[ad_1]
We’re gearing up for CES 2026! Engadget will be on the ground, once again, to dive into the latest TVs, wearables and other wild tech from the world’s biggest consumer electronics show. In this episode, we chat about some new products we expect to see, like Micro RGB LED TVs and AI devices, and peer into what’s ahead for the rest of 2026.
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
[ad_2]
Devindra Hardawar
Source link
[ad_1]
I’ve never cared more about my sleep in my life than during the month-plus that I’ve worn the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic. Previously, if I woke up drowsy, I’d blame the past night’s bad choices and think, “Well, better luck tomorrow night!” Now, the first thing I do when I wake up is check my sleep score.
I’ve always been a person obsessed with tracking my body metrics, having become addicted to both my heart rate and my step count when fitness trackers first came out. But when sleep was added to the devices, I largely ignored it. All that data was starting to add up and feel like too much information to me. How could I possibly walk 10,000 steps in a day, get a perfect sleep score, and keep my heart rate down, my heart rate variability up, and my cardiovascular age lower than my actual age? I am literally just one person.
Oura Ring 4 Ceramic
If you want to track every biometric you can using available sensors, the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic does it best. But it still requires you to put in the work.
Most fitness trackers these days try to do it all and, honestly, most of them fall short on that task. But surprisingly, when I tested the Ring 4 Ceramic, I stopped feeling bothered by all the data points. Yes, the Ring 4 Ceramic does cram every body metric possible into its tiny device and accompanying app. And yet, somehow, it does so in a way that I am at least a little bit less bothered about than I had been in the past.
I’ve also decided that of all the options currently out there to track my health—smartwatches, straps, etc.—a smart ring is by far superior.
The Oura Ring, which originally debuted exactly a decade ago after a successful Kickstarter campaign, is currently in its fourth iteration, which came out over the summer. In October, the company also debuted its ceramic version of the Oura 4, which is made up of high-performance zirconia ceramic, which is a material known for its durability and light weight. The new Oura Ring 4 Ceramic comes in four colors: Tide, Petal, Cloud, and Midnight.
A benefit of the Ring 4 Ceramic, according to Oura, is that the colors are part of the ceramic, and not an added extra layer like they had been with past metals. With older models, users had issues with the colors (a mix of silvers and golds) fading or chipping over time; ceramic has no such issues. And while I’m only going on my second month, my Tide-colored Oura is still just as vibrant as day one.
See Oura Ring 4 Ceramic at Amazon
The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic is currently priced at $500, which is on the pricier end for a health tracker. The regular Ring 4 is $350. Competing devices like the screenless Whoop 5.0 is an annual subscription that includes the band and starts at $200, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is $400, and the most decked-out Fitbit Sense 2 is $250.
You also need a subscription for the Oura Ring, which is $6 a month (you can also pay $70 upfront for the whole year). If you don’t want to pay that monthly fee, the smart ring still works and you will still get certain data, including sleep analysis, a readiness score, and an activity tracker. But if you want access to everything else, you’ll need to pay that monthly fee.
I’m not generally a big ring person, but I honestly found the Ring 4 Ceramic to be pleasantly snug and cozy on my finger. I often alternated between wearing it on my middle or index finger. For the best and most accurate results, Oura recommends the index finger mostly because it provides a snug fit, and generally, the company suggests avoiding fingers where the knuckle is wider than the base. In my experience, I found that if I wore it on my middle finger, I could more easily forget it was there, whereas if I wore it on my index finger, I tended to fidget with it.
Comfort is a huge component of health and fitness trackers, and it’s one that doesn’t get talked about enough when reviewing these products. If the goal is to wear them 24/7, then they have to be comfortable, and it’s worth trying on a bunch of different types—smartwatches, straps, smart rings—to figure out which one works for you and your lifestyle.
A single charge lasts for up to 8 days, according to the company. In testing, mine has lasted a full 7 days multiple times. It’s available in a wide variety of sizes—4 to 15—which is even more than the smart ring’s previous iteration.
The Ring 4 Ceramic comes with what the company calls “smart sensing,” which is essentially an algorithm where the smart ring optimizes its multiple sensors to use the one with the best signal at any given time.
The better question, honestly, is what can’t the smart ring track? The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic uses infrared LEDs to measure blood oxygen during sleep. It also uses photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors, which detect changes in blood flow, to measure heart rate and heart rate variability as well as respiration rate (which is important for sleep tracking). Temperature sensors measure average body temperature and accelerometer sensors track movement and activity.
All of those sensors mean that the Ring 4 Ceramic has the ability to track a huge swath of data, but the key is how it spits all that out into a usable form.
The Ring 4 Ceramic provides a daily sleep score. It also breaks sleep down into smaller details like total sleep versus time in bed and gives you a sleep efficiency percentage, which is how much of your time in bed you actually spent sleeping. It knows when you are doomscrolling or tossing and turning with the Sunday scaries. The Ring 4 Ceramic takes all of this, along with your nighttime resting heart rate, and calculates a sleep score. Anything 85 and above is optimal, and I’m proud to announce to the entire internet that my highest score was 88. This is where health optimization can get somewhat addictive, and I’m absolutely prone to it.
The tracker also provides a daily “Readiness” score, which it calculates using an algorithm that takes into account your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, any significant body temperature fluctuations, as well as your respiratory rate and sleep. Again, anything 85 or higher is optimal, and I’ve been getting a lot of scores in the 90s, which makes me proud of my mind, body, and spirit, honestly.
It also provides a daily activity goal, which you can set yourself, and it’s nice to hit that goal each day. Though a daily activity goal is pretty standard across all trackers, Oura’s is really well presented.
Similar to its competitor Whoop, the Ring 4 also provides a daily stress analysis. It tells you how long your body was in high stress (which it detects based on shifts in your heart rate, heart rate variability, and your body temperature). It also shares a daily stress score by telling you if you were “stressed,” “engaged,” or “relaxed” that day.
Luckily for you all, I tested the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic during the month of October and November, which is peak fall cold season. The smart ring has an algorithm built into it called the Symptom Radar, which essentially uses changes in skin temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability to detect if something is off in your system. Theoretically, the idea is that it could detect these changes early and predict that you are getting sick. You could then take it easy those days or maybe even sleep an extra hour or two that night.
I got a cold in mid-October, which honestly came on pretty suddenly. I babysat a friend’s kid on a Monday. She sneezed into my face multiple times (so cute) and then on Thursday morning, I woke up with that dreaded scratchy lump in my throat, which continued to get worse and then better over the course of that next week and a half. The Ring 4 Ceramic didn’t detect any shifts from my baseline on Tuesday or Wednesday, or even Thursday, when I woke up feeling off. But once my cold was full-blown, the app did note that both my body temperature and resting heart rate were elevated, and wanted to know what was up.
That cold was fairly mild, and came on quickly, so I do wonder if I had had something worse, like the flu or covid, if it would have detected it a bit earlier. I also wonder if I keep wearing the Ring 4 Ceramic for longer, would it get better at knowing what’s normal and what’s not for me?
I still think that the best period tracker is a pen and paper (or a dedicated note in your notes app). Oura’s new cycle insights and fertility feature, which was unveiled at the end of October by the company (I had been using it since the start of my testing in early October) requires 60 nights of data in order to make accurate predictions. In order to really assess whether it’s working well or not, I’d want to give the Ring 4 Ceramic another couple of months after that, too. So, it’s too soon to tell how well it works.
