Augmented reality concept uses Google Glass to make reading the newspaper more like... reading a website

As part of the Wearable Tech Expo 2014 in Tokyo, the Asahi Shimbun is looking to offer richer content to users still reading its dead tree editions. The 'AIR' concept uses wearable du jour Google Glass to both detect physical markers and display any digital companion content. According to Asahi's Media Lab, the concept's aim is to better broadcast and convey "emotional" content: a picture of Winter Olympics skater Asada Mao gets picked up and Google Glass barrels into a slideshow, alongside a stirring soundtrack. (She had announced her retirement, and apparently her many fans were very upset.)

It's about connecting anyone who reads the (actual, physical) newspaper to everything that doesn't make it on to the page, whether that's more photos, related articles, or video. There's no release date for AIR -- to begin with, Google Glass isn't even available in Japan -- and it simply mimics, to a large degree, what we've already seen from augmented reality apps on smartphones. However, this wearable-based delivery method makes more sense, with no need to hover your smartphone camera over points of interest. The team didn't mention who powers the detection software, although the recent news that Layar has brought its APK to the Google wearable could well be connected.

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This curved iPhone 6 concept borrows the iPod Touch design language, is looking awesome

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Qualcomm Toq smartwatch review: An interesting concept with unfortunate execution

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Depending on how you look at it, Qualcomm’s $349 Toq smartwatch is either an interesting concept for the future of wrist wearables or it’s an expensive, uncomfortable timepiece with notifications. Actually, it’s both.

Disclosure: I approach the smartwatch device class with no small amount of skepticism. I gave up wearing a watch years ago and haven’t missed it. The Android-only Toq almost convinces me to wear one again, but it’s a long way from convincing me to pay $349 for the privilege.

The best thing about the Toq is its battery. I’ve averaged five days of battery life on a single charge with moderate to heavy usage. That kind of power management lets you just set it on the included wireless charging stand overnight at the beginning of the week and then put it on and not worry about the battery for at least a few days. Qualcomm has set the bar for smartwatch battery life, and newer entrants to the space need to take note.

Unfortunately, the battery is also one of my most disliked features about the watch. The battery compartment is located at the bottom of the band on the inside of your wrist. Doing so keeps the watchface on top from becoming unwieldy, but the extra width is extremely uncomfortable.

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Meet the concept iPhone Air and iPhone 6C

(Credit:Screenshot by Roger Cheng/CNET)

Here's a new concept video for the next iPhone that takes thinness to an extreme.

The video from Set Solution offers its take on a theoretical "iPhone Air," and another envisions an iPhone 6C (the C here stands for curve, not color).

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