human whoopee cushions in the backseat of my car, I can definitely say that the Versa is an easy, accessible way to do just that.
Medical Design and Outsourcing, Heather Thompson from
… “Our main goal is to build collaboration between teams to achieve technology platforms that can further advances in a range of industries because we can connect them to government bodies, universities, technology developers and suppliers,” explained Karen Savala, director of marketing. Among its medtech partners are Jabil, Flex, GE, Lubrizol and Molex. Because of the funding source, when it comes to government contracting, NextFlex serves as an interface vehicle to manage the relationship between government agencies and companies and contractors.
NextFlex is presently working to scale wearables called sweat patches — a project started under a NextFlex predecessor, the Nano-Bio Medical Consortium under the primary leadership of GE Global Research. They were the prime developer of the technology, with support by partners AFRL, Dublin City University, American Semiconductor, UMass Amherst, The University of Connecticut and the University of Arizona.
“This technology originally came from a request from the Air Force,” said Jason Marsh, NextFlex’s director of technology. “AFRL was pursuing non-invasive ways to measure biomarkers such as electrolytes that measure a pilot’s hydration status.”
BeBop Sensors Inc announced the close of its $10 Million+ Series A funding led by San Francisco-based Bullpen Capital, a leader in post-seed funding. With millions of sensors in daily use, BeBop Sensors designs, manufactures, and delivers smart fabric sensors to Fortune 500 companies in the Health, Automotive, IoT, and AR/VR markets. The funding will help BeBop aggressively accelerate product development and market penetration.
Winner of the Frost & Sullivan Innovation Award and Gartner Cool Vendors Awards, BeBop Sensors’ innovative technology products include the Forte Data Glove, the first fully featured data glove with sensors and haptics priced for the consumer market; the Sensor Helmet, first to provide location-specific impact information; Multi Sensor Insole that measures the changing forces on the bottom of the foot.
In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time. The technology could be used by soldiers on the battlefield to print temporary sensors on their bodies to detect chemical or biological agents or solar cells to charge essential electronics.
Researchers also successfully printed biological cells on the skin wound of a mouse. The technique could lead to new medical treatments for wound healing and direct printing of grafts for skin disorders.
For athletes and weekend warriors alike, returning from a tendon injury too soon often ensures a trip right back to physical therapy. However, a new technology developed by University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers could one day help tell whether your tendons are ready for action.
A team of researchers led by UW–Madison mechanical engineering professor Darryl Thelen and graduate student Jack Martin has devised a new approach for noninvasively measuring tendon tension while a person is engaging in activities like walking or running.
This advance could provide new insights into the motor control and mechanics of human movement. It also could apply to fields ranging from orthopedics, rehabilitation, ergonomics and sports. The researchers described their approach in a paper published April 23 in the journal Nature Communications.
… By far the biggest thing that can influence your chances of an injury in both training and racing are your running shoes. Luckily, you can minimize the chance of injury by choosing the right marathon running shoes.
Below, a team of sports scientists from On running has outlined what to check for with your marathon shoe before the race to avoid marathon injuries, and for the readers who are reading this article after something has already happened, a few tips and guides for dealing with the most common race injuries.
Portland’s a growing hub for the sportswear industry, and with that comes an increasing number of educational opportunities for current and aspiring industry professionals.
University of Oregon’s Sports Product Management program last week hosted its fourth annual sports apparel creation workshop during Design Week — a two-day crash course on building, sourcing and marketing successful sports apparel companies. The course is taught by industry veterans Krista Martenson and John Notar, Nike’s former vice president of apparel, who have 60 years of combined experience in apparel creation. It’s held in UO’s new innovation lab at its Portland campus, also home of the university’s Sports Product Management Masters Program.
“This workshop is about providing some spark, some inspiration, something that’s going to get industry people where they want to go faster,” Notar said. “It’s great to get people out of their offices and connecting with other people in the industry.”
If you’ve ever used a running app then you know that they can all begin to blend together, and the same thing can be said about running shoes.
There are so many on the market that all seem to promise the same things: a lighter product, an improved experience and a new technology that promises to make it feel like you’re not running at all.
While the idea might seem trite, Under Armour is trying to provide its customers the perfect combination of new running technology with a running app for the digital age with its “HOVR” shoes—the Phantom and the Sonic—that come with MapMyRun technology packaged within them.
