Soon your new gadgets will come with a new flavor of Wi-Fi, the radio technology that allows your digital devices to connect to the Internet without blowing through your cellular data cap. This new version isn’t designed for these gadgets, however. Instead, it will be made for the network of connected devices in your home - and even on your body - that make up the Internet of Things. The Wi-Fi Alliance calls this new standard Wi-Fi HaLow (pronounced halo), and says it doubles the distance and cuts the power consumption of traditional Wi-Fi. The Alliance would like to see …

Previously drones were controlled with complex technology and operating a drone required reasonably sophisticated controls. But a new technology developed by researchers at PVD+, a technology and software development company, allow the close-in management of a drone by using hand signals. “Previously we’ve needed complicated controls to fly drones, but now we can use a wearable device, and through human behavior and gestures directly interact with them – using a hand to control and fly drones directly,” Mark Ven, who founded the PVD+ in 2013, told Reuters.

Insurers are looking to boost customer experience using new Internet of Things (IoT) technology which allows them to more effectively track consumer behavior. This from a new report from Accenture, titled “Reimagining insurance distribution: Insurers accelerate the shift to a radically different distribution model.” The survey polled 400 insurers around the world about what they consider to be key trends going forward. IoT allows companies to track objects in real time using connected devices that are able to sense one another using advanced communication technologies. - See more at: http://loyalty360.org/resources/article/internet-of-things-personalized-customer-experience#sthash.kIGgSb3F.dpuf

The decade of the smartphone will end this year, as upgrade fatigue sets in and consumers turn their fickle attentions to new devices. Growth in sales will fall below 10% for the first time ever, according to predictions from IDC researchers. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, then, will focus on an intense battle to find a new pot of gold for the manufacturers. The smartphone slowdown comes as no surprise – for at least two years now, the portents have been worsening. Profits have been eaten away by the shift of sales towards emerging economies, and vendors have been under …

This week, Volkswagen will show off its all-electric concept car as it tries to distance itself from the diesel emissions cheating scandal that has eviscerated sales and forced the company to restructure. In prelude to the unveiling at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the automaker has dropped a few hints. The latest image, tweeted on Wednesday, appears to reveal the rear of the concept car.

Fossil Group Inc. has lately been working to ramp up its wearable technology portfolio. In line with this strategy, it recently completed the acquisition of Misfit, Inc. for $236.0 million. Misfit is a leader and innovator in technology and is known for manufacturing fashionable connected accessories.  The acquisition will provide Fossil Group the opportunity to integrate Misfit's software and hardware platforms in the next generation of connected accessories, thereby advancing Fossil Group's connected accessories initiative further. Misfit will bring an app platform, a world-class software and hardware engineering team, a native wearable technology brand and a pipeline of innovative products to …

Ahead of CES 2016, LG is hopping on the smart speaker bandwagon with a new device that looks somewhat familiar. The company announced its SmartThinq Hub today, a smart home hub with an LCD display that can control intelligent appliances and sensors and stream music. It looks quite similar in design to Amazon's Echo, but LG is positioning the hub as a "gateway" to your connected home rather than a voice-activated personal assistant that lives on your countertop. The cylindrical device has a built-in speaker and a 3.5-inch color LCD display that's positioned on the slanted top of the hub. According …

For the next Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung has been preparing a number of devices to win the spotlight. So far it has confirmed to showcase three of its innovative products, that include Rink, WELT and Tip Talk. Samsung's smartbelt, WELT, would monitor users' movements and record daily exercise activities. The metrics recorded are integrated with the smartphone and calculated to reach healthy milestones.

After 24 months and more than 6 million steps recorded by about a dozen different trackers and smartwatches, the only thing I’m sure of is this: I am now two years older than when I started. I’ve exceeded the step goal that my smartwatch set for me all but four days this month. Good, right? Except that my average daily step count fell more than 15% this month from November, when I missed the daily goal only once. So maybe I didn't do so well.

Very few personal computers have the power needed to run virtual reality programs, Bloomberg Businessweek reports, citing a new estimate from graphics chip maker Nvidia. As for the computers that do, “Those ultra-high-end machines account for less than 1 percent of the 1.43 billion PCs expected to be in use globally in 2016,” Bloomberg notes, citing data from Gartner.