Misfit eyes the connected home in addition to new wearables

by Billy Steele | @wmsteele | December 3rd 2014 at 9:12 am

 4

Misfit debuted a new (and more budget-friendly) activity tracker back in the fall, but the company has plans to tackle more than just wearables. The outfit will keeping working on its existing line of gadgets, but in the months to come, the connected home will garner attention as well -- in addition to some "advanced wearables" that move beyond those worn on the wrist. CEO Sonny Vu wasn't ready to offer up specifics, but he did note that a number of products in the household space were on tap for the immediate future. "If you actually have to wear something 24/7 to get data, it's kind of a disadvantage," Vu said during a chat with Re/code. "But if you can just buy something that you plug into the wall, and it works, it can really add value."

Until now, the company has done little outside of its fashionable trackers and companion app, with the exception of a co-branded Beddit sleep monitor. Misfit also nabbed $40 million in funding from Xiaomi which should help the wearable crew produce its products quicker. It'll also offer a hand with expansion in the Chinese market, on top of the aforementioned new product categories.

commentary?  OK here goes....

Consider the NXP model..waaay back in fall of '13...Of how the M7 was a special design done by NXP for Apple. Just for Apple.

There is ANOTHER new job up on QUIKs site, I will take just a snip of the text....general things like...

The candidate will work closely with a team of platform architects, SoC designers, hardware, software engineers and product engineers.

then in the key activities is this 

• Help to review customer ULPSH schematic and provide guidance to insure customer design is optimized for power consumption.
• Execute Device Power measurement during silicon validation.
• Work with PE team to support and improve power measurements during manufacturing test.

So the adjacent possible says that for a few of THE MAJOR players we do like NXP did and spin a special version ULPSH with everything they want on it-just the way they want it?

That customer becomes the roadmap.  QUIK would NOT do this

for smaller players as they have catalog solutions for them.

But for the right BIG names OEM and a few AP makers maybe this is a good way to go?

Time will tell.  Either way its good and suggests that there is close participation of customers and what they want.  Its not build it and they will come ( LIke VEE)

Long time holders want some brand names, and items like this support the conclusion that they are coming.

AND CES will have the very nice presence of the MEMS  folks....

S-enabled products, featuring everything from gesture recognition 

That's you QUIK.



and augmented reality to eye-tracking technology. Co-exhibitors to date feature: Cinder Solutions, PNI Sensor Corp., QuickLogicand ZMDI. Booth sponsors include: Akustica, Bosch Automotive Electronics and Bosch Sensortec GmbH.

Let's see its CES and the MEMS ecosystem is there so where are the MCU folks, Silicon labs, Atmel, Microchip, a dozen others,  the DSP people like Audience,  sometimes showing up is 80% of the job.
QUIK and PNI are showing up and the rest are no shows.  It's telling that they do not back up their talk with
a presence with the MEMS ecosystem.  there will be a reward one day for the showing up at the MEMS booth...they will also show up in some nice new devices? THat's what the adjacent possible says about that.