To predict your period, the tracker collects body temperature readings over a long period of time (two months or more) and uses that in addition to an algorithm to predict when your next cycle might arrive and when you might be ovulating.
The Oura 4 Ceramic really can do it all, from tracking your sleep and your stress score to monitoring your period, your activity level, and your heart rate. There are also a slew of integrations that you can use with the Ring 4, including Headspace, Strava, Natural Cycles, and even Stelo, which is a continuous glucose monitor. Connecting it to the smart ring allows users to see their glucose levels in the Oura app, which shows how factors like meal choices, sleep, and activity impact their glucose levels. Oura’s newest partnership, as of late October, is with Quest Diagnostics, the blood testing company. For an additional yearly membership fee of $100, users can get a comprehensive blood panel, though it’s not available in every state.
However, like I’ve written about in the past when reviewing similar products such as the Whoop and Polar Loop, how much of this data is that useful?
After a month of use, I did become obsessed with my sleep score, but I am not sure if I actually became a better sleeper because of it. This is similarly true for tracking my activity and my strain score. I’ve been a health tracking user for years now, and I’ve found that the key question you have to ask yourself when deciding whether you want to spend a couple of hundred dollars or more on these devices is: what are you trying to get from these devices? Is it better sleep, less stress, increased energy and activity? These devices can do it all, to a degree, and perhaps Oura can do it the best, but it still comes down to how much work you are personally willing to put into making your health better.
[ad_2]
Claire Maldarelli
Source link
[ad_1]
We’ve tested several more pairs of smart glasses—some good and some bad.
Even Realities G2 for $599: We have not fully reviewed the Even Realities G2 yet—we have spent a little time with the hardware but are awaiting a prescription model for proper testing. There are a few bugs with the software, but Even Realities’ second-gen glasses are impressive. Thin, light, and easily passable for standard glasses, these don’t have a camera or speaker; instead, they focus on extending your smartphone with the display and microphone. The projected screen is 75 percent larger than the original G1, and you can thumb the R1 smart ring (separate purchase) to navigate the interface. You can see your notifications, translate real-time conversations, see navigation instructions, pin to-do lists, and talk to the company’s Even AI assistant about anything. There’s also a teleprompter function to convince people you’re a natural at public speaking. Again, the hardware is impressive, but we need to put these glasses through their paces; stay tuned for our full review soon. —Julian Chokkattu
Photograph: Simon Hill
RayNeo Air 3s Pro for $299: TCL-owned RayNeo offers many models, and I’ve tested several. The latest Air 3s Pro glasses boast a 201-inch virtual screen (1080p, 120 Hz, 1200 nits), but the 46-degree field of view lets it down a little. Both color vibrancy and brightness offer major upgrades over previous releases, like the Air 2s and the older TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses, and you can just about see the whole screen clearly (even after adjusting, I had to slide them down my nose a little to avoid blurring at the bottom). You will also need the lens shade to use them in brighter environments. While they are cheaper than our other virtual screen picks, I found them inferior in design, fit, and comfort. Rayneo has added some more on-device options, including spatial sound, but it didn’t work well for me, though the standard sound is fine. RayNeo’s software, required for 3 DoF, is still buggy and unpolished. This is a good virtual screen for the money, and perfectly suitable for watching movies and light gaming, but if you want more from your smart glasses, I’d pick a different pair.
Chamelo Music Shield for $260: With a cool touch-control tint capability that enables you to adjust for the conditions, and built-in Bluetooth speakers for music, the Chamelo Music Shield could be up your sporty street. You can take these dimmable glasses from 17 to 63 percent light transmittance (almost clear to mirrored) by sliding your finger along the right temple. The sound quality is decent for glasses, but even cheap wireless earbuds sound better, and these are on the pricey side for their limited functionality.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Lucyd Reebok Octane for $199: Designed in partnership with Reebok for cyclists and runners, these lightweight Bluetooth sunglasses feature silver polarized lenses, good quality speakers, and 8-hour battery life. I enjoyed listening to music and podcasts while hiking, and I like that you can hear the world around you. The sound leakage isn’t too bad, so you won’t bother the people you pass. They also have physical controls that are much easier to use than touch controls, even when your hands are wet (they’re water-resistant, too). You can take calls, get directions, and ask your preferred AI assistant questions. Lucyd has been making Bluetooth sunglasses for several years now and offers a wide range of different styles. We also tried the Lucyd 2.0 Bluetooth Sunglasses a couple of years ago.
Rokid Max 2 Glasses for $429: The Spider-Man style lenses give these comfortable smart glasses a bit of character, though they won’t be to everyone’s taste. They project a 215-inch screen (1080p, 120 Hz, 600 nits, 50-degree FoV) and boast diopter dials for focus adjustments, but I struggled to eliminate blurring around the edges, and instead of stylish electrochromic dimming, there’s a clip-on plastic blackout shield. I also tried the Rokid Station 2, which adds an Android TV interface to access entertainment apps, but also a trackpad and an air mouse for easier control. The original Rokid Station was a more basic portable Android TV.
Here’s the eyewear that fell short.
Halliday Glasses for $499: While these could almost pass for chunky regular glasses, with a clever ring controller and a tiny unobtrusive display, I can confidently say they are not the future of smart glasses. After spending several uncomfortable hours trying to adjust the display to be readable, all I got was a headache. The ring seemed like a smart idea, but it’s big, ugly, plastic, laggy, and frustrating to use. The eavesdropping AI is slow, and squinting up to try and see the screeds of useless text it churns out is actually painful. The sound quality and battery life are equally awful.
Amazon Echo Frames for $300: The Amazon Echo Frames (3/10, WIRED Review) are a bit old now, but you can still purchase them. Too bad they don’t do much. They work as sunglasses, filter blue light, and are IPX4-rated. Tech-wise, they have a speaker and microphone in each temple, and you can use them to query or command Alexa, as you would with a smart speaker, but there are no cameras here, making them far less capable than the similarly priced Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Asus AirVision M1 for $399: I was excited to see Asus launch smart glasses, but the lack of fanfare was a red flag. My first impressions of the lightweight design were promising, and the M1 offers up to a 100-inch virtual display and impressive 1,100 nits brightness. Designed to plug into your phone, laptop, PC, or handheld gaming device, like the ROG Ally, via USB-C, the M1 also features built-in speakers and a microphone. Sadly, the refresh rate maxes out at 72 Hz and is limited to 60 Hz unless you employ the Airvision software, which also enables you to select different modes (working, gaming, infinity), tweak screen position, and set interpupillary distance (IPD). I found the in-focus sweet spot was small, and most of my virtual screen was blurry, no matter how I tweaked the settings, making them uncomfortable to use, especially for work. There’s also a basic plastic shield to block light, rather than electrochromic dimming, and the speaker quality is decidedly average, leaving me puzzled about why the price is so high.
