Back in 2017, Google and Levi’s launched their first smart jacket, Jacquard. By using a touch-sensitive material and a Bluetooth module on the left sleeve, users can connect the jacket to the phone and use different touch gestures to control the phone functions, such as playing music and navigation. The more special “Always Together” function supports the jacket to issue a warning after the mobile phone leaves a certain range to prevent theft.
▲ The first generation Jacquard jacket, pictured from Business Insider
Today, the second generation of Jacquard jackets is coming. In general, the working principle of the jacket is unchanged, the hardware has been optimized, and the supported functions have been increased. More importantly, the price has dropped from the original 350 US dollars (about RMB 2500 yuan) to 198 US dollars (about RMB 1410 yuan). Starting price.
The most intuitive change is that the Jacquard module on the sleeve has become significantly smaller. According to Google: “Before (size) was a very long USB flash drive, now it is only slightly larger than the SD card. This allows it to integrate more In different fashions. “
▲ The second generation module is much smaller, the picture comes from TechCrunch
TechCrunch pointed out that another major difference between the Jacquard 2.0 module and the first generation is that users can remove this module and use it on another smart wearable device that supports the technology. The original module can only identify the specific jacket.
▲ Picture from Mashable
This is also closer to Google ’s future vision of this technology-bringing the technology represented by Jacquard to everyday objects, so that everything can be turned into a computer, and we no longer need to rely solely on the screen and mobile phone to allow interaction to become diversification.
The second generation Jacquard jacket adds some new features to the first generation.
Now, users can control the mobile phone to take photos by touching gestures; or trigger a function called “My Day” to listen to the schedule of the day; and “Ask Assistant” has greater potential. Google Assistant to customize new features.
In addition, this time the jacket also has more style choices. The regular Trucker Jacket is priced at $ 198, while the thicker Sherpa Trucker costs $ 248.
▲ Picture from TechCrunch
But in general, the average person may not really need to spend twice the price of the usual jacket to buy it. It is hoped that Google and Levi’s will continue to develop rich functions, lower the price, and let it move from a marketing gimmick to a more practical new product.
