Can Wearable Tech be The Next Big Thing

Moto 360 Smartwatch

Wearable technology is expected to be the next big thing but sales lag significantly behind those for mainstream products. Despite a projected growth for wearable tech shipments to reach 45 million by 2017, only 1 in 8 people have wearable tech devices. Wealthy early adopters between the ages of 18 & 34 are the group of people its been able to appeal to. For wearable tech to succeed, they have to re-position themselves for a mainstream market as opposed to the niche they currently serve.

What could be the problem, marketing or design?

So far in the wearable tech space, smartwatches are the most popular but they failed to create a completely new product category. Their utter reliance on a smartphone makes most of their functions repetitive and outright redundant. Only the invasive Google glass has been able to create a new product category and work independently without the need to sync with a smartphone. 

Smartwatches fuse the traditional mechanical watch with software, making them ‘smart’ but to make any sense; they have to stream data via a smartphone. Take the smartphone out of the equation and a smartwatch is reduced to a mere activity tracker without offering a unique value proposition to consumers. 

Mophie x Opening Ceremony varsity jacket

Perhaps even with the lack of a unique value proposition, wearable tech can become the next big thing if the makers realize that they are prominent personality markers and offer a wider variety of designs drawing on culture & trends whilst pricing competitively.

Video: Mr Benn for MR PORTER

Originally a book published in 1967, Mr Benn was created by Mr David McKee, the writer and illustrator behind bestselling series including Elmer the Patchwork Elephant and King Rollo. His animated, bowler-hatted adventures - which always began through a magic door in the changing room of his local costume hire shop - have entranced children and adults for decades: one reason it was voted the sixth most popular children's TV programme in a Channel 4 poll.

This Christmas, MR PORTER is delighted to present a special festive episode of Mr Benn, put together by all of the original Mr Benn team, using some of the original 40 year old artwork.

Why Mr Benn? Because Mr Benn represents many of the qualities we admire at MR PORTER: he has a smart signature style, immense charm, good manners and an extraordinary sense of adventure. And, like us, his name is always preceded by the title "Mr".

HYPERGRAND DEBUTS WITH THE 01 NATO WATCH

 HyperGrand makes its official debut with the 01 NATO Watch - A watch that comes with the world’s first graphic printed NATO strap. The NATO watch strap was invented by the British military, and popularized when James Bond (played by Sean Connery) wore it in Goldfinger as a fashion statement.Street Casuals are proud to be one of the 3 UK stores to stock this collection.

Changing The Way We Interact with Keys: Orbitkeys Kickstarter Campaign

Orbitkeys is a stylish key-carrying accessory that has been under development for the past year. The team behind it  wanted to change how people interact with their keys.

Although we are all-too-familiar with the “key ring” and grew up using it, it was far from perfect; it was noisy, it was unorganized, it damaged anything that came near it and it was unappealing! Everything the Orbitkey is not! We started trialling with different materials and designs. The initial design involved the use of Chicago screws, but we quickly found these to be unreliable (and unappealing) as they would come loose over time. We then set out to create something of our own — a tool that could withstand the test of time! 

 Check out their Kickstarter Page to find more...

MIANSAI Leather Camera Straps

MIANSAI by Michael Saiger is expanding categories into small leather goods for Holiday 2013, with a collection that consists of wallets, belts, and camera straps. Each piece is handcrafted in the brand’s Miami based studio and is made of the finest Italian Calfskin leather.  The collection launches October 1^st and ranges in price from $105 to $245. It will launch on www.miansai.com, Bergdorf Goodman, and Sakes Fifth Avenue.

Video: Introducing Burberry Brit Rhythm

Discover the Burberry Brit Rhythm fragrance campaign starring British models Suki Waterhouse and George Barnett.

RIMOWA X Moncler Suitcase Back in Stock

Back in stock by popular demand is this cool collaboration between Luxe Luggage makers Rimowa and Moncler. Buy em here if you missed out on them earlier. 

Danish Designed Personal Transportation Device Known as MeMover

Source || Gizmag

Mobility and transportation are on of the most fundamental needs of man and in this age of time poverty, the dapper kid or stylish lad is pressed for time. Not enough time to spend at the gym? 

This Danish designed MeMover personal transportation device combine the intensity of a cardio workout using bicycle step technology as you move about.

Like most portable/fold-able devices these fold nicely for easy storage in your car or holding whilst on public transport services like a bus or train. 

A worthy innovation for fitness enthusiasts. What are your thoughts? 

'Twerking' and 'selfie' added to Oxford Dictionary

Twerking, the raunchy dance move performed by Miley Cyrus at the MTV VMAs is among the new words added to the Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford Dictionaries Online said the word, borrowed from hip hop culture, had become increasingly visible in the past 12 
months. Other words such as omnishambles and selfie also made their debut in the dictionary's quarterly online update. BBC

2 Great Gift Ideas For Men

When is the last time you did not have to spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect gift for a man? I bet it has been a long time! Men tend to be harder to shop for than women for a variety of reasons. They may be picky, they may claim to not care about gifts at all, or they may feel odd asking for what it is they really want. Other times it can be difficult to shop for a man because they may have everything they want so finding them something practical or unique can be a challenge. This article will give you two unique great gift ideas for men.

The first great gift idea for men is cuff links. Cuff links are very fashionable and all men need them at one point or another. They are practical, cost effective, and will give men a sense of dignity. The best place to go for cuff links is Cuffwear.com. They have cuff links in a variety of styles to fit the taste of everyone. You can find cuff links styles with sports, hobbies, or other fun things. Cuffwear.com also offers custom bulk order cuff links; if you need to buy many gifts for men at an affordable price then this is a great option. And if all else fails you can always buy a gift certificate to the site.

