Raise your hand if you remember Lycos. An early player in the search engine and web portal spaces, the company faded away into obscurity but unlike many others has managed to live on. Perhaps seeking a new lease on life, it has jumped into the hardware business and announced an “IoT-enabled suite of products” consisting of the Lycos Life Band and the Life Ring.
Full details have not been released but the Lycos Life Band is billed as an “interactive smart band impacts a range of facets in your everyday life.” It comes with a fitness monitor and a security manager that lets you unlock your smartphone via NFC. It also offers Tap2Transfer capabilities which will apparently let you “single tap transfer messages, share contact information and simplify the way you communicate.” Water resistant, it promises up to 14 days of battery life.
The Lycos Life Ring will allow you to “wrap the power of security and accessibility around your finger.” It will also offer Tap2Transfer and NFC security features.
Both will be offered in six different colours.Lycos promises that more information about both devices will be available soon.
The Lycos Life Band will sell for US$124.99 (about CA$155) while the Lycos Life Ring will sell for US$59.99 (about CA$75). Both should be available in the U.S. on June 8th. Given that a second launch event is set for Mumbai on June 16th, it’s likely that they will be available in India as well. There is no word at this point on other markets.
To go with both devices, Lycos announced the LYCOS Life Project, a not-for-profit foundation, a “global humanitarian initiative that uses sensor and wireless communication technology to provide people throughout the world with access to critical, life-saving environmental information.” It will provide free portable sensors to families to let them instantly test the quality of water and air in their homes and communities.
Source : Lycos