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Wearable Technology Explained
A plain overview of the main kinds of wearables, from watches and earbuds to rings and glasses, and the sensors inside them that collect body and motion data.
Everyday Digital Life
Wearable Technology
What smartwatches, earbuds and trackers measure and how.
Activity Trackers: What They Can and Cannot Tell You
How activity trackers turn wrist motion into step counts and calorie estimates, where those numbers go wrong, and how to use them as rough guides.
How Smartwatches Measure Heart Rate
How the green lights on the back of a smartwatch estimate pulse, why readings drift during exercise, and what affects accuracy. General information only.
NFC and Contactless Payments Explained
How tapping a phone, watch or card works over NFC, what tokenization does, and the safeguards that limit damage if a device is lost or someone tries to skim it.
Sleep Tracking Features Explained
How watches, bands and rings guess when you are asleep and which stage you are in, why the results are approximate, and how to read a sleep score sensibly.
Smart Rings, Glasses and Other New Wearables
A look at smart rings, smart glasses and other newer wearable forms, what each can realistically do, and the trade-offs in battery, comfort, cost and privacy.
What Wearables Do With Your Data
Where body and movement data from watches, bands and rings is stored, who may be able to see it, and practical settings to review to keep control of it.
Wireless Earbuds and Bluetooth Basics
How Bluetooth earbuds pair with a phone, what audio codecs do, why battery life varies, and how noise cancelling works, explained in simple terms.
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