Solos AirGo Vision for $299: With a built-in AI assistant powered by ChatGPT, the Solos AirGo Vision adds a camera on top of the Bluetooth-connected speakers in the rest of its range. Grant it unfettered access to your location and photo library, and it can describe what you are seeing. The most obvious use cases are translation and navigation, though I’m not convinced about the accuracy of its suggestions. The design is interesting, with chunky temples housing the smarts and interchangeable frames. There’s no virtual screen or HUD, but you can get prescription lenses, and they look relatively normal. Sadly, the photo and audio quality are horrible, and the touch controls are frustratingly finicky. The app is also power hungry and demands too many permissions. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses do the same things better.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
[ad_2]
Simon Hill
Source link
[ad_1]
Looking for a health and fitness tracker that doesn’t require you to wear a big, bulky watch? You can grab an Oura Ring 4 for just $249 from Amazon, a $100 break from the normal price. It’s compatible with both iOS and Android apps, has a battery that last for days, and accurately tracks a ton of health data, from hiking and sleeping to period predictions and food intake.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Photograph: Simon Hill
This generation of the Oura smart ring has a number of major improvements, but the biggest upgrade is to the overall wearability. The sensors have been recessed further into the body of the ring itself, which reduces the overall thickness considerably and allows for a wider available range of ring sizes. They also cover a wider portion of the ring, so there’s no need to keep it oriented in one specific direction to get proper readings.
The battery life has improved a lot as well. The older Oura 3 could run for around three days before it needed a charge, Our reviewer, Adrienne So, reported that the Ring 4 tracked a full weekend of hiking and physical activity, as well as a music festival, and still had enough juice for at least a couple more days.
You get a ton of health and physical fitness data from the ring, which is neatly sorted into daily physical data, detailed vitals, and longer trends over time, all organized in the app on your phone. If you want to also keep track of your food intake, a new Meals feature lets you take photos of what you eat and then track its effects on your body. Oura has also worked with Natural Cycles, a fertility tracking app, to predict periods using your basal body temperature.
The Oura Ring 4 is an impressive health and fitness tracker in a surprisingly small package, and one of the only downsides from our review was the price point for the silver-colored finishes. Thankfully, the mirrored silver and classic black are marked down to the lower $249 price point, with varying discounts on the other options, like $299 for the brushed silver, or a larger $150 discount to bring the gold down to just $349.
[ad_2]
Brad Bourque
Source link
[ad_1]
A new wave of AI-powered gadgets on the market aims to integrate artificial intelligence into our daily lives like never before.
Some of these AI wearables — including necklaces, rings, and wristbands, as well as portable devices — serve as productivity tools, while others claim to act as friendly companions listening to your everyday thoughts. Even OpenAI is working on a compact AI companion device.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the most notable devices currently available.
Bee is an affordable pendant priced at $49.99 that can either be clipped to your clothing or worn like a fitness band. This device records everything it hears and learns your routines and preferences to create reminders and notes for you. It even features a mute button for those times you want some privacy.
The companion app (currently available only on iOS) is included with a $19 monthly subscription. The app allows you to interact with Bee directly and ask it questions. You can also get key takeaways from your day and chronological transcripts of your conversations.
Amazon recently acquired the wearables startup in July.
Friend is one of the most hyped entrants in the “personal AI” device market.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026
This $129 white pendant hangs around your neck and functions as an emotional support companion. It recognizes your tone and mood, allowing you to chat with it as if it were a friend. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and constantly listens, ready to respond or send you proactive messages, like wishing you good luck before an interview.
However, it has also faced criticism, including a recent backlash against its subway ad campaign in NYC. People vandalized the ads, writing messages like “surveillance capitalism.”
Formerly known as Rewind, Limitless is another conversation-recording pendant priced at $99.
This device continuously listens, transcribing meetings, calls, and conversations (with consent) into searchable and summarized knowledge. It’s ideal for professionals, especially journalists, looking to recall important discussions.
The companion app comes with 10 hours of AI features per month — such as transcription and summaries — with the option to unlock unlimited features for $29 per month.
Priced at $89, this device can answer your questions, summarize your conversations, create to-do lists, and help schedule meetings. Additionally, Omi is constantly listening and running your conversations through ChatGPT, allowing it to remember the context about you and offer personalized advice.
Omi can be worn as a necklace, but another notable aspect is that it can be attached to the side of your head with medical tape and can detect when you’re speaking to it.
At $159, Plaud’s NotePin is one of the pricier options on this list; however, its built-in AI transcription and summarization features make it a valuable tool for lawyers, journalists, and students attending meetings or lectures.
The tiny wearable voice recorder can be worn on your wrist or attached magnetically to your clothing. The recordings are saved in real time on your phone, eliminating the hassle of manual note-taking. The device includes 300 free monthly transcription minutes, but with the $8.33 per month Pro plan, you upgrade your transcription time to 1,200 minutes.
This year, the company is gearing up to launch a $179 ultra-thin note-taking device called the Plaud Note Pro, which is now available for preorder.
Rabbit R1 is another AI gadget that has quickly become a topic of interest in the tech world, despite facing some challenges during its initial launch. This small, retro-styled handheld device features a touchscreen and rotating camera, at a price point of $199.
The device is designed to be phone-adjacent, allowing you to perform tasks such as booking flights, ordering meals, and controlling apps without needing to pull out your phone each time. Following a crucial software update that rectified previous performance issues, the Rabbit R1 now boasts expanded AI features. For instance, it introduces “Creations,” a feature that allows you to build your own tools and even games.
[ad_2]
Lauren Forristal
Source link
[ad_1]
Forget coffee, you can now stay alert by strapping on a wristband that lightly zaps you awake. That’s what eCoffee Energyband, a Chinese gadget that sells for just over $100, is claiming to do.
First released in late 2023, the product is a lightweight wearable with two electrode pads that sit against the inner wrist. WAT Medical, a Canadian company with a Chinese subsidiary making and marketing the device, claims the mild electrical signals sent by the wristband can keep wearers alert by stimulating nerves in the brain. The effect is supposedly about the same as a cup of coffee, minus the risk of caffeine addiction. The only side effect is that your hand could feel numb from the tip of the finger to the inner wrist, the company says, so the makers suggest that it only be worn for three hours a day, and users can switch which wrists they put it on.
The gadget would likely have stayed in relative obscurity if the company that makes it had not attended a recent Chinese trade show, whereafter it suddenly went viral. “The purpose of inventing this eCoffee Energyband is not to replace coffee. Coffee is great, but it’s not always suitable for the afternoon or evening. But we still have the need to feel refreshed during those times,” Xu Haojie, the company’s director of operations, told Chinese state media Xinhua at the trade show. After wearing it, the Xinhua reporter said, “It feels like I’m being gently tapped. I can feel the electric pulse.”
It immediately became a sensation online. On Chinese ecommerce websites, including JD and Taobao, the device appears to be sold out as of now, with hundreds of mixed reviews from buyers. The device is also sold and shipped to markets around the world. The website lists its normal price at $130, with a holiday promotion going on right now that knocks 30 percent off the price.
But on Chinese social media, the wristband has been met with overwhelming sarcasm and skepticism.
The company’s marketing frames eCoffee as a productivity booster, a tool for getting more study and work done. But that message has struck a chord with Chinese people’s resentment
toward “996” culture, the local variant of the grind culture. The young generation in China is increasingly recoiling from workplace burnout. Snarky commentators online called the wristband everything from a portable electric chair to the human version of dog-training e-collars and livestock whips, emphasizing how it benefits the managerial class against the will of the working class.
[ad_2]
Zeyi Yang
Source link
[ad_1]
And, just as with Swatch x You, it’s possible to further customize the watch by choosing indexes or selecting the color of its mechanism. To save on data center power drains and rampant creativity run amuck, you’re only allowed three prompts per day on AI‑DADA, something that Swatch is spinning as a “creative challenge that makes every attempt feel special.”
Ultimately, what we have here, is a new version of Swatch x You that has been plugged with image-generation software supplied by OpenAI, thus letting the general public emblazon its timepieces with whatever graphics they see fit to dream up and deposit on them. What could possibly go wrong here, I wonder?