MIG INVITES CE OEMS AND INTEGRATORS TO “SENSORS AND MEMS TECHNOLOGY” AT 2015 INTERNATIONAL CES 10 hours ago   (0 Comments) Posted by: MEMS Industry Group More Sharing ServicesShare|Share on tumblrShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on gmail --MEMS Industry Group speakers explore wearable devices and the IoT PITTSBURGH – (December 3, 2014) -- MEMS Industry Group (MIG)’s conference track at the 2015 International CES®, “Sensors and MEMS Technology presented by MEMS Industry Group,” gives consumer electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and embedded systems integrators an inside look at sensors and MEMS — the component technology integral to wearable devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). Enabled by micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors, sensor hubs/SoCs, sensor fusion, low-power wireless connectivity, and specialized software development platforms, wearables represent one of the fastest-growing market segments in consumer electronics. And according to IHS Technology[i], shipments of sensors used in wearables will grow seven-fold from 2013-2019, from 67 million units to 466 million units. “Wearables are poised to grow on a massive scale but the challenge and opportunity for consumer electronics OEMs and integrators is to sow the seeds of brand dominance while the market is still emerging,” said Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group. “Many wearable applications require multi-axis motion sensing, environmental sensing, hardware and software sensor fusion, and other MEMS- and sensors-based functionality. Understanding how to leverage this functionality to best advantage will differentiate the truly successful from the rest of the increasingly crowded pack.” Conference Agenda ·Welcome and Opening Remarks — Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group ·Challenging Developers to “Make it Wearable” — At 2014 CES, Intel launched its “Make it Wearable” development challenge to “encourage innovation in wearable technology and help create new connected experiences.” Steven Holmes will share some of the most compelling new developments arising from the challenge. ·Speaker: Steven Holmes, vice president - New Devices Group & General Manager - Smart Device Innovation, Intel Corporation ·Transforming Wearables through Bluetooth Smart — power efficiency is more important to wearables than to any other product category, including smartphones. Bluetooth Low Energy fulfills a critical requirement for low-power wireless connectivity in wearables, enabling new applications for remote controls, watches, and healthcare/wellness equipment. Speaker: Vincent Gao, technical program manager, Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) ·Beyond Audio with Biometric Earbuds — the ear is the best place in the body for biometric measurement, say some sensor design firms. And they are embedding tiny optomechanical sensor modules in earbuds to prove it. Biometric earbuds will change gaming, performance coaching and fitness training. Speaker: Dr. Steven F. LeBoeuf, president, Valencell, Inc. ·Wearables: A Very Real Market Opportunity — market analysts are closely following the market for wearables — but predictions on market size as well as the next ‘killer app’ beyond fitness & activity monitors vary greatly. Top market analysts will predict market trends and opportunities in wearables. Panelists to date: Marwan Boustany, senior analyst for MEMS and Sensors in Mobile and Consumer Technology, IHS Technology; Jim Feldhan, president, Semico Research; Kevin Harwood, consulting architect, Mutual Mobile; and Seppo Nissila, CEO & managing director, SilverBlip ·MEMS and Sensors for a Smart IoT — MEMS and sensors are the bedrock of a smart Internet of Things (IoT) — spanning consumer, automotive, medical and industrial markets. Panelists will discuss how improved sensing technologies, smaller form factors and more integration will help unleash the considerable opportunities predicted for the IoT. Moderator: Bruce Kellerman, senior director - product marketing -Semiconductor Materials, SunEdison Panelists to date: David Allan, president, Virtuix; John Hoye, director, partnerships, Evernote Corporation; Mark Ireland, vice president, Semiconductor Products and Services, IBM; and Charlene Marini, vice president of marketing - Embedded Segments, ARM ·Waiting for the Holy Grail for Data — with the next breakthrough in health sensors, consumers are poised to generate the holy grail of medical research: clinically accurate, contextual and continuous data. These sensors collect 400,000 vital signs per person, per day, creating an unprecedented opportunity to understand health. Speaker: David He, CTO, Quanttus ·The Dynamic Duo: Wearables and People Analytics — wearables have a long history as an integral part of the workplace, but their real power comes from the behavioral data they generate. Pairing data from wearables with micro-level outcome data enables true people analytics: online-style behavioral analysis and A/B testing in the real world at an unprecedented scale. Speaker: Ben Waber, president & CEO, Sociometric Solutions ·Getting to Low Power and Maximum Functionality through Sensor Fusion — consumers demand greater functionality in smaller, more power-efficient wearables. With diverse approaches — hardware/software sensor fusion, integrated ‘sensor hubs’ or some combination thereof— how can consumer OEMs and embedded systems integrators take full advantage of MEMS and sensors for wearable devices? Panelists: Behrooz Abdi, president and CEO, InvenSense; Stefan Finkbeiner, CEO and general manager, Bosch Sensortec; Becky Oh, board of directors, PNI Sensor Corp.; Timothy Saxe, CTO, QuickLogic; and Benedetto Vigna, executive vice president and general manager, Analog, MEMS & Sensors Group, STMicroelectronics Visit MIG on the Show Floor The MIG booth is in a space dedicated to sensors- and MEMS-enabled products, featuring everything from gesture recognition and augmented reality to eye-tracking technology. Co-exhibitors to date feature: Cinder Solutions, PNI Sensor Corp., QuickLogicand ZMDI. Booth sponsors include: Akustica, Bosch Automotive Electronics and Bosch Sensortec GmbH. The MIG booth is located in Tech West, Sands Expo, Level 2, Booth 72032 and will be open January 6-9, 2015 during 2015 CES exhibition hours. Conference Registration Information

