Blippar Brings AR Advertising and Image Recognition to Google Glass

Blippar Augmented Reality Advertising

Wearables were meant from the beginning to offer the means for new ways of advertising and new search methods. Blippar’s implementation of AR advertising and image recognition into Google Glass is firm proof of that.

Ambarish Mitra, the CEO of Blippar, showcased at MWC in Barcelona the app that makes all of this possible. Certainly, the idea of augmented reality advertising isn’t new, as numerous companies have already played with this technology, Cadburry and IKEA being only two examples.

Mitra explained that “Glass today can be likened to what mobile phones were in early nineties. We at Blippar anticipate that if Glass reaches a couple million users in its first year of launch, it will be a good business opportunity for us to develop in the space. We are investing in the potential of Glass.” I have to admit that the CEO of this company is right. Smart glasses are still a new thing, and people are currently only scratching the surface in terms of the applications that these wearables could have.

Blippar wouldn’t mind at all if the user base of Google Glass went beyond one million, especially since its app is used by five million people worldwide. In terms of brands and publishers, Blippar offers its AR advertising service to 750 companies, a number that will certainly grow in the future.

Besides Android, which is obviously the operating system Google Glass comes with, Blippar also works with smartphones running iOS, Blackberry OS or Windows Phone. Assuming that these operating systems showed up one day in a pair of smart glasses, it wouldn’t be difficult for Blippar to port their app to the wearables.

The demonstration that Mitra conducted at MWC also included the recognition of images, products, and even human faces. The last aspect is a bit scary, especially since Google claimed that it won’t implement face recognition into its smart glasses.

While Google Images is able to recognize pictures and can even decipher some product logos, the face recognition and AR advertising technologies that Blippar brings to the table are definitely innovative, especially in the context of smart glasses. In time, tech companies will hopefully come with even more diverse applications for wearables. I’m confident about this, as smart watches and smart glasses are only the beginning of the adventure.

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Samsung Gear Fit Is the Fitness Tracker You Didn’t Know You Needed

Gear Fit Fitness Tracker 01

Sure, Samsung launched its new flagship Galaxy S5 and two new smartwatches running Tizen, but it’s the Gear Fit fitness tracker that sparked the most interest among MWC attendants.

Some could say that Samsung is late in the game of making smartwatches, fitness trackers and wearables, in general, but in my opinion, no one is late as long as they launch their products before Apple. Gear Fit also acts as a smartwatch, but it’s the fitness tracking aspect that interests people the most in this device, mainly because it comes with features that were never seen before in such a device.

The heartbeat sensor featured by Gear Fit is a unique feature among fitness trackers. The battery is also better than of the Gear smartwatches, as it’s supposed to keep the device alive for up to 4 days.

As smartphones with curved screens didn’t really catch up, the company decided to use the technology in other devices, as this fitness tracker is a prime example of that. It comes with a 1.84-inch 432×138 curved Super AMOLED touchscreen display that’s a beauty to look at. Due to how text, notifications and even the apps are displayed, it may take a while until you’re getting used to it, but in the end, getting a Gear Fit is worth it, supposing that it will have a decent price. Measuring 23.4 x 57.4 x 11.95 mm and weighing only 27 grams, the Gear Fit is something that people might actually forget that they are wearing. Still, this is how wearables should truly be designed: to be barely felt around the wrist, but ready whenever you need them.

Since Gear Fit isn’t a member of the Galaxy line, you could assume that it’s not running Android, and you would be right. Unlike Samsung Gear and Gear Neo, which run the South Korean company’s Tizen operating system, this fitness tracker is actually based on a proprietary operating system called RTOS (real time OS). Because of that, the device is only compatible with a limited number of smartphones, namely the ones from the Galaxy family.

Gear Fit has a replaceable strap, and this is yet another detail that differentiates it from the other fitness trackers. Judging by the youthful colors and patterns featured by the replacement straps, I’d say that Samsung has defined a precise target audience for this product: teenagers and young adults. To be frank, I can’t imagine someone above 40 getting away with any of the above straps.