I asked Roberto Amico, Swatch Group’s global head of digital & ecommerce, what guardrails have been put in place to stop people making, say, their very own Jeffrey Epstein Swatch, or White Power Swatch, or Stormy Daniels Swatch. Or maybe a Swatch with a Rolex logo on it, or something that looks a lot like the Rolex logo.
Amico reassures me Swatch has indeed set guardrails, particularly with logos, for example, alongside the certain restrictions already in place from OpenAI. But interestingly, Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek Jr. tells me he battled with OpenAI to remove some of its existing guardrails to make AI‑DADA “more liberal, more Swatch.”
Hayek also confessed at the launch event in Switzerland that his first prompts on AI‑DADA all concerned “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll,” but he was told his own model wouldn’t allow it. Still, you can never underestimate the ingenuity of the general public to get around obvious red flags—such as a ban on the model reproducing nudity or religious iconography—and create something that Swatch might not want to be associated with. Time will tell how bulletproof this model truly is.
While Swatch’s image model may be based on OpenAI, it defaults to a data set of more than 40 years of Swatch watches, products, designs, art and street paintings. Like a pattern or color on a particular 1980s Swatch dial or strap? It’s in there. Have a fondness for a Keith Haring or Vivienne Westwood or Phil Collins collaboration, the model has this too. If you ask for a design inspired by something outside of what Swatch has collected together in this archive, only then, Amico tells me, does AI‑DADA go beyond the in-house dataset and mine OpenAI’s data.
Courtesy of: Swatch
[ad_2]
Jeremy White
Source link
[ad_1]
There is no shortage of ways to track your health nowadays. You’ve got rings, earbuds, phones, wristbands, watches, and this thing that scans your pee, just to name a few. Crowded though the field may be, there’s always room for one more wearable. Just a small health-optimizing gadget as a treat—no, seriously, like, really small.
The Lumia 2, a $250 smart earring that’s officially launching today, claims to be the world’s smallest wearable. With a weight of just 1g, Lumia might actually be correct in planting that very tiny flag. It makes the 3g to 5g Oura Ring look big, and the 30g to 40g Apple Watch Series 11 look absolutely massive.
Don’t be deceived, though; the size of the Lumia 2 betrays a pretty large feature set. According to Lumia, its smart earring can do a lot of what popular wearables like Oura and its expensive smart ring can do, including sleep tracking, cycle tracking, blood flow tracking, and even providing a daily readiness score. In fact, Lumia says its smart earring might even manage to expand on some of the capabilities of smart rings and smartwatches due to its unique positioning on your body, which is to say, pressed right against your head.
The Lumia 2, according to the company, can “continuously track real-time blood flow to your head, giving anyone instant insight into how blood flow affects energy, focus, and mental clarity.” In other words, Lumia is particularly well positioned to track what’s called cerebral blood flow, a more clinical way of describing how blood flows to that big mind meatball you call a brain. There’s already evidence that it legitimately does that. In a study via the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), Lumia’s effectiveness was already measured using a Doppler ultrasound, and its smart earring is apparently the real deal. That being said, neither the Lumia 1 nor the 2 is FDA cleared yet, so take that into consideration.
You may have noticed that there’s a “2” next to this smart earring’s name. That’s because there actually is a first-gen model, but the original Lumia was geared entirely towards medical patients, particularly those with chronic blood flow disorders like postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) or people with long Covid who experience “brain fog.” With the Lumia 2, the company is bringing its smart earring to the masses, meaning you don’t have to have some kind of ailment to buy one and be among the first pioneers of smart earring technology.
To match that broader launch, the Lumia 2 comes in several styles, including “huggie hoops,” cuffs, and studs, and a few different finishes, including gold, silver, and clear. It also attaches to any push-back earring, according to Lumia, and the cuff version doesn’t even require your ear to be pierced. The Lumia 2 itself is made with non-allergenic materials like platinum and titanium, and there’s even a swappable battery pack, so you don’t have to remove it to charge. Speaking of charging, Lumia says you’ll get between 5 and 8 days of battery life per pack, and the smart earrings (they’re sold in pairs, but the health-tracking module is worn only on the left) can be worn while showering. They’re supported via a companion app on iOS and Android.
My biggest question here isn’t whether Lumia 2 works. I think it probably does based on the available evidence. How the smart earring feels pressed against your head all day and even when you sleep, however, can only be determined by wearing one, and that’s not something I have insight into yet. Comfort questions aside, on paper, the Lumia 2 makes smart earrings feel a lot less laughable than they could otherwise be, but maybe that’s just my undiagnosed brain fog speaking.
If you’re ready to dive headfirst into the smart earring world, Lumia says the Lumia 2 will be available in 2026, but there’s no specific release date yet. Lumia will start by selling its smart earring in the U.S. and Canada, though it says “more countries” will follow. You’ll also have to pay a $9.99 subscription fee once you buy the smart earring for access to all of your health metrics, which is a bummer, but unfortunately, not unheard of in the health wearable world.
[ad_2]
James Pero
Source link
[ad_1]
Apple enthusiasts know that the latest generation of watches only rarely go on sale, so imagine my surprise this morning to spot the Apple Watch Ultra 3 marked down at Amazon. Like the other Apple Watches, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 comes in a variety of case color and band combos, so your mileage may vary on which are discounted. I spotted three at the lower $700 price point: Black Titanium Case with Black Alpine Loop, Natural Titanium Case with Blue/Bright Trail Loop, and Natural Titanium Case with Light Blue Alpine Loop.
WIRED editor Adrienne So got a chance to test it out, and was impressed with the upgraded battery life. It has a quoted 42 hours, and she found it was enough to get her through a weekend camping trip, using it for navigation, activity tracking, and even sending satellite messages, a new feature found specifically on the Apple Watch Ultra line, which lets you communicate or even send an SOS signal when you’re out of normal cell signal range. Managing multiple days of wear makes this a much more appealing option, now that you won’t be hunting for a charging brick on a long trip.
Of course, it has all the great features you also expect from any of the latest series of Apple Watches. The screens all got an upgrade this time around, not just in terms of clarity, but to the protective outer layer as well, which should make them more ready for adventure. These watches have a raft of physical and biological tracking options, including an upgraded heart rate sensor that can help keep an eye out for medical issues like high blood pressure. It has sleep tracking as well, and can sense and track a variety of physical activities, like running, swimming, and cycling.
Ultimately, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is great option for the truly adventurous. Anyone who likes to go diving, spend time in the wilderness, or just wants to go multiple days without having to charge their wristwatch, should consider this early discount on the device. Make sure to check out our full breakdown of the latest Apple Watch updates, or mosey on over to our favorite smartwatch roundup to check out the other options.
[ad_2]
Brad Bourque
Source link
[ad_1]
Everyone has an inner monologue. When you’re commuting on the train, riding a bike, or in the shower, chances are you’re thinking about the day ahead, tasks you need to do, or maybe just mulling over a conversation you had the night before. Much of this stays in our brains, soon to be forgotten or pushed away when the train comes to the station. But what if you could have it all subtly recorded in one place, ready for you to digest later on?
That’s what a new company called Sandbar envisions for Stream Ring, an AI-powered smart ring. The company emerged out of stealth today after two years of development, led by cofounders Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong. Both previously worked at CTRL-Labs and later at Meta when Mark Zuckerberg’s company acquired the neural interface startup. It has raised $13 million in venture funding.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
The hardware is Stream Ring, a smart ring you wear on your index finger. Raise your hand and talk into the ring, and you can even whisper into it in crowded areas if you don’t want others to hear. It doesn’t save any audio of your interactions with the ring; instead, much like many of the AI-powered wearables in the market right now, it transcribes your words into text, which you can access in the Stream app.
