Recommended Reads on the Mobile Beat This Week
A roundup of the best stories on mobile from other sites, collected by Rachel Metz, MIT Technology Review’s senior editor for mobile.
Goodbye, Moto(rola). Iconic Brand Name to Be Phased Out
C-Net got an interview with Motorola’s chief operating officer, Rick Osterloh, at CES, and he divulged that the iconic Motorola brand name will be disappearing from phones this year, replaced by “Moto.” Motorola’s mobility business was purchased by Lenovo from Google in 2014; the move is part of a strategy to brand Lenovo’s higher-end phones with the Moto name and lower-end phones with Lenovo’s Vibe name.
What Does Virtual Reality Do to Your Body and Mind?
This interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal explores the possible psychological and physical side effects of virtual reality.
Bragi’s Truly Wireless Earbuds Are Finally Here, and They’re Actually Good
A story from the Verge goes in-depth on a pair of activity-tracking, gesture-controlled wireless earbuds from German company Bragi—the device was funded via Kickstarter, where it raised $3.4 million in 2014.
L’Oreal Takes the Wearables War to the Beauty Counter
This New York Times piece explains beauty company L’Oreal’s efforts to get into the fast-growing wearable tech market by developing a heart-shaped patch that tracks your UV light exposure.
I Went Back to a Dumbphone
A story from the Atlantic describes what life is like when the author gives up their seven-year relationship with an iPhone for the super-simple, talk-and-text-only Punkt MP 01 “dumbphone” in an effort to escape social media.