Lycos Aims For A Comeback With Password Storing Ring And Fitness Band

Lycos, one of the many search engines that didn't make it past the early boom years of the Internet is coming out with some wearable tech devices. The company's current embodiment isn't the same as when it rivaled other mid-1990's search engines like Alta Vista. It was bought by Ybrant Digital in 2010. Lycos' new, wearable Lycos Life devices The Band and The Ring want to be your "personal security manager," storing passwords and personal data in lackluster packaging.

The Ring and Band store data in NFC chips and can deliver it to smartphones using Tap to Transfer technology. This tech isn't new, and it's already used by mobile payment services like Apple Pay. Even Jawbone uses NFC to pay via American Express.

Lycos claims, "Soon, LYCOS Life will be able to uniquely identify its wearer by using its onboard sensors to recognize its user simply by the way they move." But, would you really share your fitness tracker with someone else? Isn't the point to be wearing it practically twenty-four hours a day? Even the Lycos Life Ring users would be wary of sharing a wearable device that has their passwords and secure data with anyone else.

Most people are probably going to look for a dedicated fitness tracker from a well-known company in that field like Fitbit or Jawbone. These days, if anyone wants more functionality outside of fitness, they are probably better off heading for a smartwatch instead of a fitness-plus type of band. Honestly, just about any band looks like it will have more functionality than this duo from Lycos Life.

Via: CNet