“We think of this as the mouse for voice because it solves a lot of the challenges of a voice interaction at once,” Fahmi tells me in a nondescript office space in Manhattan. “We mostly imagine it phone away, earbuds in—this allows you to interact immediately with no wake word.”
There’s a capacitive sensor on the flat edge of the ring, and a tap-and-hold lets you record your thoughts without being interrupted by an AI assistant. If the assistant responds to you, a simple tap on the sensor will cut it off. The hardware will be waterproof at launch, so you won’t have to worry about using it in the rain or on sweaty days.
The Stream also doubles as a media controller, meaning you can tap it once to play or pause music, double-tap for the next track, or swipe for volume control. If, for some reason, Sandbar goes under and its AI backend goes offline, at least you’re left with a very expensive media controller, rather than hardware that quickly turns into electronic waste. At present, there are no health-tracking features like those on most smart rings today.
[ad_2]
Julian Chokkattu
Source link
[ad_1]
You may have noticed some big changes to our consumer tech coverage this year. We revamped our gadget news, reviews, and guides, and have steadily elevated our product photography and videos as we’ve added new experts to bring you everything happening in the weird and inventive world of consumer tech.
As the end of the year draws near, it’s time to announce Gizmodo’s Best Tech of 2025 Awards. We reviewed a tremendous amount of gadgets this calendar year—several from new categories like smart glasses with displays—and we’re going to expand into even more categories in 2026. We couldn’t be more excited to share with you all the products that impressed us the most.
Across over a dozen categories, every winner is a product that Gizmodo’s consumer tech team has either reviewed or tested extensively—so you can trust we’ve done our jobs. We didn’t just hand out awards willy-nilly.
We’ve also got a few additional winners to award in the coming weeks; some products are releasing after this list publishes, so it’s only fair that we wait to include them for consideration.
Not everyone will agree with our picks, but don’t worry, dear reader, you’ll get a chance to vote for your favorite tech of the year in a separate Reader’s Choice Awards.
Most importantly, thank you for reading consumer tech stories. Our North Star is to provide authoritative, fair, and entertaining coverage. We hope you enjoy going through our Best Tech of 2025 Awards!
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
No other phone packs as many features as Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra. It’s a chonker of a phone for sure, but that’s only because it has everything and the kitchen sink (including a stylus).
Google Pixel 9a
You don’t need to spend $1,000, or even $800, to get a solid smartphone these days, and Google’s Pixel 9a is proof of that. The OLED screen is big (but not huge), the cameras take solid photos, the battery lasts a day, and the performance is responsive. It even runs Gemini and AI features fairly well thanks to its Tensor G4 chip.
iPhone 17 Pro / 17 Pro Max
Unlike the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pros have no compromises. Everything about these models is there for the sake of function. Of any iPhones ever released, they have the best screens, the most powerful performance (with vapor chamber cooling, so they don’t overheat easily), the longest battery life, and the best-quality cameras on the front and back.
Motorola Razr Ultra
Motorola really pulled ahead of the foldable flip phone competition this year with the Razr Ultra. Nearly every feature—folding screen, performance, battery life, and cameras—outguns those of similar flip-style phones. It was great to see the iconic phone brand return with such a strong showing.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Samsung knocked the Galaxy Z Fold 7 out of the park. It’s everything a foldable should be: super thin unfolded, about as thick as a regular phone when closed, and super light. It’s not cheap, but overall, this is the best book-style foldable that’s widely available for purchase globally.
iPad Pro (M5)
The pinnacle of Apple’s tablet range is, once again, the iPad Pro. Not only do you get a beautiful tandem OLED display, but the M5 chip can also output laptop-level performance for all your creative apps. There are versions with 11-inch and 13-inch screens available as well.
OnePlus Pad 3
The OnePlus came out of left field, and we’re glad it did, because there’s a lot to like about this 13-inch tablet. Notably, the battery life outclasses that of similar-sized Android tablets, the 8-speaker system pumps out Dolby Atmos sound, and the software’s multitasking is well executed. It’s easily the best alternative to an iPad Pro, and it costs a lot less.
reMarkable Paper Pro Move
A more pocketable version of the beloved Paper Pro, the Paper Pro Move is easier to reach for when you need to jot down notes or fleeting ideas. It has the same color E Ink screen as its bigger sibling, comes bundled with a stylus, and includes an assortment of practical AI features for lovers of notetaking and reading. The Paper Pro Move is like a modern reporter’s notebook—only your handwritten and hand-drawn content is synced digitally to the cloud and accessible on devices like your phone and laptop.
MacBook Pro (14-Inch, M5)
The MacBook Pro remains as good as it ever was, but it’s slightly more future-proofed with the M5 chip. An M4 Pro or M4 Max may offer better performance, but for the average user, the M5 will be sufficient for most necessary tasks on the latest macOS 26 Tahoe.
Acer Predator Triton 14 AI
If you’re looking for a laptop with “everything,” Acer’s Predator Triton 14 AI has even more. The notebook includes an RTX 5070 GPU and a higher-end Intel Core Ultra 288V CPU. It even lets you use a stylus on the trackpad (though not the touchscreen) when you feel creative.
Asus Zenbook S16
For a laptop that has a little of everything and can still run all day, you don’t need to look further than the Asus Zenbook S16. It feels good on your fingertips, is light enough that it slips into a backpack with ease, and still has adequate performance for all but the most hardcore tasks.
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14
If you were wondering just how powerful a Chromebook could get, the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 may beat your expectations. The 2K-resolution OLED display is sharp with inky blacks, the keyboard is clacky, the trackpad is smooth, and battery life lasts pretty long. Few apps can take advantage of the NPU, or neural processing unit, today, but coupled with 16GB of RAM, the Chromebook Plus 14 is future-proofed for tasks down the line.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The best bang-for-buck graphics card of 2025 is AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT. It not only achieves impressive metrics for 1440p and 4K gaming, but also costs less than competing cards at a similar price point.
.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
When it comes to gaming, there’s simply no match for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D desktop CPU. AMD’s special 3D cache, which adds extra memory just below the CPU’s main processing cores, is still proving itself to be the thing you want for any desktop gaming rig.
Framework Desktop
There’s nothing quite like the Framework Desktop; it’s the most customizable, modular, and performative small-form desktop PC out there. It features an AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 CPU, which delivers exceptional performance for both work and gaming on a single chip, and includes swappable USB-C-based I/O ports, as well as interchangeable decorative tiles, on the front.
Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 continues to surprise us months after launch. The dockable handheld console takes what made the original Switch great and beefs up the performance and screen size, while adding unique features like mouse controls. Of course, you buy a Nintendo console for the games, and there are also plenty of great titles to keep you occupied.
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
Microsoft and Asus pushed the ROG Xbox Ally X as an enhanced PC, with its new UI dubbed the “full screen experience.” It performs very well, especially at lower wattages, and you still have access to all your favorite PC games across the most popular launchers.
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i
Lenovo’s Legion Pro 7i has the performance and amenities of an 18-inch gaming laptop in a 16-inch shell. You’ll want a version of this laptop with at least an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU to really push frame rates in games.