… Using a process developed by Google called a Design Sprint, in less than one week’s time, the AFRL researchers defined, conceptualized and prototyped a new waterproof medical bag for the National Guard’s 103rd Guardian Angel Personnel Recovery Unit, a team of medics trained in high sea personnel recovery. The project, code named “Med S.W.O.R.D.” for “Medical Supply Waterproof Ocean Rescue Duffel,” provided the Angels with quick-turn prototype solutions for a mission critical need and gave the researchers a chance to test new ways of innovation and learning in the process.
“The Guardian Angels asked if we could improve the current design of the medical supply bag carried for water recovery missions, which can become waterlogged or damaged by the harsh sea environment. They were looking for a durable, lightweight and waterproof solution that provided easy access to medical supplies, was able to be hung in both helicopters and boats and could remain buoyant in high seas,” said Bales. “This was a great opportunity to test the Sprint process out on an important military project for our warfighters.”
Deakin Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) scientist Dr Shayan Seyedin said the strain sensing textiles could be used to produce compression garments that monitor professional athletes during competition, or to allow patients to track and compile data while undergoing physical rehabilitation.
The devices could also be applied to virtual and augmented reality technology, providing more thorough feedback and accurate movement within VR games and simulations.
“Strain sensing textiles have particular relevance in the development of smart devices for health, sports, and soft robotics,” Dr Seyedin said.
“These wearable devices can convert a wide range of body movements into electrical signals, making it possible to track and record physical activities such as those involved in fitness and health monitoring, improving exercise efficiency, injury prevention and rehabilitation.”
The Conversation, Anthony Blazevich and Sébastien Ratel from
Repeated experiments have shown that the muscles of children tend to fatigue more slowly than adults
These results seem to fly in the face of what science would predict. For example, children have shorter limbs, so they have to take more steps and should therefore theoretically use more energy.
Children are also less able to make use of tendon energy return systems – that is, they store less energy in their tendons so they can’t reuse this energy to propel themselves during movement.
And children show greater activity in muscles that oppose or control movement, a reflection of the fact that typically they are less skillful, and therefore use more energy.
… In an interview following her address, Lynch said there are several ways Vail Resorts is addressing the industry’s challenges and hoping to inspire that change. For example, in order to introduce more urban families to winter sports, Vail is investing in ski areas near densely populated cities. Examples include its acquisitions of Minnesota’s Afton Alps, Michigan’s Mount Brighton and Wisconsin’s Wilmot Mountain, which serve the Twin Cities, Detroit and Chicago, respectively.
Additionally, the ski resort conglomerate has introduced a program called Epic SchoolKids that enables kids in kindergarten through fifth grade in Colorado, Canada and Utah to hit the slopes for free and includes a free lesson and free equipment.
Lynch said the program brings families into the sport “that might not otherwise have the means to get started.” She also said that Vail Resorts has a series of women’s programs to address the lag in female skiers and snowboarders when compared with men.
Using a bike computer is a great way to set goals and track cycling progress. However, if you’ve done any shopping around, you’re aware of how expensive it can be. Mobile apps have even gotten so effective in recent years that we wouldn’t blame you for wondering if you needed a bike computer, at all. Depending on your goals, it may make more sense to forgo the handlebar-mounted devices altogether and use your phone to record metrics.
Many cycling-focused apps measure data like speed, distance, and pace, and help with tasks such as route planning, goal setting, community building, coaching, or other bike-related objectives. Because there are so many available, the one you choose depends on what you want to use it for — you may even want to use a few separate apps to accomplish different purposes. To help make the decision process easier, here are the best cycling apps for each type of function.
The Conversation, Jason Gill and Carlos Celis-Morales from
Research has consistently shown that people who are less physically active are both more likely to develop health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and to die younger. Yet there is increasing evidence that physical activity levels are on the decline.
The problem is that when there are many demands on our time, many people find prioritising exercise difficult. One answer is to multi-task by cycling or walking to work. We’ve just completed the largest ever study into how this affects your health.
Published in the British Medical Journal today, the results for cycling in particular have important implications. They suggest that councils and governments need to make it a top priority to encourage as many commuters to get on their bikes as possible.
Barely 3 percent of the American work force bikes or walks to work with any frequency, despite the obvious virtues: decreased risks for obesity and diabetes, environmental benefits and lower transportation costs. Ask people why they eschew what’s known as active commuting, as many surveys have, and the primary reason cited is time. Those things take too long, most say.
They’re probably wrong. A new study published in a journal called Transportmetrica A: Transport Science shows that people often overestimate the time required to commute actively, a miscalculation especially common when someone has secured a parking permit near the office.