Misfit Wearables raises $40 million from Xiaomi, other Chinese firms

BY CHRISTINA FARR AND EDWIN CHAN

SAN FRANCISCO Tue Dec 2, 2014 1:02pm EST(Reuters) - Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd XTC.UL and other Chinese companies have joined a $40 million investment in U.S. wearables startup Misfit, the first time the world's third-biggest smartphone manufacturer has taken a stake in a U.S. mobile-device maker.

Misfit, which claims to make the biggest-selling activity and sleep tracker in China, said on Tuesday it has raised new financing from Xiaomi, e-commerce company JD.com Inc, and venture-capital firms GGV Capital and Shunwei.

GGV partner Hans Tung will join Misfit's board of directors. Shunwei partner Tuck Koh will become a board observer. Both are Xiaomi investors.

Misfit, best known for its activity tracker Shine, is the latest startup to gravitate toward Xiaomi, which has been seeking to build a hardware ecosystem that extends beyond its smartphones and into wearable technology and home appliances.

Xiaomi has built ties with a litany of Chinese gadget makers through investments or strategic partnerships. But the deal with Misfit would be the first instance of the company investing in a U.S.-based wearables company as it pursues its ambition of becoming a global brand like Apple Inc.

The relatively small size of the investment could reflect the wariness with which Chinese companies approach U.S. acquisitions.

From Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, many of the largest Chinese tech companies have expressed caution about provoking already simmering anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States through flashy deals, though Lenovo Group Ltd has been successful in carrying out multi-billion-dollar buyouts.

Three-year-old Xiaomi has become one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers by dint of cheaper but critically acclaimed devices modeled on those of Apple. It now sports the $13 "Mi" wristband, while Chief Executive Lei Jun has promised a full lineup of wearables.

The Misfit investment comes just a few months before Apple's smartwatch is expected to hit the Chinese market. The wearable graced the cover of Vogue China last month, a move regarded as highly strategic given the growing purchasing power of female luxury consumers in China.

Led by Chief Executive Sonny Vu, Misfit is based in Daly City, California, but has a data science team in Vietnam. Its early investor and advisor John Sculley is Apple's former chief executive officer.

A Xiaomi spokeswoman declined comment. JD.com, GGV Capital and Shunwei could not be reached for comment.

QuickLogic at CES 2015

January 6 - 9, 2015

LVCC, South Hall 2 - MP25452, Las Vegas, Nevada

Join QuickLogic at CES to see new, unique sensor hub and mobile technology solutions, and get exclusive access to key company executives for an in-depth discussion on how we can address your mobile design challenges.