8BitDo Pro 3
If you want to use a single controller with both a Switch 2 and PC, you need look no further than the 8BitDo Pro 3. The controller includes pop-out face buttons you can rearrange for the traditional Xbox layout. You can also swap the A and B buttons if you prefer to game on Switch 2.
Lego Game Boy
Lego’s Game Boy is easily the toy of the year. The nearly 1:1 replica of the iconic Nintendo handheld released in 1989 is extremely fun to build and has two brick-ified game cartridges you can insert into the back slot, pressable buttons, and lenticular screens that mimic the monochrome green screen. You’ll be smiling with every brick you snap into place.
AirPods Pro 3
Improving on the AirPods Pro 2 was no easy feat, but Apple has done just that with the AirPods Pro 3. Everything from sound quality to active noise cancellation, to fit, to continuous battery life is better. Extra features, like an accurate, built-in heart rate sensor and live translation, only cement them as best-in-class.
CMF Buds 2 Plus
You don’t have to go premium to get solid sound, and CMF is a testament to that. This subbrand of Nothing puts out quality audio in an affordable price range, and while you won’t get the best in any category (ANC or sound), these wireless earbuds are incredibly well-rounded. A wide range of colors and solid ANC don’t hurt, either.
Sony WH-1000XM6
Sony is no stranger to being king of the castle when it comes to headphones, and with its WH-1000XM6, it takes the crown again. The XM6 improve on the XM5 in pretty much every way, delivering great sound, excellent ANC, and solid battery life—the most important qualities in a pair of wireless headphones.
Sony Inzone H9 II
There are gaming headphones that may help you pick out footsteps or gunshots to trounce noobs in multiplayer, but the Sony Inzone H9 II simply have the best audio of any headset this year. They’re comfortable and include a quality microphone, so you’re not missing out on much for the sake of feeling truly immersed.
Bose SoundLink Plus
Bose is known for its pricey audio products, and while the SoundLink Plus doesn’t shirk that trend, the bass, sound, and overall look make it worth every penny.
Canon PowerShot V1
Canon’s PowerShot V1 may be the best vlogging camera ever. With excellent image quality from its 22-megapixel sensor, a versatile 16-50mm zoom lens, and superfast autofocus, this compact point-and-shoot and its flip-out display are perfect for amateur creators looking to level up their content.
Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay+
There’s no better option among instant cameras, offering such classic-looking prints, than the Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay+. Along with the camera’s usual sensor, you can take selfie photos or connect a phone or SD card to print personal photos as well.
Insta360 Go Ultra
If the usual GoPro is looking too standard, the Insta360 Go Ultra offers better portability with its magnetic, pop-out 4K pod. You can attach the pod to your shirt or bike and expect solid footage up to 4K and 60 fps.
Apple Watch SE 3
Bang for buck, the Apple Watch SE 3 delivers—hard. It’s got the greatest hits features from the last 10 years of Apple smartwatches, and even some from its pricier Series 11 sibling, like the S10 chip, double tap and wrist flick gestures, a more durable glass screen, and optional 5G cellular support.
Google Pixel Watch 4
Google crept up from last to first place in the Android smartwatch rankings this year. Sure, there’s a convenient raise-to-talk Gemini feature, but it really nailed fundamentals like a bigger and brighter domed screen, longer battery life, redesigned charging stand, improved health and fitness tracking, and better-optimized Wear OS 6 with the bubblier and more animated Material 3 Expressive design language. For Android phone users, the Pixel Watch 4 is the best there is.
Oura Ring 4 Ceramic
For those who don’t want to wear a smartwatch or tracker, the Oura 4 Ceramic includes robust physiological data, including heart rate variability, sleep analysis, shifts in body temperature, and blood oxygen rates, as well as new features like reproductive health and smart sensing. The newest ceramic model is also less prone to scratching and color fading.
Polar Loop
The Polar Loop is the serious athlete’s ideal tech companion: a comfortable, no-screen, no-subscription wearable that gives athletes exactly what they need and want and nothing more. The Loop provides 24/7 activity tracking and insights into fitness progression—all from a company known for first-class heart-rate technology.
Whoop 5.0
The screenless Whoop 5.0 provides more data than almost any other wearable. It tracks everything from step count to heart rate variability, to sleep metrics, and more, and spins out a daily strain score, all of which are displayed cleanly in its accompanying app. The subscription-based, tiered model is an added cost, but it allows for plenty of customization.
Eero Pro 7
There’s no shortage of Wi-Fi 7 routers to choose from. But if you want a mesh network that’s simple, stable, delivers fast downloads, and won’t clash with your home decor, the Eero Pro 7 is our go-to. It’s one of those “it just works” products.
Matic
The Matic isn’t your typical disc-shaped robot vacuum; it’s full of personality like a Pixar character. It sucks up dirt quietly and never bumps into walls or furniture, and it mops well, too. If this is what it’s like to have a droid at home, bring it on.
Reolink Altas
The push to hook up home security cameras to the cloud opens them up to convenient features like backup and AI computer vision, but it also puts your footage at risk. Reolink’s Altas captures high-quality video and includes a solar panel for sun-fueled power, but the best thing is that it works without an internet connection, with recordings saved to a microSD card. Maybe every gadget doesn’t need to be “smart.”
Xgimi MoGo 4
Functional and portable, Xgimi’s MoGo 4 is half projector and half vibes. The cylindrical device can project a 1080p screen at up to 200 inches in size, doubles as a Bluetooth speaker with its 6W Harmon Kardon drivers, and is fully portable thanks to its built-in battery. But what truly makes it unique is the attachable magnetic filters that can spray a pattern like a sunset, water ripple, or dreamy effect onto walls or ceilings, just to set a mood.
Meta Ray-Ban AI Glasses Gen 2
Meta was first to popularize AI glasses, and its lead is showing. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 might not be an explosive upgrade over the last generation, but they improve in all of the areas that matter, including battery life and video capture, making them an easy pick if you’re in the market for non-display smart glasses.
Meta Ray-Ban Display
If the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses Gen 2 are an easy pick, the Meta Ray-Ban Display are even easier. With a bright display and “Neural Band” for controlling the UI with precise finger pinches and gestures, these are the AR smart glasses that will make you feel like you’re actually living in the future.
Xreal One Pro
The Xreal One Pro are hands-down the best way to watch movies and TV while flying. They plug directly into any compatible device, such as a phone, laptop, or tablet, via USB-C and let you see a 171-inch virtual display that’s bright and sharp. There’s a whole spatial computing aspect to them, but we’d just stick with using them as awesome video glasses.
Alienware AW2725Q
We were spoiled for choice for a 240Hz QD-OLED monitor this year, but in the end, the Alienware AW2725Q stood out the most. This 27-inch square display offers a beautiful picture with a monitor stand that looks unique without sacrificing stability.
Anker Prime Power Bank (26K, 300W)
Incredible doesn’t even begin to describe this portable battery bank. It’s got three USB ports (2x USB-C and 1x USB-A) capable of supplying 300W of combined power to charge two laptops and a phone, or pretty much any modern device. With a 26,250mAh capacity, you could go a whole weekend without needing a wall outlet.
Logitech MX Master 4
Logitech struck gold with its MX Master series of wireless mice, so it didn’t need to do much to make the MX Master 4 the best mouse of the year. It feels comfortable, has a free-spinning and side-scrolling wheel, and now supports haptics to add a little rumbly in your thumbly.
Laifen P3 Pro
Laifen’s P3 Pro is the kind of product that Apple would make if it designed grooming products. Its aluminum body and satisfying, reversible magnetic razor attachment system scream Apple-inspired. Its compact footprint is deceptive—this razor is powerful enough to mow down even the bushiest of beards.