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Mozilla Exhibits $25 Smartphone for Developing Countries

Geeksphone Peak+

It was about time someone made an affordable, yet functional smartphone for countries where technology is still in the early stages.

Geeksphone Peak+ (pictured below) is one of the Firefox OS developer preview devices that I wrote about last year. Even more recently, the same Spanish manufacturer made Revolution, a smartphone that can boot either in Android or Boot2Gecko, a renamed version of Mozilla’s mobile OS. While the latter will surely be expensive, Peak+ and the other Firefox OS smartphones launched last year had a very attractive price, partly explained by its low-end specs. These days at MWC, Mozilla took things even further, showing off one of the most affordable smartphones ever, destined to be used in developing countries.

Jay Sullivan, COO of Mozilla, pointed out that “People in Latin America and Eastern Europe have eagerly upgraded from their feature phones to Firefox OS smartphones and now have rich access to the web and apps. Sales have far exceeded our targets. But 2013 was just the beginning.” I wish Mr. Sullivan was more specific as to what countries have just made the transition from feature phones to smartphones, as I happen to be from Romania, an Eastern European country where flagships such as Nexus 5, SGS4 and iPhone 5S are not exactly a rarity.

Sullivan explained that “In 2014, we are differentiating our user experience and our partners are growing the portfolio of devices. We are also enabling a whole new category of smartphone, priced around $25, that will bring even more people around the world online.”

John Jackson, IDC’s VP of mobility research, stated that “In six short months, Firefox OS has more than established itself in the very markets it aimed to address. IDC expects year-on-year Firefox OS volumes will grow by a factor of six times in the smartphone category alone.”

Mozilla’s mobile operating system won’t become a threat to iOS or Android anytime soon, as the company focuses on low-end devices made for emerging markets. However, it’s great to see a bit of diversity, and hopefully, more manufacturers will embrace this OS, regardless if they’re big names or smaller tech companies. It definitely looks like it’s no longer exclusively Nokia’s duty to connect people, as plenty of companies – especially Chinese ones – offer affordable smartphones.

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Google Smartwatch Made by LG (or WIMM) Approaches Launch

Google Smartwatch WIMM

Rumors of Google building a smartwatch started last summer, when the search giant acquired a wearable tech company, and now that the device is getting closer to reality, there are doubts concerning who is going to make it: LG or WIMM?

LG confirmed that it will launch a smartwatch based on Google’s mobile operating system this year, but if we are to believe some rumors, the wearable might be made for Google itself. The South Korean tech company proved at CES 2014 that it has what it takes for building wearables. Its Lifeband Touch, while not a revolutionary product, was enough to demonstrate that LG can design and manufacture nice and functional wearables.

Google, on the other hand, had plans for making an Android smartwatch and console ever since last summer, and most sources claimed that both these products would see the light of day in 2014. Since LG seems to be Google’s latest favorite manufacturer, having built both the Nexus 4 and 5, a smartwatch coming from this South Korean company shouldn’t surprise anyone.

According to Park Jong-seok, the chief of LG’s mobile unit, Google’s smartwatch will be compatible not only with this South Korean manufacturer’s smartphones, but also with devices made by other companies.

Rumor has it, however, that LG is not the only contender to making a smartwatch for the search giant. Chances are that Google’s watch might resemble WIMM One (pictured above), a wearable made by a company Google bought last August. Sources told TechCrunch that the early prototypes featured a metal strap, much like Pebble Steel. To cut down the costs and speed up production, Google is said to have replaced that metal strap with a plastic one, thus making the smartwatch look more common. On top of that, if former employees of WIMM Labs are to build Google’s smartwatch, then the wearable will focus on Google Now.

Regardless of who will be designing and manufacturing it, the Nexus smartwatch (I think it’s safe to call it that, despite the rumors that Google plans to put an end to the Nexus line in 2015) will surely be launched this year – in March or June if it’s made by WIMM’s former employees, or later on if it’s made by LG. The price is yet another detail we’ll only find out on launch day.

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