tel on Friday announced it is working with rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's SMS Audio to develop earbuds that will monitor users' heart rates.
The SMS Audio BioSport In-Ear Headphones will have an earhook and will be powered by the user's smartphone.They will be sweat- and water-resistant.
The earbuds will be available from SMS Audio in Q4; pricing has not yet been announced.
More About the Earbuds
The SMS Audio BioSport In-Ear Headphones will be compatible with fitness app RunKeeper for iPhone and Android smartphones. Other fitness apps will be supported in the future.
Communications are hard-wired instead of going through Bluetooth, because a wired earbud does not need to be charged or paired or require a power source.
The earbuds have infrared optical sensors that monitor the pulsing of the skin within the user's ear. They were so designed because the inside of the ear is static, and additional motion sensors are not required.
The earbuds have an accelerometer that corrects for motions such as users shaking their heads.
Raw data captured by the earbud sensors are transmitted to the user's smartphone for analysis and processing.
The earbuds are designed to work with any smartphone.
Intel designed the layout and circuitry, handled the system integration, and developed the firmware, while SMS provided input on the earbuds' sound and their acoustic chambers. It also selected the final design.
Sports wearables are one of the main target markets for connected devices,Brian Blau, a research director at Gartner, told TechNewsWorld.
However, the SMS Audio BioSport's digital tracking of users' body performance probably narrows the demographic for its appeal.
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