market share. A recent Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) study focuses on Apple users who purchased at least one Apple product within the last quarter. The survey results show an impressive 91% iPhone ownership rate among recent Apple customers. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

from Apple that would be worn full-time, like the much-rumored Apple Glasses. This technology will not only provide individualized suggestions, but just as the Apple Watch has saved people who have fallen or are suffering cardiac events, this technology would monitor activity and location to provide real-time health guidance. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

favorites, plus advice on how to pick the best smartwatch for your needs. What factors to consider in a smartwatch Compatibility Apple Watches only work with iPhones, while Wear OS devices play nice with both iOS and Android phones. Smartwatches made by Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit and others are also compatible with Android and iOS, but youll need to install a companion app on your smartphone. The smartwatch OS will also dictate the type and number of third-party apps youll have access to. Many of these arent useful, though, making this factor a fairly minor one in the grand scheme of things. Price The best smartwatches generally cost between $300 and $400. Compared to budget smartwatches, which cost between $100 and $250, these pricier devices have advanced operating systems, communications, music and fitness features. They also often include perks like onboard GPS tracking, music storage and NFC, which budget devices generally dont. Some companies make specialized fitness watches: Those can easily run north of $500, and wed only recommend them to serious athletes. Luxury smartwatches from brands like TAG Heuer and Hublot can also reach sky-high prices, but we wouldnt endorse any of them. These devices can cost more than $1,000, and youre usually paying for little more than a brand name and some needlessly exotic selection of build materials. Battery life Battery life remains one of our biggest complaints about smartwatches, but theres hope as of late. You can expect two full days from Apple Watches and most Wear OS devices. Watches using the Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor support extended battery modes that promise up to five days of battery life on a charge if youre willing to shut off most features aside from, you know, displaying the time. Snapdragons next-gen Wear 4100 and 4100+ processors were announced in 2020, but only a handful of devices some of which arent even available yet are using them so far. Other models can last five to seven days, but they usually have fewer features and lower-quality displays. Meanwhile, some fitness watches can last weeks on a single charge. Communication Any smartwatch worth considering delivers call, text and app notifications to your wrist. Call and text alerts are self explanatory, but if those mean a lot to you, consider a watch with LTE. Theyre more expensive than their WiFi-only counterparts, but cellular connectivity allows the smartwatch to take and receive phone calls, and do the same with text messages, without your device nearby. As far as app alerts go, getting them delivered to your wrist will let you glance down to the watch face and see if you absolutely need to check your phone right now. Fitness tracking Activity tracking is a big reason why people turn to smartwatches. An all-purpose timepiece should function as a fitness tracker, logging your steps, calories and workouts, and most of todays wearables have a heart rate monitor as well. Many smartwatches' fitness features include a built-in GPS, which is useful for tracking distance for runs and bike rides. Swimmers will want something water resistant, and thankfully most all-purpose devices now can withstand at least a dunk in the pool. Some smartwatches from companies like Garmin are more fitness focused than others and tend to offer more advanced features like heart-rate-variance tracking, recovery time estimation, onboard maps . Health tracking on smartwatches has also seen advances over the years. Both Apple and Fitbit devices can estimate blood oxygen levels and measure ECGs. But the more affordable the smartwatch, the less likely it is that it has these kinds of advanced health tracking features; if collecting those kinds of wellness metrics is important to you, youll have to pay for the privilege. Engadget Music Your watch can not only track your morning runs but also play music while youre exercising. Many smartwatches let you save your music locally, so you can connect wireless earbuds via Bluetooth and listen to tunes without bringing your phone. Those that dont have onboard storage for music usually have on-watch music controls, so you can control playback without whipping out your phone. And if your watch has LTE, local saving isnt required youll be able to stream music directly from the watch to your paired earbuds. Displays Most wearables have touchscreens and we recommend getting one that has a full-color touchscreen. Some flagships like the Apple Watch have LTPO displays, which stands for low-temperature polycrystalline oxide. These panels have faster response times and are more power efficient, resulting in a smoother experience when one interacts with the touchscreen and, in some cases, longer battery lives. You wont see significant gains with the latter, though, because the extra battery essentially gets used up when these devices have always-on displays, as most flagship wearables do today. Some smartwatches have this feature on by default while others let you enable it via tweaked settings. This smart feature allows you to glance down at your watch to check the time, health stats or any other information youve set it to show on its watchface without lifting your wrist. This will no doubt affect your devices battery life, but thankfully most always-on modes dim the displays brightness so its not running at its peak unnecessarily. Cheaper devices wont have this feature; instead, their touchscreens will automatically turn off to conserve battery life and youll have to intentionally check your watch to turn on the display again. NFC Many smartwatches have NFC, letting you pay for things without your wallet using contactless payments. After saving your credit or debit card information, you can hold your smartwatch up to an NFC reader to pay for a cup of coffee on your way home from a run. Keep in mind that different watches use different payment systems: Apple Watches use Apple Pay, Wear OS devices use Google Pay, Samsung devices use Samsung Pay and so forth. Apple Pay is one of the most popular NFC payment systems, with support for multiple banks and credit cards in 72 different countries, while Samsung and Google Pay work in fewer regions. Its also important to note that both NFC payment support varies by device as well for both Samsung and Googles systems. Stylish smartwatches: Fossil Fossil Yes, there are still companies out there trying to make fashionable hybrid smartwatches. Back when wearables were novel and generally ugly, brands like Fossil , Michael Kors and Skagen found their niche in stylish smartwatches that took cues from analog timepieces. You also have the option to pick up a hybrid smartwatch from companies like Withings and Garmin these devices look like classic wrist watches but incorporate some limited functionality like activity tracking and heart rate monitoring. They remain good options if you prefer that look, but thankfully, wearables made by Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and others have gotten much more attractive over the past few years. Ultimately, the only thing you cant change after you buy a smartwatch is its case design. If youre not into the Apple Watchs squared-off corners, all of Samsungs smartwatches have round cases that look a little more like a traditional watch. Most wearables are offered in a choice of colors and you can pay extra for premium materials like stainless steel. Once you decide on a case, your band options are endless there are dozens of first- and third-party watch straps available for most major smartwatches, and for both larger and smaller wrists, allowing you to change up your look whenever you please. Other smartwatches our experts tested Apple Watch Ultra 2 The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is probably overkill for most people, but it has a ton of extra features like extra waterproofing to track diving, an even more accurate GPS and the biggest battery of any Apple Watch to date. Apple designed it for the most rugged among us, but for your average person, it likely has more features than they'd ever need. Apple Watch SE The Apple Watch SE is less feature-rich than the flagship model, but it will probably suffice for most people. We actually regard the Watch SE as the best smartwatch option for first-time buyers, or people on stricter budgets. Youll get all the core Apple Watch features as well as things like fall and crash detection, noise monitoring and Emergency SOS, but youll have to do without more advanced hardware perks like an always-on display, a blood oxygen sensor, an ECG monitor and a skin temperature sensor. Google Pixel Watch 2 Google made many noteworthy improvements in the Pixel Watch 2. Unlike the first iteration of the smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 2 is actually a solid contender when positioned next to the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung's Galaxy Watch. In our review , we praised its excellent heart rate measurements and health insights, plus it has stress management tools that excel over similar features provided by its competitors. However, software quirks and confusing data representations prevent it from earning a spot on our top picks list. Garmin Forerunner 745 Garmin watches in general can be great options for the most active among us. The Garmin Forerunner 745 is an excellent GPS running watch for serious athletes or those who prize battery life above all else. When we tested it, we found it to provide accurate distance tracking, a killer 16-hour battery life with GPS turned on (up to seven days without it) and support for onboard music storage and Garmin Pay. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...