Anker Prime Charger (160W, 3 Ports, Smart Display)
Almost every power brick that comes with a laptop is huge and heavy. Using the latest gallium nitride (GaN) technology, Anker’s Prime Charger (160W, 3 Ports, Smart Display) is barely larger than an AirPods Pro 3 case and can charge one device at up to 140W (perfect for even a 16-inch MacBook Pro) or three devices totaling up to 160W. The built-in screen is handy for showing how much power each port is outputting.
[ad_2]
Gizmodo Staff
Source link
[ad_1]
If you want to run faster or farther, you have options. You can put in the work, getting up 40 minutes earlier to train, changing your diet, going harder and longer on each of your runs to build up strength.
Or, you can strap on one of Nike’s new robot shoes and mechanically boost your speed, your stamina, and your overall performance in a flash. Sounds way easier, and probably more fun too.
Today the footwear giant unveiled Project Amplify, an early design of a powered footwear system that Nike technicians are still developing with the goal of a commercial release in 2028.
Amplify has a few parts. At the top, an elastic cuff containing a ring of batteries fits onto the wearer’s calf. Attached to the battery array is a mechanical arm that points downward, with the thickest part sitting over the outside of the ankle. That thick part is where the motor lives, and that motor drives a hinged piece that’s attached to the heel of the shoe.
The shoe itself is a run-walk shoe with a carbon plate and modern Nike looks. (The company says you can detach the shoes and wear them sans motorized appliance; helpful for when the batteries need recharging.)
At the end of each step, the motor pulls up on the heel of the shoe. The device is calibrated so the movement of the motor can match the natural movement of each person’s ankle and lower leg. The result is that each step is powered, or given a little bit of a spring and an extra push by the robot mechanism.
Nike doesn’t expect that competitive athletes or distance runners will be able to strap these on and start shaving minutes off their marathon times. Rather, the device is meant to boost the movement of people who are thoroughly middle-of-the road runners or joggers. Nike cites the 10- to 12-minute miler as Project Amplify’s eventual target market. The company says a device like this will give the gentle assist necessary to help those folks either improve their overall fitness or help them endure longer distances while they’re on runs. It’s also being designed for everyday walkers and people who are on their feet for long stretches, basically giving any human the ability to stay mobile longer and with more comfort.
[ad_2]
Michael Calore
Source link
[ad_1]
It has been five years since Samsung and Google stopped supporting their respective mobile virtual reality headsets. For a second try, the companies have partnered up with a bolder vision in the mixed reality space, starting with the new Galaxy XR. Announced last year as Project Moohan, it’s the first headset powered by Android XR, a new platform for smart glasses and headsets built on Android and Google’s Gemini assistant from the ground up.
The Galaxy XR is available today in the US and South Korea for $1,800. (You can finance it for $149 per month for 12 months.) That’s a leap over standard VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3, but a significantly lower price than the $3,499 Vision Pro, which Apple is refreshing this week with the new M5 processor.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
I was able to demo the headset again last week at a closed-doors media event in New York City held by Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm—the Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip—but not much was different from my original hands-on experience last year, which you can read more about here. The official name and price were the two big question marks, but that has now been addressed.
The Galaxy XR purports to do nearly everything that Apple’s device does. Pop the headset on and you’ll be able to see the room you’re in through the pancake lenses and layer virtual content over it, or whisk yourself off to another world. Your hands are the input (controllers are available as a separate purchase), and it uses eye tracking to see what you want to select. You can access all your favorite apps from the Google Play Store; XR apps will have a “Made for XR” label.
Samsung’s headset is more plasticky and doesn’t feel as premium as Apple’s Vision Pro—I noticed the tethered battery pack on a demo unit looked well-worn with fingerprint smudges on the coating. But this general construction makes it feel significantly lighter to wear. I wasn’t able to try it for a long period, but it felt comfortable, with the only issue being a sweaty brow after a 25-minute bout with it on. The headset was warm at the top, but the battery pack remained relatively cool. Speaking of, the battery lasts 2 hours or 2.5 hours if you’re purely watching video. That’s on par with the original Vision Pro, though the M5 version extends it to 2.5 with mixed use.
[ad_2]
Julian Chokkattu
Source link
[ad_1]
If I’ve learned one thing from listening to the entire back catalog of the excellent podcast Real Survival Stories, it’s this: Whether you’re mountain biking Californian trails or kayaking the west coast of England, the proverbial, you know, can hit the fan really fast. When an adventure flips unexpectedly into an emergency situation, the one thing you definitely want is a way to summon rescue, even when you’re far from cell networks.
Until now, tapping into off-grid comms meant carrying a dedicated satellite messenger. But alongside competitors like Google and Apple, Garmin—makers of the best outdoor sports watches—have made it possible to have satellite safety back up strapped to your wrist 24/7. The new Garmin Fenix 8 Pro now packs Garmin’s inReach satellite communication smarts, including satellite-powered text messaging, location check-ins and Emergency SOS–a virtual flare that hails assistance via Garmin Response. Here’s how to use it.
Jump to Section
First off, you must know that the new Fenix 8 Pro is $200 more than the original Fenix 8. You also need an inReach subscription plan, which starts from $8 per month and rises to $50 per month for the top tier. Picking the right plan depends on how many messages you want to send and how much you plan to use the live tracking.
All inReach packages include the Emergency SOS and LTE services and require a 30-day commitment. Monthly subscriptions are available, and if your tracking or communication needs change, you can also move up or down tiers. For situations when you’re without your phone but still have network coverage, there’s also phone-free LTE calls, voice messages, text messages, and live tracking.
From setup to send, I put the new satellite and LTE tools to the test using the Fenix 8 Pro 51-millimeter AMOLED. You need:
The initial setup is a bit of a faff, involving multiple Garmin apps, creating an account within Garmin’s inReach platform, and lastly, deciphering which subs package you need. Still, the whole process took about 15 minutes and can be done on your phone and the watch. You’ll consider that time well invested if you find yourself stuck in a ravine, being circled by predators, in need of help.
[ad_2]
Kieran Alger
Source link
[ad_1]
With the wearables space certifiably exploding, the Finnish startup Oura seeks to position itself at the top of the industry with a new Series E funding round worth $900 million.
The investment, made public on Tuesday, was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, with contributions from ICONIQ, Whale Rock, and Atreides Management. It values Oura, the maker of the biometric Oura Ring device that tracks metrics like sleep quality and other health concerns, at $11 billion. Last November, Oura raised $75 million at a valuation of $5 billion.
The capital comes after Oura reported surging sales and revenue the last few years. The company claims to have sold 5.5 million devices since its founding in 2015, and doubled revenue last year with a reported $500 million. Oura projects another year of doubling revenue in 2025, according to a press release published Tuesday. The funds will be used for international expansion and also invested in further research and development.
Despite the flush revenue figures, CEO Tony Hale has previously declined to disclose whether or not the company is profitable, Bloomberg reported last month.
On the consumer side, the popularity of Oura Ring has largely been driven by women looking for more granular insights into metrics like reproductive health and sleep. But Oura’s largest customer is the U.S. Department of Defense, which it has contracted with since 2019 by providing its rings for service members to monitor their physical condition.
This summer, Oura’s relationship with the DoD was the focus of a conspiratorial firestorm on TikTok, following a report that Oura was building a manufacturing facility in Texas to serve its DoD customers. The news was muddled by influencers who accused the company of sharing user data with defense contractor Palantir. In reality, Oura uses a Palantir-developed software program called FedStart to meet military security requirements. Hale addressed the furor publicly with his own TikTok.
