Wearable, Inc. has introduced its new Airstash wireless flash drive with built-in media server. Airstash is a small device featuring a USB port on one end and an SD/SDHC card slot on the other. Once a card is inserted, users can fill the card with media from their desktop or laptop PCs, and then use the Airstash’s built-in Wi-Fi media server to access the content from any Wi-Fi-capable device with a web browser. Notably, the device’s...

Wearable after a notable delay began shipping the AirStash wireless flash drive. As unveiled earlier, the device has no built-in storage of its own but instead acts as a Wi-Fi remote server. It can share or stream content either from an attached computer through USB or from an inserted SD/SDHC card; it has its own battery and can last for up to five hours of continuous video without being attached to any device....

Wearable after a notable delay began shipping the AirStash wireless flash drive. As unveiled earlier, the device has no built-in storage of its own but instead acts as a Wi-Fi remote server. It can share or stream content either from an attached computer through USB or from an inserted SD/SDHC card; it has its own battery and can last for up to five hours of continuous video without being attached to any device....

Die amerikanische Firma Wearable Inc. hat einen Card Reader der besonderen Art vorgestellt: Das Airstash liest SD- und SD-HC-Karten und stellt den Inhalt in einem eigenen Funknetzwerk zur Verfügung. WLAN-fähige Geräte können dann Filme, Musik und Fotos abrufen.

This is a significant hire for Apple and one that shows the company is looking far ahead into the future...

Apple has hired an expert in "human-computer interaction for mobile applications" to complement its research and development in mobile computing, according to a new report from Computerworld. Richard DeVaul, known for his work in the field of "wearable computing," is Apple's newest senior prototype scientist.

DeVaul originally studied architecture, anthropology, and physics at Texas A&M before working on a masters degree in visualization science. Before finishing his masters thesis on "novel dynamics constraints approximation algorithm for computer animation applications," DeVaul left Texas A&M to pursue an MD and later PhD degree in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT. While at MIT, he also worked as a research scientist at MIT's famous Media Lab.

DeVaul's PhD dissertation revolved around a project called "Memory Glasses," which were designed to provide the wearer with context-sensitve cues to assist in memory recall. Much of the research focused on determining how to determine context, including using GPS location and accelerometer data—something that Apple's mobile devices can already provide. Research into how to present recall clues also showed that subtle, even subliminal information could prove useful in assisting memory—the same kind of subtle clues and interactions that are evident throughout the iPhone OS.

After DeVaul finished his PhD, he spent the last six years working as the CTO and president of AWare Technologies, which he also co-founded. AWare originally focused on mobile monitoring technologies for athletic and military applications, as well as motion analysis for Olympic teams.

The company later focused on adapting its technology to fitness tracking applications, including developing the StepTrak Lite activity tracking iPhone app. AWare's FitAWare system is similar in some respects to a system that Apple recently applied to patent that generates workouts that users can use to compete with each other as a sort of game. Apple has also teamed up with Nike in the past on the Nike+ run-tracking system as well as a system to track exercise on certain gym equipment, both of which interface with iPods and some iPhones.

As Apple's senior prototype scientist, DeVaul reports directly to SVP of industrial design Jonathan Ive, ostensibly developing and building prototypes of mobile—and likely wearable—computing devices. Reportedly only seven people besides Ive and CEO Steve Jobs will even know what he is cooking up inside Apple's research labs. DeVaul will likely explore ways to make computing devices that are ever more mobile and constantly accessible, a job that fits Apple's direction as a mobile devices company.

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