The second great gift idea for men is ecigarettes. Cigarettes are often used as a fashion accessory along with cigars. However smoking is an expensive habit not to mention very unhealthy.

If you need to buy a gift for a man who smokes then go to 180smoke.com and order him an ecigarette starter kit. Not only will you be keeping his fashion sense in mind but also their health. 180 Smoke also offers ecigars and eshisha as well as disposable packs of ecigarettes and ecigars. That is great because not everyone may want to spend the money on a full kit; this way you can buy some disposables first.

Certainly these items may not come off as great gift ideas for men initially; but if you stop and use your imagination you can see how these actually make great gifts. Cuff links never go out of style and you can shop a wide selection at Cuffwear.com. Ecigarettes are also another fashion accessory that won’t go out of style; browse the inventory at 180smoke.com

Marc Jacobs Speaks to NY MAG on Tattoos in the Fashion Industry

Image Via NYMAG

People are always asking Marc Jacobs what he’ll think when he’s 80. Will he regret the SpongeBob SquarePants on his right arm if it wrinkles or droops? Or will he feel sorry about the line drawing on his stomach of a sofa by Jean-Michel Frank, or the sketch of a laughing Elizabeth Taylor wearing 3-D glasses, or any of the words, like oui, lui (both name-checking seventies adult magazines),shameless, or bros before hos (he was going through a breakup)? And if he ever abandons his strict regimen of juices and the gym, would he feel differently about that ­famous scene from Poltergeistsliding down his back?

His answer is: Who knows what he’ll think about all of this 30 years from now? But even more than that: Who cares?

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Business Insider: How We're All Going To Be Using Wearable Technology

This week Motorola Mobility (aka Google) announced that it would be hiring a Director for Wearable Technology, following the company’s announcement earlier this year that it was ‘profoundly interested in wearables’. The firm even unveiled a ‘tattoo’ that was electronically authenticated.

It would be stretching a point to say that traditional tattoos are wearable technology, but in some ways there are, and the same case could be made for mobile phones. They're permanently with many of us; we ‘wear’ them in the same way that some of us ‘wear’ tattoos that were etched onto our skin by technology.

Read more

Economist: How will Uruguay’s marijuana law work?

South America is known for it's powerful drug cartels and operations networks spanning into millions of dollars. With that much money to lose these cartels go to extra miles to product their source of income usually trough bribery or when pushed they attack security forces that go after them. The Uruguayan government is seeking to legalize weed which in turn would generate a lot of revenue from tax. Personally i feel like the issue of weed has been blown out of proportion. It's possession has been decriminalized in a lot of country but except for a few, it doesn't always follow with legalization. 

For now the bill has been passed into the senate and if it gets approved by a comfortable margin it will get signed into law by President José Mujica.

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One Direction Cover British GQ

British GQ's september issue gets 5 different covers , one for each of the One Direction Boys Niall, Harry, Louis, Zayn & Liam. The bold move however featured a backlash from the mighty 'Directioners' who were unhappy with GQ's interview with Harry Styles. 

Retro Cool Panasonic Lumix GX7

The follow up to Panasonic's GX1 camera, the GX7 comes out full throttle into our consciousness with its impeccable specs. My love for retro cameras was cemented a year ago when i copped the Fujifilm X10 which has served me faithfully so far. Whilst no one would probably go around shopping for a new retro camera yearly, those of you looking to make the switch from them huge dslr's might want to take a look at the beauty on the outside and beast on the inside known as the Panasonic Lumix GX7. Peek the spec sheet on The Verve. 

Motorola Unveils the Moto X Smartphone

Motorola finally released it's over hyped X phone on the 1st of August. The main talk and babble about the phone was its over 2000 possible ways to customize it and the fact that it is all made in America - which should be good for the job market- and all. The sad part is that the phone is available on the The US, Canada and Latin America. 

The phone's specs are decent with a massive 4.7 inch screen, 2,200 mah battery that they claim lasts a day thanks to their new X8 chip that's power saving. It also boasts of a new camera called the clear pixel...a tad reminiscent of HTC One's 'Ultra Pixel' tag. 

The Moto X camera packs a 10mp shooter and a 720p amoled screen.The most interesting thing about the phone to me is the size... it's the same screen size with the HTC One but overall is height its about the same as the Iphone. So i'm guessing they used up a lot of precious bezel space to get that screen size. Motorola in the run up to the release continued saying they were going to release the perfect smartphone in terms of size but i'm not sure i agree with them. My Samsung Galaxy Note 11 to me is the perfect sized phone. 

Google Launches The New Nexus 7 with Android 4.3

New Slimmer Nexus 7 || Image via Mashable

The New updated Nexus 7 tablet comes with a host of new improved specs. The display is the most significant as  Google's put in a high-resolution, 1920 x 1200 panel, marking a major improvement over the predecessor's 1280 x 800 display and puts it up to par with the high-res screen on the Nexus 10 tablet.  It also boasts of  a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 processor with Adreno 320 graphics and 2GB of RAM and dual stereo speakers.  

 Google's also added a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera to go along with the front-facing shooter included on last year's model. Available from 30th July.

Introducing Beautiful Selvedge Collection Made by Fabrix

Beautiful Selvedge is all about denim. Fabrix took the best of japanese selvedge denim and re-imagined them into a small collection of portable craft goods worthy of any denim purist. Available in sizes for iPhone 5, iPad Mini, iPad and Macbook.