wearables

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.

5 features Apple Watch should steal from Oppo Watch

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The Oppo Watch
Oppo Watch, shown here at its announcement today, has a higher screen-to-body ratio than Apple Watch.
Photo: Oppo

The newly-unveiled Oppo Watch borrows heavily from the Apple Watch. But this China-based company nevertheless built in some features that fans of Apple’s wearable can appreciate.

Oppo Watch is a shameless ripoff of Apple Watch

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Oppo Watch looks very familiar
Oppo Watch looks almost identical to one made by a certain rival based in Cupertino.
Photo: Oppo

Chinese phone maker Oppo gave the world a first glimpse of its upcoming smart watch. And it’s a total Apple Watch clone.

Apple dominates the wearables market, and Oppo seems like it wants to borrow some of its thunder.

Coronavirus in China could exacerbate AirPods supply problems

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They AirPods Pro fit in their case like nothing ever happened.
New AirPods Pro orders aren't shipping until March.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s current AirPods Pro supply woes could soon get much worse, thanks to the new coronavirus spreading throughout China.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Apple ordered suppliers to produce 45 million AirPods units to catch up with the huge demand. Then, manufacturers shut down production lines through February 10 due to the fast-spreading virus. Now a new report cautions that suppliers might not have enough components to fulfill Apple’s order when production resumes.

AirPods Pro supply problems couldn’t stop Apple’s surging wearables business

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Finally! AirPods Pro bring active noise cancellation.
They were tough to get at Christmas, but they still made Apple a lot of money.
Photo: Apple

When Apple reported an all-time record for quarterly revenue Tuesday, it got a big boost from one of its smallest products: the AirPods Pro.

Despite severe supply constraints, the new wireless earbuds helped Apple sell $10 billion worth of wearables and accessories in the holiday quarter, a 37% jump from a year ago, the company reported. Revenue for the wearables sector grew 17% to a new all-time record of $12.7 billion.

The biggest surprises from Apple’s shockingly good earnings report

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quotes on Apple
Tim Cook is the CEO of getting a bag.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

The first Apple earnings report of 2020 was a smashing success that shattered most of Apple’s previous records. Thanks to shockingly strong iPhone sales and a surging wearables business that is bigger than the Mac and the iPad, Apple managed to surpass even the most optimistic expectations.

Apple CEO Tim Cook held a call with investors after the numbers came out to dive deeper into the impressive quarterly results. Cook dished on everything from the success of Apple TV+ and problems with AirPods Pro supplies to the Wuhan coronavirus affecting China. If you didn’t get a chance to join the call, don’t worry, Cult of Mac has you covered with all the need-to-know info.

AirPods Pro are so popular Apple is struggling to keep up with demand

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AirPods Pro are so popular Apple is struggling to keep up with demand
AirPods Pro are a massive hit for Apple.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is struggling to keep up with demand for the AirPods Pro, says Citi analyst Jim Suva. And it’s “not due to manufacturing issues.”

Speaking with CNBC, Suva noted how there was a “several week delay” for customers to get AirPods over the holiday season. According to Suva, this is due to such strong demand for the products that Apple simply “can’t keep up.”

IDC: Apple’s wearables business will explode through 2023

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Apple’s wearables business will explode through 2023
Wearables are a gold-rated business for Apple.
Photo: Caviar

The “earwear” product category, made up of devices like the AirPods, is set to explode in the next few years. According to a new report by the International Data Corporation, the market for hearables will increase from 139.4 million units this year to 273.7 million in 2023.

The firm doesn’t break down projected sales by brand. However, with Apple’s market-leading status thanks to AirPods, it’s likely that Cupertino will do exceptionally well.

Apple had the hottest third quarter in a sizzling wearables market

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Elago-Wrist-Fit-Apple-Watch
Apple's size of the wearables market keeps growing.
Photo: Elago

Apple continues to expand its dominance of a wearable device market that only gets hotter with each quarter.

Thanks to a price reduction on the Apple Watch Series 3 and the launch of AirPods Pro, Apple snagged 35% of the market share in the third quarter, a year-over-year growth increase of more than 195%.

Apple Watch rules the wearables roost in North America

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Apple Watch Series 4 Infogram Watch Face
Apple Watch is dominating in the United States.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch continues to storm ahead of the competition in the North American wearables market. In the second quarter of 2019, it carved a 37.9% market share, according to new figures released by Canalys.

The market research firm claims that Apple shipped 2.9 million units during the quarter. That’s considerably more than those shipped by Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, or others.

Services fuel Apple to historic June quarter

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple shares are trading up on the good news.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Record-breaking revenue put Apple right in line with Wall Street expectations as the company released its Q3 2019 earnings report today.

The iPhone-maker brought in $53.8 billion in revenue, a number within range of its own guidance and most analysts’ predictions. That set a new record for Apple third-quarter revenue — a slight gain from Q3 2018’s $53.3 billion. CEO Tim Cook touted the company’s subscription offerings for fueling the new all-time high.

Apple Watch will continue to dominate for years to come

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Apple Watch Series 4 Solar System Watch Face
Apple Watch won’t have serious rivals in the foreseeable future.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch has the lion’s share of smart watch sales today, and that’ll hold true through at least 2023, according to a market-research firm. This ultra-mobile computer will stay in the lead as the entire market for wrist-worn wearables grows strongly.

Sales of AirPods and other hearables are also expected see healthy growth in the coming years.

AirPods 2 launch was kind of a dud

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airpods
Deals on first-generation AirPods cut into sales of the new version.
Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac

The debut of Apple’s second-generation AirPods didn’t trigger a huge surge in first-day sales, according to new data from a market-research company.

Still, the whole Q1 hearables market grew 40 percent over the previous quarter.

Apple’s wearables is now the size of a Fortune 200 company

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Apple Watch arm wrestling
Apple's Apple Watch business grew 50% last quarter.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple’s wearables business continues to grow like gangbusters.

Sales of the Apple Watch grew 50% compared to the same quarter last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Apple’s Q2 2019 quarterly analyst call Tuesday.

If Apple’s wearables business — which includes the Apple Watch and the popular AirPods earbuds — were a stand-alone company, it would be in the Fortune 200, Cook said.

Welt smart belt is like an Apple Watch for your waist

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Welt2
This belt will monitor your increasingly girth.
Photo: Welt

CES 2019 bug Forget your wrist. The new location for wearable devices is clearly your waist, at least according to Korean wearables company Welt. At CES 2019, the startup unveiled its smart belt, which promises to track physical activity, measure your expanding waistline, and even perform Apple Watch-style fall detection.

The Welt smart belt does this using a bevy of sensors and a Bluetooth connection. The data gathered is sent to a connected mobile device such as an iPhone.

Apple has invented its very own fabric

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Apple t-shirt 2
"Clothing by Jony." Or not.
Photo: Ryan Orr/Flickr CC

The Apple Watch may be the world’s top wearable device right now, but that doesn’t mean that Apple’s happy to stop there. According to a newly published patent, Apple has developed its very own fabric, made up of a ridged material to offer a “contrasting appearance.”

The patent is an ornamental one, covering the look of the fabric rather than a specific use case. However, given Apple’s history of investigation into smart fabrics, it’s possible that the material could be used for developing future smart, sensor-equipped clothing.