日々更新mobilerA8（Yahoo!ニュースを毎日ウォッチ）

台湾の見本市の様子。
グーグルグラスの分野はターゲットの一つ。
ただし、強力なライバルは現時点では居ない模様。

BBCより。
Computex: Google Glass rival and other wearable tech seek sales
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27701933

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On the floor of Asia's biggest tech show, a Taiwanese company is trying to pull off what would be one of the industry's greatest upsets.

A hitherto obscure maker of memory chips and network equipment, ChipSip, has nabbed Computex's Best Choice award for a pair of smart glasses that aim to steal the market away from Google Glass.

It would be the greatest coup since China's Lenovo, another company from this part of the world, overtook Hewlett-Packard in PC sales.

In its favour, ChipSip is targeting a $500 (£300) retail price for its SiMEye - pronounced "see me" - Smart Glass kit, which is a third of the sum Google is currently charging early adopters in the US.

ChipSip touts its ability to download Android apps direct from Google's Play Store via SiMEye's user interface. By contrast Glass requires an owner to first download an app via another Android device before it can be transferred to the eyewear.

And SiMEye can also capture video in 1080p, four times the resolution of it rival.


Organisers expect 130,000 visitors to wander round Computex's packed-in stalls
The firm's marketing chief Fenny Chen tells the BBC the gadget is currently being trialled by US, European and Japanese testers, and is on course to go into production later this year.

There's certainly a buzz around the company's stand at Computex.

But before ChipSip gets to declare a true David victory over Google's Goliath, there are several caveats to bear in mind.

Missing features
There's no escaping it: SiMEye comes across as a bit of a clunky copycat.

It lacks voice controls at this stage, there's no bone conduction audio - meaning you need to stick headphones in your ears rather than enjoy Google's trick of having sound pumped through your skull, and its oversized nose rest only makes the concept even more unsightly.


ChipSip's Google Glass rival eyewear won an award at Taiwan's Computex trade show
There is a good reason for the size of that nose piece - at present, the weight of the visual display and sidearm touchpad can cause the device to tilt somewhat precariously to one side.

In fairness, most of these are issues the firm still has time to refine.

Google itself has only just rolled out alternative frames to make Glass more appealing, and the Silicon Valley giant is also providing earbuds for users who have struggled with its bone conduction solution.


Google is promoting new looks for its Glass kit after putting the model on general release in the US
ChipSip may have a very high hill to climb, but one tech watcher says it's far too soon to think Google has secured the sector.

"The market is wide open - I've seen a lot of these things out there and they all have their challenges," says Ken Dulaney, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner.

"There's the issue of how you design it with decent battery life while keeping it lightweight.

"You have the concern about having two planes of view when you're walking.

"And as you start to see smartphones get thinner and you get smartbands, the question is: does having something you wear in front of your eyes really matter that much?"

Phone goggles
One Taiwanese company taking a radically different approach to head gear is View Phone.


The PhoneStation is compatible with smartphones with screens up to 6in (15.2cm) in size
Rather than try to overlay information over your field of vision, its PhoneStation kit aims to immerse its wearers in 3D movies and games.

Its trick is not to build new display tech from scratch, but to create a cheaper case into which you slot your existing smartphone and use its lenses to focus on the handset's suspended screen, mimicking the effect of looking at a much bigger display from a distance.

It might sound like a bit of a gimmick, but if a report from tech blog Engadget proves true, Facebook's Oculus Rift division is working on something similar with Samsung's handset unit to bring a budget version of virtual reality to the masses.

SOS smartwatches
For those looking for alternative types of wearable tech, a hunt round Computex's 5,000 other booths delivers.
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