After Peratech acquires Eleksen, another buyout in the Wearable Electronic space took place to strengthen the design and manufacturing base of interactive fashion, WEEL Technologies has successfully completed a management buy-out of the Wearable Electronics company FITRIGHT Industrial which has designed and manufactured Wearable Electronic components into Apparel, Bag and Accessory products for a number of leading brands in outdoor and sports bags and apparel.

As terms of the deal, WEEL is taking over all manufacturing assets, technology rights, patents and supplier agreements and will continue focusing on the design, manufacturing and system integration of Wearable Electronic into Apparel, Bag and Accessory products.

The team at WEEL Technologies has worked with leading brands to design, manufacture and integrate Wearable Electronic solutions into Apparel, Bags and Accessories such as:

• Wearable Remote Controls (China Coin and customized keypads)
• Personal Audio (Wearable Speakers & Amplifiers for iPod/MP3 Players)
• Illumination (Electroluminescent and LED Lights)
• Environment (Heated Apparel, Cooling Accessories and Wearable Sensors)
• Power (Portable Solar Panels with Rechargeable Power Banks)

“The WEEL team is very excited about our future. WEEL will focus on delivering Wearable Electronics components and systems to our core market in the Action Sports industry. Our management team has been fortunate to be part of some of the best success stories in Action Sports over the past 5 years,” said Michael Corbett, General Manager of WEEL Technologies, former President of FITRIGHT Industrial.

“Our agreements with Apple and Bluetooth SIG have transferred into WEEL to enable the latest developments in iPod/iPhone as well as personal wireless applications.”

Apparel and soft good brands interested in getting their product ideas realized have yet another option to bring their Wearable Electronic design ideas to the market.

Skullcandy’s H2O LINK Hydration Pack with integrated Speakers has been around for some time but it seems justified to beam it up as another option for iPod yielding hikers, bikers and other outdoor fans.

The Skullcandy H20 LINK is a super cool backpack that will keep you hydrated and entertained on those long trips. The built-in hydration pack will hold 72 ounces in a water-tight container, the equivalent of three large water bottles.  The footprint of the hydration pack takes up minimal space thanks to its space saving design.

A straw runs down the shoulder strap and makes it convenient to drink whenever you want without stopping your activities.

The LINK system from Skullcandy integrated into the shoulder strap gives you full control over your iPod and cell-phone. The phone answer button on the soft-touch panel works with every mobile phone. You’ll never again miss a call while digging through your backpack to find your phone.

The Skullcandy H2O LINK pack has a battery-powered amplifier that fires out sound from 60mm speakers embedded in the straps. The speakers are weather-impervious, carbon-fiber woven, custom built and designed to be used in rain, snow or sunny weather.

The speaker function can be used with any portable audio player, not only the iPod by connecting the audio player via the 3.5mm headphone port.

This impressive feature list together with many expandable pockets and the durable nylon material of the H2O LINK makes it a very good choice for mountain bikers, hikers and anyone who enjoys the great outdoors.

The H2O LINK Hydration Pack with Speakers is available from Amazon in Orange/Gray and o Black with Camo accents and costs $149.95.

You might think the iConnect Pillow speaker only works with iPod’s, however this is not the case. The iConnect Pillow works with any device that has 3.5mm headphone jack.

To manage your expectations, this speaker pillow, just like our previously mentioned speaker pillow is not extremely loud, so don’t expect to replace your speaker system with one of these.

Speaker pillows like the iConnect are for a bit fun with a little luxury usefulness. Actually not that luxury if you look to the price below. Usefulness, it allows you to listen to your soft tunes in dreamy moments while resting your head on the pillow.

There is no amplifier in the pillow to pump up the sound, just a small speaker and a pouch to store the audio player under the pillow. The iConnect Pillow is for the soft and dreamy moments in life - simple as that.

The iConnect Pillow is available at bedbathandbeyond.com for just $ 4.99 it’s available in: Black, Aqua, Berry and Chocolate colors.

WiFi Detecting T-Shirt’s keep getting more stylish.  The last introduction of Thinkgeek’s Wi-Fi Detecting T-Shirt was already a great looking T-Shirt, it’s a bit geeky to wear but hey - life should be fun as well.

In case you want to have the convenient WiFi sniffing without reaching for your laptop, you have the option and go for one of those WiFi detecting bags we recently posted about.

The Wi-Fi Detecting T-Shirt searches for wireless signals in the 802.11b or 802.11g range and shows their signal strength in a Macbook stylized laptop image on the front of the T-Shirt.

The WiFi Detecting T-Shirt will be available for just £20.- ($39.-) from the end of January by firebox.com

If you want to keep your fingers warm during snowboarding or other winter sport activities you should grab a pair of quailty glvoes from O’Neill.To keep your iPod safe and warm while snowboarding or doing other winter sports activities and want to control your tunes, you should check out the O’Neill H4 Fat Controller iPod Gloves.

O’Neill Europe, has been a very active and consistent Wearable Electronic company, this is the third year in a row that they’ve introduced a new iPod Controller glove.

O’Neill’s first controller glove was released for the 2005/06 season with the H2 iPod glove, and was part of the H3 Wearable Electronic range from O’Neill in 2006/07 season. The latest and greatest is the H4 Fat Controller iPod Gloves for the current 2007/08 season.

