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RAPAPORT... The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking place in Las Vegas this week will attract more than 160,000 attendees before it closes on January 9 and has already been making headlines with new wearable accessories, which, judging by consumer comments, have been defined as the latest jewelry trend. Swarovski collaborated with Misfit, a maker of wearable products, to produce "Swarovski Shine," a collection of wearable accessories that incorporate Swarovski’s signature crystal and Misfit’s wireless and sleep tracking technology. There are two waterproof wearables at the core of this collection -- a clear Swarovski Shine with a crystal face and a violet Swarovski Shine (pictured) that taps into patented “energy crystal” technology to power itself by solar energy. The solar powered jewel is being defined as the first wireless and sleep tracker device that utilizes an energy harvesting technology to eliminate any need for recharging or replacing batteries.  When worn, both Swarovski designs automatically track a person's steps, distance walked, calories burned and sleep quality and duration. The collection is available for pre-order and will be sold at Swarovski locations in the U.S., Hong Kong and China beginning in the spring of 2015. "Shine is the first truly fashion forward activity tracker and Swarovski leads the way in the fashion jewelry and accessories market globally. This collaboration pushes the envelope as to how beautiful technology can be,” said Syuzi Pakhchyan, a wearables designer and author of "Fashioning Technology." Withings unveiled a range of colorful activity and sleep tracking watches at CES called Activité Pop. The new line follows Withings' Activité watch and intends to converge fashion with mobile technology for motion trackers, using sophisticated sensors as well as connectivity to create a timeless accessory. Activité Pop features a lightweight design in three distinctive colors -- azure, shark gray and sand -- and a set of playful wristbands. Cédric Hutchings, the CEO of Withings, said, “We’ve paired Activité’s elegant Parisian design with fun-to-wear materials and pop colors in order to create a very personal device that people would want to wear and never take off. It is time for wearables to step up to what they claim to be.”  Activité Pop, pictured in azure, features two hand dials, one showing the time and a subdial showing a progress percentage of specific activity goals. While wearing the watch, a user can track his or her activity throughout the day and when a certain goal is achieved, such as the number of walking steps, the watch vibrates. The watch also tracks swimming and running activity and, if it is worn at night, it can monitor sleep quality and wake the user with a gentle vibration.
Activité Pop also syncs automatically with a Withings Health Mate application, which was named one of Apple’s Best Apps of 2014. Activité Pop will only be available for iOS users initially, with an Android compatible version to follow. Logbar Inc., which raised almost $881,000 through kickstarter nearly one year ago and launched the first device in October, showcased its "Ring" to attendees. The device is a cloud-controlled wearable for the index finger that reads gestures and movements to send those commands to smartphones through Bluetooth Low Energy. With the ring in place, the user can write or draw in the air, for example, only to have those motions transferred to the device as text or a picture. The user can also customize gestures and shortcuts. Garmin Ltd. introduced several wearable devices, including the vívoactive – a lightweight and ultra-thin GPS smartwatch with built-in sports and activity tracking apps that is designed for all-day wear and to deliver notifications of pressing work or family matters. With a new Connect IQ store, users can also customize vívoactive's watch face design and download widgets and additional apps. Vívoactive features a sunlight-readable, high-resolution color touchscreen and can be accessorized with interchangeable bands. Dan Bartel, Garmin's vice president of worldwide sales, said, “Vívoactive combines signature Garmin fitness technology, such as built-in GPS, long battery life and a sunlight-readable display, in an ultra-thin smartwatch that lets users stay connected and achieve more. Designed to be worn all day, vívoactive can be personalized in many ways -- from interchangeable bands to watch faces, apps and widgets -- making it versatile, stylish and functional for your life.”  Garmin also released the epix (pictured left), a rugged GPS mapping watch for outdoor enthusiasts who are looking for a hands-free navigator. “For the first time, we’re able to pack the punch of an outdoor handheld GPS into a wearable device,” Bartel said. “Garmin is already a leader in GPS wearables, and we’re excited to kick things up a notch with epix by adding preloaded mapping and extra storage to an extremely rugged watch that can handle the most rigorous conditions.”
Through a partnership with designer Jonathan Adler, Garmin introduced a collection of pattern-printed accessory bands for the company’s popular daily activity tracker vívofit and the newly announced vívofit 2.
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