Wearable-maker Whoop has also partnered with the DoD—specifically, with Army paratroopers—to track soldier stress.
[ad_2]
Sam Blum
Source link
[ad_1]
Offline routing is supposed to be one of the banner features of this watch. You should be able to just pick a point in the Maps app on the watch, then choose Straight-Line Navigation or Route Navigation. Unless you’re in a wide-open field, Straight-Line won’t help you much, but Route Navigation should parse the watch’s ability to read roads and trails to get you where you’re going.
Then you choose between Outdoor Running, Walking, or Outdoor Cycling. Why isn’t hiking included? Who knows, but it doesn’t really matter because 90 percent of the time I tried it, the watch would just say, “Route Creation Failed. Try Again.” I only managed to get it to work a couple of times, and only for extremely short distances, and one of those times it advised me to run on Interstate 405, which is one of the largest, busiest highways in the country. I would not rely on this feature.
There’s just a general sense of unfinishedness to the whole thing. Questionable translations abound. It missed waves while I was surfing. It still doesn’t recognize the types of strength training that you’re doing, which is a feature that was promised earlier this year and is readily available on all other sports watches at this point.
Photograph: Brent Rose
It’s not all bad news. I love that this watch has an LED flashlight, which is a feature that I think every sports watch should have because it’s so useful. The speaker and microphone aren’t great quality, but they’re also nice to have. The watch does a pretty good job of displaying notifications from your smartphone, and if you’re an Android user you can even quickly reply to incoming texts, or initiate texts through Zepp Flow, even though it doesn’t draw distinctions between types of notifications and it will just start buzzing incessantly while you’re driving.
[ad_2]
Brent Rose
Source link
[ad_1]
When discussing the development of AR and AR devices back in 2016, he said that most people wouldn’t find it acceptable to be “enclosed in something … because we are sociable people at heart.” He was spot on.
It turns out that what people really want at this moment is to just wear something that looks good and feels like a normal pair of glasses, with use cases that are actually, well, useful. And no, Tim, that’s not to watch Ted Lasso on their ceiling.
Coming to smart glasses in 2027 will feel almost impossibly late for a market that is taking off now, and while Apple is no stranger to starting behind, it will need to ensure its judgment on what its customers want in smart glasses is much more attuned than it was with Apple Vision Pro. At this point, it simply can’t afford another misstep.
But Apple isn’t giving up on Apple Vision Pro either, and reports suggest it may well revisit it once the more pressing issue of smart glasses is dealt with. While Gartenberg remains unconvinced that Apple can get the Vision Pro cheap enough to make it truly accessible for all (“the things that Apple would need to do to get this thing down to a price for humans is extraordinary”), Sag suggests it might not have to.
He points to the boom in gaming consoles as an example. Rather than flatlining the gaming PC market as was predicted, the proliferation of consoles actually helped drive sales of PCs, with more people getting into gaming, so more wanting to level up their equipment in time. He predicts the same trend will happen with smart glasses. People will start with more basic, familiar frames, then migrate into the chunkier, fully featured versions.
“People need to remember that XR is a spectrum and that devices are going to exist along that continuum,” Sag says. “The cheaper, simpler devices are going to reach the most people, but then there’s going to be a lot of people who want more than this base level experience.”
One day, Apple may be able to make that singular, gorgeous XR headset that people actually want to wear. But until then, it has to meet the market where it is headed—and that is in cheaper, lighter, more functional frames.
[ad_2]
Boone Ashworth
Source link
[ad_1]
While the Apple devout are already chasing the new Apple Watch Series 11, you and I know that a product announcements means great deals on the previous generation. You can snag a Series 10 Apple Watch with GPS and cellular data (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for just $329 from Amazon. As long as you’re OK with the 42 mm in rose gold, you’ll get one of the more premium Series 10 models.
Photograph: Adrienne So
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Photograph: Adrienne So
The Series 10 version of the Apple Watch had a number of major improvements to key areas over the previous generation. The biggest change was the display, which is bigger and brighter with better off-angle viewing. Our reviewer Adrienne So noted that people actually asked her about the watch after seeing the more vivid faces. Despite the larger screen, this generation slims down in several dimensions, as well as cutting some weight, for an overall more comfortable experience.
If you’re a swimmer, or just like spending time by the pool, there are new water features. A temperature sensor can tell you how cold the lake is before you dive in, and a tides app can help you figure out the best time to paddle out. It all pairs nicely with Apple’s other health monitoring features, which can track fitness across a variety of activities as well as monitor your sleep.
While the battery life is basically the same as the Series 9, Apple made some improvements to the charging. We were able to fully charge the watch via the new fast charger in just about 20 minutes, which means you can use it for sleep, and then have it ready to go for your day while you get ready.
You could certainly spend more and get the newly announced Apple Watch Series 11 (9/10, WIRED Review) with better battery, and the return of the blood oxygen sensor, but if cellular is a key feature, you’ll save some bucks grabbing the older model. While the Apple Watch is one of our favorite smartwatches, it’s for iPhone users only, so Android owners will want to check out our roundup for alternative options.
[ad_2]
Brad Bourque
Source link
[ad_1]
It’s so annoying. You’ve just spent hundreds of dollars on a new Garmin Fenix 8 or Forerunner 970, only to find out you might have to hand over even more money to get the full Garmin experience. Earlier this year, Garmin introduced Connect+, a subscription element, to its Connect companion app. It stirred up its user base in the worst possible way. I visited Garmin’s headquarters in Kansas not long after the announcement, and it was clear; Connect+ is here to stay, and there’s a team now dedicated to bringing more features to sit behind that paywall.
Currently, anyone can try Connect+ for free for a month before deciding whether there’s anything worthy of the $7 monthly subscription, or $70 yearly fee. I’ve been using Connect+ for five months now, while testing pretty much every new watch Garmin has launched in that period.
With seven core features currently available, I’m going to tell you about the ones I actually found useful, highlight the ones I didn’t, and tell you whether you really need another subscription to add to your monthly outgoings. If none of these appeal, be sure to check out our guides to the Best Fitness Trackers or the Best Smartwatches for more.
Jump To
Photograph: Michael Sawh
Let’s start with Active Intelligence, which is the most prominently featured of all Connect+ features inside the app. These are personalized training insights and recommendations that you’ll spy at the top of the home screen tab. These are powered by AI and analyze data like workout history and performance metrics captured by your Garmin device.
The idea here is that the more data that can be analyzed, the more personalized those insights should become. In the first weeks of using it, Active Intelligence’s insights were pretty rudimentary. My last swim improved my aerobic fitness. Great. I could see that simply by looking at the data from that logged swim.
Five months later, I’m getting a better sense of what I think Garmin hopes this feature can be. I’m now told that my ground contact balance during runs is suboptimal and I should consider some strength training and to work on my running form. However, the app doesn’t suggest what that training should entail, or the exercises that could help to address that suboptimal GCT. Maybe that’s to come. Given that this is the one Connect+ feature tagged as a beta, I imagine it could look different in a year’s time.
Photograph: Michael Sawh
If you’re on exercise equipment that lacks a display, or you don’t want to pause a workout to look at your watch, Live Activities lets you mirror real-time metrics from your watch to your phone. It’s especially useful for strength training sessions, to make editing reps less fiddly.
[ad_2]
Michael Sawh
Source link
