World Mobile News

Garmin Vivofit is rerouting the incredible short battery life of wearable gadgets by launching an always-on fitness tracker that lasts more than a year on a single charge. We were able to wear the Vivofit fitness band without wearing down the battery at CES 2014 and quickly discovered that its secret is eschewing a backlight on its curved LCD screen and using some low-power efficiency tricks. That's pretty amazing given the fact that leading fitness trackers, like the Fitbit Force and Nike FuelBand SE , require recharging every seven days if you're lucky. They also require pushing a tiny button in order to read the time, daily step count, distance and calories. Vivofit displays all of this information without the need to press anything at all. Its single button is just used to cycle through the data. Even better, the Garmin Vivofit specs indicate that the battery is actually two user-replaceable CR1632 coin cells. Going down to the drugstore to buy these new batteries once a...

We reviewed the previous version of the Acer Aspire V5 recently and weren't terrifically impressed with it, but Acer has tried again with this updated model that we were shown at CES 2014 . It's a budget €599 (around GBP £500, USD $817, AUD $903) Ultrabook that makes several compromises to hit its price point. Most interesting is the fact Acer has responded to feedback on the previous V5 and has reintroduced an optical drive into the mix. At this price point it seems people still want a way to install legacy applications from disc. The drive also features M-DISC technology, which is designed to make discs resistant to extreme conditions as well as age. Essentially, it means your data lasts longer thanks to a modified layer on the disc. You need to buy special M-DISCs to take advantage of the drive, but the data can be read by any DVD drive. The 15.6-inch laptop comes with up to 16GB of RAM, plus a 1,368 x 768 HD LED-backlit display (not Full HD, note) with 10-point multi tou...

Withings Aura gives us the atmospheric vibe that it'll be the best sleep tracking device of 2014 because it's designed to monitor rest and, believe it or not, actively increase the amount of sleep you get throughout the night. That's better than the handful of sleep tracking gadgets out there right now, from the accurate Jawbone Up bracelet to the less-competent-at-sleep Fitbit Force activity band. The Sleep Cycle alarm clock, a simple iOS app for iPhone, does all of this for a fraction of the price too. But none of these devices nor apps go beyond basic minute-by-minute metrics and scores. Withings Aura takes sleep tracking to the next REM stage with a two-part system that we tested during our non-stop CES 2014 coverage. Off our feet and onto the demo bed, we found a soft sleep sensor tucked underneath the mattress and an odd-shaped, light emitting alarm clock at our bedside. The white-cloth sensor was physically flat, but the sleep patterns it detected came to life th...