We hear a lot about wearable tech these days… but usually we’re talking about smartwatches you wear on your wrist or fitness trackers you… wear on you wrist (or maybe clip to your shirt, belt, or pocket). But wearable tech might be starting to break the mold, thanks in part to a series of accessories that could give you new ways to wear your devices.
Here are a few unusual wearable devices (and accessories) I’ve come across recently.
Misfit Bloom Necklace and watch bands (fitness tracker)
The Misfit Shine is an activity tracker that can help you monitor your steps, sleep quality, and the intensity of your activity throughout the day.
It’s a simple device with no display, but that helps it get up to 4 months of battery life. It pairs with your smartphone over Bluetooth so you can see your stats on the go.
The device is also waterproof. The Shine itself is a small, circular device. That lets you wear it in a variety of ways… and Misfit offers leather watch bands, a sport band, or a sport necklace.
The company also recently launched the Bloom Necklace, a stylish $80 necklace that just happens to hide the Misfit Shine.
Nobody said fitness trackers need to look geeky.
Griffin Shoe Pouch
While the Misfit Bloom provides an elegant way to wear a fitness tracker, the Griffin Shoe Pouch is… well, it’s basically a strip of nylon fabric that lets you attach an activity tracker to your shoe.
Griffin says the $15 Shoe Pouch works with the Fitbit Flex, One, or Zip, Misfit Shiny, Sony SmartBand fitness tracker, Nike+ Sensor, or any other fitness tracker that’s small enough to fit in the pouch.
You just slide your tracker into the pouch, fold the lid into place and secure it with a velcro flap, and then thread the Pouch through your shoelaces.
The Giffin Shoe Pouch looks like something you could build using supplies around the house, but since it sells for just $15, it’s probably easier to just buy one. But since it’s primarily designed to hold tiny, light-weight devices that you can easily clip to your shirt, running shorts or other clothing, I’m not sure how necessary the Shoe Pouch is.
Bēm Speaker Band
In the 80s you had to carry a boom box on your shoulder if you wanted to blast tunes on the go. Now you can wear a portable speaker on your wrist to project tunes from the smartphone in your pocket or bag.
Bēm Wireless sells a line of portable wireless speakers… and the company’s latest is the $50 Bēm Speaker Band, a watch-shaped portable speaker with a built-in mic so you can use it as a speakerphone or voice input for your mobile device.
The Bēm Speaker Band offers up to 6 hours of talk time, pairs with your phone over Bluetooth, and charges over a microUSB port.
There are buttons on the side of the device which let you play, pause, skip, reverse, or answer phone calls.
X-Doria KidFit
Worried your kid spends too much time watching TV and playing video games? X-Doria has an activity tracker and app that lets you set fitness goals for kids between the ages of 5 and 13.
The X-Doria KidFit is a simple fitness tracker that sells for $50 (or $40 if you’re one of the first 1,000 people to order). It ships August 15th.
The KidFit uses a points system to help track goals, pairs with an iOS or Android device over Bluetooth, and comes with a black, blue, yellow, or purple wristband.
The Misfit Shine looks big and bulky for what it does. I’d prefer a bluetooth ring even if that means having to recharge it more often.
I’m loving the wrist speaker!
It reminds me of the huge AM wrist radio I was given as a kid long ago.