| Cult of Mac

Humane unveils Ai Pin: Is it an iPhone killer or damp squib?

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Humane AI Pin
The Humane AI Pin goes on your clothing and may or may not replace your iPhone.
Photo: Humane

After months of cryptic hints and teasing demos, startup Humane finally put its supposedly iPhone-killing Ai Pin on sale Thursday for $700, plus subscription costs.

You pin it to your clothes and interact with it through voice, touch control, gestures and laser projections on your hand.

The question is, will this thing really kill the iPhone? To those who don’t like talking to devices except when absolutely necessary, it must seem unlikely.

Ultrahuman Ring tracks metabolism through movement, sleep and other metrics

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The Ultrahuman Ring tracks metrics for your health.
The Ultrahuman Ring tracks metrics for your health.
Photo: Ultrahuman

Ultrahuman, which runs an advanced metabolic fitness platform of the same name, introduced its new Ultrahuman Ring Friday. The metabolism-tracking wearable is available via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

The company said it “seeks to engage the creator community and innovate with biohackers all around the world.” The campaign runs through October 27.

Secretive startup full of Apple talent aims to change your life through wearables

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Humane's wearable ditches a screen in favor of lasers, which project info out into the world. Here it is showing a thermostat projected on a user's hand.
Humane's wearable ditches a screen in favor of lasers, which project info out into the world. Here it is showing a thermostat projected on a user's hand.
Photo: Humane

The people who invented the iPhone are trying to invent what comes after the iPhone, and it sounds bonkers.

A secretive San Francisco startup called Humane appears to be developing a wearable, screen-less device that uses low-powered lasers to project information out into the wearer’s environment. And there’s not an AR/VR headset in sight.

Fight fatigue, sleep better and truly relax with this smart wearable

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The Apollo wearable can lead to better sleep, focus, relaxation and overall wellbeing.
The Apollo wearable can lead to better sleep, focus, relaxation and overall wellbeing.
Photo: Apollo Neuroscience

If you spend all day generating content or code on your Mac, you probably know what burnout feels like. Considering how much work is conducted around the clock through computers and the internet nowadays, it’s no wonder that a staggering 41% of the global workforce is considering quitting their jobs.

To avoid succumbing to a level of exhaustion that can push you willingly into unemployment, you need to secure a sustainable routine and a healthy strategy for unwinding after long stints in front of the screen. One fantastic, relatively new tool that can help is the Apollo wearable. This high-tech wristband uses touch therapy to promote relaxation, deeper sleep and better performance.

Apple Ring is the health accessory we need

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Apple Ring is the health accessory we need
An Apple Ring should join Apple Watch as a way to let wearers monitor their health.
Concept: Victor Soto/BluePoly

Apple’s next new product should be a smart ring. No, not so you can scroll through Instagram on a teeny-tiny display. The Apple Ring would be packed with health sensors that allow wearers to track their exercise and fitness goals while carrying no other device.

It wouldn’t even require developing new technology. All that’s needed is for Apple CEO Tim Cook to make the decision to offer a new type of health tracker.

Facebook plans smartwatch to compete with Apple Watch

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A Facebook watch will likely give new meaning to the word “watch.”
A rumored Facebook watch will offer many of the features already in the very successful Apple Watch.
Illustration: Wikipedia CC/Cult of Mac

Facebook is reportedly building a smartwatch that’ll offer instant messaging on the go. And help users stay fit.

Of course, the Facebook watch will have to go head-to-head with Apple Watch, the 500-pound gorilla of the wearables market.

Prototype wearable supposedly can monitor blood sugar noninvasively

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Quantum
It might look like an Apple Watch, but it reportedly does something no Apple Watch can do.
Photo: Quantum Operation Inc.

CES 2021 bug A new device shown off at CES may look like an Apple Watch knockoff, but its maker says it can do something Cupertino’s wearable can’t: accurately and noninvasively measure a person’s blood sugar level.

Japanese manufacturer Quantum Operation says its prototype employs a miniature spectrometer to scan blood in the wrist for biomarkers that reveal glucose levels. The user supposedly just puts on the smartwatch and activates the monitoring with a touch. After 20 seconds, the wearer receives the blood sugar data on the device’s screen.

Apple Watch snags more than 50% of smartwatch revenue

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Apple Watch Series 5 info graph face with little alien
Apple Watch Series 5 sold especially well in the first half of 2020, raking in plenty of revenue.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch essentially launched the smartwatch category, and continues to dominate it. And rather than competitors catching up, Apple’s share of this market in increasing. It took in 51.4% of the worldwide revenue from shipments of smartwatches during the first half of 2020, a significant rise from the same period last year.

Researchers turn to iPhone-connected wearable to study COVID-19 symptoms

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whoop
Whoop's simple band provides deep insights into your health.
Photo: Whoop

Whoop is the latest wearable being enlisted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical researchers hope the fitness band company’s data could prove an invaluable tool for measuring symptoms caused by the coronavirus.

The Cleveland Clinic and Central Queensland University in Australia are partnering with Whoop to study changes in respiration rates. Whoop’s wearable collects health data 24/7. It could possibly be used to create an early warning system for people infected by COVID-19 but not exhibiting symptoms yet.

COVID-19 won’t stop Apple shipping 90 million AirPods this year

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AirPods Pro are so popular Apple is struggling to keep up with demand
Coronavirus is sweeping the world, but at least you can listen to music wirelessly.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus battering Apple’s supply chain, Apple hasn’t revised its shipping forecasts for its crazy popular AirPods, a report published Friday claims.

Digitimes notes that Apple is “expected to stick” to its plan to ship 90 million pairs of AirPods in 2020. That’s an increase of 50% from Apple’s shipments last year. The report cites sources from the supply chain.