Accessories

A Next Step in Wearables... Smart Rings?

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An Indiegogo campaign proposes a next step in wearable electronics-- the Smarty Ring, a high-tech stainless steel ring armed with a built-in LED display, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and companion smartphone app.

Smarty ringLike smartwatches the Smart Ring promises to display incoming caller IDs, text messages, social network updates and even the time. It should also handle smartphone control, with hardware buttons for accepting/rejecting incoming calls, making calls to preset numbers, trigger camera, control music or change user profile.

It even acts as a phone tracker-- if the smartphone is over 10m away from the ring it triggers an alarm-- all from a rechargeable (via wireless induction pad) 22mAh battery supposedly powering 24 hours of use.

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The iDevice Controller War Begins

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Customers demanding an iDevice game controller accessory now get not one, but two options-- Logitech launches the PowerShell Controller + Battery, and Moga reveals the Ace Power for iOS 7.

Logitech controllerBoth devices are fairly similar, being shell-style gamepad accessories designed to fit iOS 7 iPhones and iPods. Once connected via Bluetooth the two controllers replace the use of on-screen virtual buttons with physical counterparts, including d-pads, 4 face buttons and shoulder triggers.

The Logitech option is a hefty number featuring a single d-pad and a built-in 1500mAh battery. Vents provide access to phone features such as volume control and camera, and a 3.5mm headphone adapter allows for plugged-in sound.

Construction is in plastic, with a slim profile and a "form-fitted" grip.

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FiftyThree Intros Pencil Stylus

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The iPad stylus arena gets another contender-- app developers FiftyThree reveal the Pencil, a chunky stylus promising innovative palm rejection, an digital eraser on one end and a long-lasting battery.

PencilModeled after carpenters' pencils and available in wood or brushed aluminium, the Pencil connects to iPads via Bluetooth by touching the screen with the tip, a simple setup FiftyThree calls "Kiss-to-Pair."

Once connected, the Pencil ensures stray palms do not count as touchscreen input, while flipping to the back provides a built-in eraser. It also provides a Blend function the Paper app making use of user's other hand.

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The Digital Life Gets a Physical Dashboard

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Nimbus DashboardCustomers wanting a more physical representation of their digital lives might find the Nimbus Smart Dashboard worthy of purchase-- a 4-dial dashboard designed to display data from any number of sources via physical speedometer-style needles.

Looking like something out of a muscle car dashboard, the Nimbus connects to the Wink smartphone app and gathers data such as commute times, email volume, social media activity, calendar appointments and FitBit stats.

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SD Cards With 4K Support

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The SD Association announces a high-performance option and symbol for SD cards supporting 4K resolution video-- the Ultra High Speed (UHS) Class 3 (U3) symbol will indicate cards capable of recording 4K video.

Memory CardsThe classification will apply on SDXC (UHS-1 and UHS-II) and SDHC (UHS-I and UHS-II) memory cards and devices.

According to the association UHS Speed Class 3 defines minimum write speeds at 30Mbps to ensure high-quality video recording and playback from high-performance cameras and camcorders.

UHS Speed Class 3 devices will remain backwards compatible with existing SD memory cards.

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