The new H4 Fat Controller iPod Glove is based on Fibretronic’s wireless Fat controller system, the h4 is constructed from a combination of Oxford and stretch nylon with fine cow leather. On the interior, soft and comfortable insulation is delivered courtesy of Primaloft, while the Dryhand lining lives up to its name. The result is a seriously technical snow glove with a water resistance and breathability rating topping 3000/3000 m2/24hrs.

Being the latest and greatest, the H4 Fat Controller glove connects and works flawlessly with 4th generation iPod classic, iPod Mini, iPod Photo, iPod Nano, iPod Video and up to the latest devices in the iPod family, the iPod Classic and iPod Touch.

If you’re interested in finding otu how this awesome glove works check out the video below:

Intelligent clothing is not only a cool ‘must have’ for our fashion outfit but has added value in professional clothing as well. The most innovative use of Smart Textiles is a Firefighter jacket = ‘Turnout Gear‘ in professional speak, with integrated Thermal Sensor Technology (TST) directly into the fabric.This innovative Turnout Gear is made by VIKING, originated in Denmark and a global market leader in maritime and fire safety equipment. Their Turnout Gear is used by professional fire-fighters across the globe.

How does it work?

The difference between pain and second degree burn is a mere 54ºF (12ºC) increase in skin temperature.

Integrating thermal sensor technology directly to the fabric layers gives the advantage to visually indicate critical heat levels to the firefighter in action and his colleagues before it’s too late.

The thermal sensors are integrated into the inner and outer layers of the coat to monitor the outer temperature near the fire-fighter and on the inside of the coat close to the body. The sensors are attached to two LED displays, on the sleeve and one on the back.

The LED display on the upper left shoulder is visible to other fire-fighters on the team and indicates potentially critical situations. The LED display on the lower sleeve indicates dangerous heat levels both inside and outside the turnout gear.

A small box in the inner liner of the coat contains a battery and a control chip that calculates the temperature and activates the LED displays. The sensors are covered in flexible waterproof plastic to protect against fluids.

When the outer temperature reaches about 482ºF (250ºC) the outer circle on the display begins to flash slowly. At 662ºF (350ºC) the display light flashes rapidly. When the temperature inside the garment reaches about 122ºF (50ºC) the long line on the display begins to flash slowly and at 156ºF (67ºC) the display light flashes rapidly because when the inside of the coat near the skin reaches 174ºF (79ºC) the situation is critical.

All components meet current standards for use on NFPA fire-fighting equipment. The microelectronics is durable and can withstand at least 25 wash cycles.

The only thing needed before cleaning is to remove the battery from a pocket in the liner. No maintenance is required - only the battery needs to be changed.

This Turnout Gear from Viking is a excellent example that demonstrates the potential and the high value Smart Textiles made into Intelligent Clothing have.

The LINK Street Pack is the latest and greatest iPod enabled backpack Skullcandy has released so far. Made of ballistic nylon, the LINK Street Pack has a switch panel sewn into the shoulder-strap to control power, volume and phone function for handsfree chatting.

Any iPod starting from the G4 up to the latest shiny iPod Touch will work with the LINK Street Pack.

But wait, that’s not all!

This bad boy is fully armed with an AA battery-powered amplifier that fires sound out of 60mm speakers embedded in the upper straps.

These specially tooled water-proof speakers along with a Mobile-Mic buried in the strap allows you to listen to music and take phone calls completely hands and headset free!

This is a new way to integrate sound into backpacks. The speaker are close to your head and form a sound bubble around you. Great in places where you better still hear what’s going on around you but want to listen to your tunes.

The LINK Street Pack is designed for the students or working professional with ample room to throw textbooks or notebooks in it. The pack is specifically designed to hold up to 17″ laptops, power cable and other stuff you need for your work.

The great pack concept that combines work and fun in a great looking way.

Skullcandy, one of the coolest brands on the block for street wear and sound accessories have now woven sound into your lifestyle backpack.

Available in Black/Camo for $ 149.99 by this online shop.

Frog Design introduces a highly interesting textile and clothing concept.  The textile and clothing concept in question can harvest the power everyone is creating with his/her clothing!

The technology works by harnessing the static electricity generated from regular movement.

Currently this electrical energy is wasted. Frog Design’s vision is to collect this waste energy by weaving conductive filaments into fabric. Everyday clothing can so be transformed into power (generating) clothes that […] Continue Reading…

Smart Fabrics Heated Clothing from Gerbing, a company based out of Seattle focuses on bringing you a warm feeling in the coldest times of the year to their customers with high tech heated clothing.Their collection of heated clothing technologies ranges from the more ‘conventional’ textile heating systems like insulated copper wires to Micro Wires and Nano Wire heat technology to high tech smart fabrics like Carbon Fiber Heat […] Continue Reading…

If you spend a lot of time snowboarding or skiing, you might want to take a look at the iRib Glove from Kombi Sports, a high quality glove with integrated iPod controls.The iRib glove from Kombi Sports, a leading brand in ski and snowboarding gloves, launched the iRib a few days ago. The glove features Fibretronic?s five function joystick controller incorporated in the back of […] Continue Reading…