Gear Up On IoT: Oculus Rift Exclusive + Drone Laws

Five IoT new bites to start your Wednesday.

Oculus Rift is getting another exclusive — this time a rock-climbing VR game called The Climb. The game allows users to do free-climbing — no ropes, no harnesses, all skill, albeit gaming skill. Game developer Crytek, launched a one-minute teaser on The Climb, but no release date has been set.

IBM, aka Big Blue, opened its new Watson IoT global headquarters in Munich, Germany this week — and made four new APIs, programming interfaces, available. One? A processing tool that supports more voice control over devices.

Software maker Nuance is also making news this week around voice control, looking to bring more Siri-like abilities to apps. Its new developer kit, Nuance Mix, would extend the ability to run apps by speaking aloud.

Pebble Smartwatch is now able to track steps against your daily average — like many other smartwatches on the market — through its software update called Pebble Health. Sleep tracking is also available. Only newer models in Pebble's smartwatch will be supported — so not the Pebble Classic or Pebble Classic Steel.

Finally, have a drone wrapped under the tree? Santa says, make sure the FAA knows. Starting Dec. 21 any drone weighing between half to 55 pounds (um, basically all of them) must be registered with the government agency. The $5 fee will be waived for the first 30 days.