Demo’s include:

• The ArcticLink 3 S2, at 150µW, the lowest power sensor hub for always-on, always-aware smartphone and wearable applications
• QuickLogic’s Context, Gesture, and Transport
• 
  
• huh?  Yes, there will be stuff we have not seen yet. :-)
• 
  
• 
  
• algorithm library, including best-in-class pedometer accuracy, context awareness, and others
• ArcticLink 3 S2 Sensor Hub + Connectivity single chip solutions, featuring the S2 + Peel Technologies “SmartIR” learning remote control
• The ArcticLink 3 S2 smartphone evaluation kit
• The TAG series wearable reference designs and evaluation kits for the S2
• QuickLogic’s Visual Enhancement Engine, allowing tablet and smartphone display viewability in all lighting environments
• Connectivity solutions, including IR Remote Control, Inter-Processor Communications, and Others

Visit our CES show floor suite and let us show you how we can address these problems.

Meeting Request

Teasers will keep coming.  S Johnson's adjacent possible says the disconnect between the price awarded and the potential is the greatest it has ever been.  

So I do what the adjacent possible says to do....track along.

..., and Transport

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/QUIK/3337974089x0x785437/91b7ca50-ff2b-4adb-a859-6873b316649c/EuroAsia%20October%202014%20Final%20QL%20Website.pdf

just one word, but it means something...

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/QUIK/3337974089x0x785437/91b7ca50-ff2b-4adb-a859-6873b316649c/EuroAsia%20October%202014%20Final%20QL%20Website.pdf

#12

Device in Pocket
Device Not on Person

In Elevator
 In Vehicle

The adjacent possible says some or ALL of these are now done....:-)

Keep burning the night oil, algo chefs of talent.

ews & Analysis

NXP to Pick Up Its Missing IoT Link – Bluetooth Low Energy

NXP to buy Quintic's assets and IP

Junko YoshidaMADISON, Wis. — In pursuing the growing Internet of Things market, NXP Semiconductors has picked up a key technology piece that was conspicuously absent from the company's portfolio -- Bluetooth Low Energy.

The Dutch company announced this week that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Quintic to acquire its assets and intellectual property (IP) related to the wearable and Bluetooth Low Energy IC business.
Quintic is a nine-year-old startup with operations that span from Sunnyvale, Calif. to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, China. NXP declined to disclose how much it paid.
Quintic, which started out its business in FM radio chips, has over the years developed a host of patents and IP related to low-power radio connectivity. The company's Bluetooth Low Energy products range from standalone Bluetooth Low Energy chips to those integrated with a sensor fusion hub based on ARM M4 cores -- designed for wearable and fitness devices.
By adding security, NFC and MCUs -- NXP's strengths -- to the combination of Bluetooth Low Energy and sensor hubs, NXP believes it will have a winning formula for IoT solutions.
Noting that NXP already has NFC and Zigbee, Mark Hamersma, general manager and senior vice president for emerging businesses at NXP, told EE Times, "With the acquisition of Bluetooth Low Energy technology, we now have all three connectivity standards" critical to IoT. "Our customers are delighted about this."
Why Quintic?
Asked what's so special about Quintic Bluetooth Low Energy, Hamersma explained, "The key is the low power consumption… And the company has a roadmap to take it even further."
Hamersma added that Quintic chips come with "a rich set of features." Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all Bluetooth Low Energy solution, the company provides products with different interfaces, supporting a variety of applications. In addition to a number of wearable devices, Quintic has also designed for wireless charging devices and banking dongles. Quintic’s engagement in a number of applications in the Chinese ecosystem, such as PC dongles for secure banking payment and mobile transactions, appears to also pique NXP’s interest, given its expertise in NFC and security.
“Quintic has picked up quite a lot of design wins since the third quarter this year,” said Hamersma. Asked about Quinitic’s revenue, he quoted, “with their product just started ramping (in Q3 2014), we expect to reach double digit million next year [US dollars].”
Quintic currently has about 65 employees. Most of them, except for eight based in Sunnyvale, Calif., are in China, focused on R&D and product development.
NXP said Quintic’s leadership is expected to join NXP as part of the transaction, which is targeted for the first quarter of 2015. Significant IP assets, including more than 60 US and Chinese patents, go along with the deal, the company said.
— Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent, EE Times