It's so that everything is better and you know everything about everything all the time and then everything is better because you know all the things and can track it and turn it into data.

I'm getting a little tired of the onslaught of products which attach technology to items/habits/lifestyles that (IMO) are obscured by technology. Does the jawbone bracelet improve my understanding of my own habits and body better than care contemplation and meditation would, or does it add an (incomplete) layer of abstraction to an already complicated system? Do a few meager data points help me better understand what's going on with my body?

With these technologies we must force ourselves to weigh the negative impacts against the perceived values.

What is the environmental impact of creating this item?

How much does this item increase my power consumption?

How is the data collected by this device used, who has access to it?

Is there a problem that this product solves?

What kind of impact does this product have on the people around me?

If this item is just a toy, does its environmental impact justify the purchasing of it?

I'm going to take a guess and say that it contains a small device which uses an absorption spectroscopy technique (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy) or something similar. Given a large database of known beverages and their constituent parts, it could compare and find a match based on a known set of gaps in the spectrum.

Thx for the link. It's interesting that a couple of years ago this technology would have required thousands of dollars of chemistry equipment and now you can build it into a cup.

Very cool.

> a couple of years ago this technology would have required thousands of dollars of chemistry equipment and now you can build it into a cup.

A $200 cup. http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/vessyl-smart-cup-knows-the-diffe...

I don't think the chemistry side of the technology was what would have made this difficult "a couple years ago." I think what has made this possible today is the slew of "connected" devices before this like the fitness bands.

And honestly, I believe it is the entrepreneur's imagination, the market and people's perception that has really caught up to technology that already existed.

Another option is that they use a capacitive sensor, which reminds me of the smart pill bottles being developed by AdhereTech and others (http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/8/5289022/adheretech-smart-pi...).

Although, I think this is less likely- I like your guess better.

Need? I didn't need a smartphone when I bought one, but it changed my lifestyle such that it is now irreplaceable. How do they do it? I really don't know but this article on electrochemical biosensor arrays for "electronic tongue" is interesting: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijelc/2012/986025/

A smartphone is a telephone, maps, address book, games, music player, ebook reader, web browser, GPS, microphone, pedometer, barometer, and more.

This thing is a cup.

Did you really just type this? haha

Well this thing is a cup, spectroscopic device, hydration tracker,and daily caloric planner, that integrates with your smartphone through bluetooth, while charging wirelessly.

It is all of those things, but it's raison d'être is to hold liquids until they are consumed.

It's a very advanced cup. And in order to be useful, you need to drink everything with that cup.

> And in order to be useful, you need to drink everything with that cup.

This is a very important point and really limits the usefulness of this cup. Lots of empty calories that happen from drinking happen on the go at places like bars, restaurants, or coffee shops - are we expecting people to bring their cups with them everywhere and empty out their beverages into their smart cup before drinking?

Some things that seem useless surprise you with their utility. But most things that seem useless are in fact useless.