Ringly: Beautiful Wearable Tech For Women

Ringly is an 18k-gold plated ring which connects to a smartphone.  The ring then discreetly notifies the wearer when she receives a text or a call.  The idea behind Ringly is to incorporate new tech into women’s everyday accessories.  This is so that they may enjoy the moment without missing something important, even when they are not wearing clothes that have pockets or holding a bag.

Ringly cofounder Christina Mercando informed Business Insider, “It started with me being frustrated from leaving my phone in my purse and missing a bunch of calls and texts…It turns out a lot of other people have a similar problem.”  The jewellery that Ringly offers is a selection of four different stones set in gold plating, which vibrate and light up when they are activated.

Mercando and co-founder Logan Munro wanted all of the technology; the accelerometer, Bluetooth LE, motor, and LEDs — to be incorporated into the ring as discreetly as possible as they were designing Ringly. “We were going for something that was simple, classic, something that a lot of women could get behind…It’s so small and discreet that people wouldn’t know the technology is there.”

Once you connect the ring to your smartphone through the Ringly app, which is available for both Android and iOS, you can then customise the way you want to receive notifications. The options that are available are varied, from blinking lights and vibration patterns, which are adjustable, as well as selecting which apps you want to receive notifications from.  You can even customise different notifications for different people.  To charge the ring, all you have to do is drop it back into its box.

The project has come together rather quickly.  In August 2013 the team had received $US1 million in funding from Mesa+, First Round Capital, PCH, and Andreessen Horowitz. The team subsequently then spent four months in San Francisco working on the prototype.

Ringly has just launched, at a price of $US145 per ring, on pre-order. The price will then go up to $US195 once it ships in the fall of this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5c06ayfTYs

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[Images via 9to5mac & technical]

SOURCE: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ringly-wearable-tech-2014-6