Marathon in particular, researchers have been examining health data of people who run and walk marathons. Between its founding in November 2019 and January 1, 2024, the study's researchers say that there have been 201,471 participants. More than 1,500 ran an estimated 2,623 marathons in total, plus over 50% of participants had at least one single running workout of 5K or more. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

Watch has been at the top of our list of the best smartwatches for quite some time, and the Series 9 (introduced in September 2023) is a big update from its predecessor. It runs on a new S9 SiP, which is the most meaningful upgrade to the wearable's processor in years. While we didn't notice a huge jump in general performance the Watch has been speedy and responsive for a long time the SiP update does allow for faster Siri responses and enables offline Siri interactions. The latest model also supports the new Double Tap gesture based on Assistive Touch. This allows you to navigate the Watch's interface without actually touching the screen, doing things like dismissing timers or starting workout tracking using finger gestures. You can only use Double Tap in specific instances in watchOS 10, but those actions are made easier accessible with this feature. In addition, the Series 9 has a second-gen ultra wideband (UWB) chip that works with a new Find My iPhone interface, plus its screen is brighter than previous versions. All of those things combine make the Series 9 feel like the biggest update to the Watch in a few years. Nevertheless, the caveats remain the same as they have been for some time: you can only use the Apple Watch if you're an iPhone user, and it lags behind the competition when it comes to sleep tracking. Battery life contributes to the latter, but you'll still get a full day's worth of use before you need to charge it up overnight. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ... 915.html?src=rss

with the pin is through voice, accompanied by touch and gestures. Without speaking, your options are severely limited. The company describes the device as your second brain, but the combination of holding out my hand to see the projected screen, waving it around to navigate the interface and tapping my chest and waiting for an answer all just made me look really stupid. When I remember that I was actually eager to spend $700 of my own money to get a Humane AI Pin, not to mention shell out the required $24 a month for the AI and the companys 4G service riding on T-Mobiles network, I feel even sillier. What is the Humane AI Pin? In the companys own words , the Humane AI Pin is the first wearable device and software platform built to harness the full power of artificial intelligence. If that doesnt clear it up, well, I cant blame you. There are basically two parts to the device: the Pin and its magnetic attachment. The Pin is the main piece, which houses a touch-sensitive panel on its face, with a projector, camera, mic and speakers lining its top edge. Its about the same size as an Apple Watch Ultra 2, both measuring about 44mm (1.73 inches) across. The Humane wearable is slightly squatter, though, with its 47.5mm (1.87 inches) height compared to the Watch Ultras 49mm (1.92 inches). Its also half the weight of Apples smartwatch, at 34.2 grams (1.2 ounces). The top of the AI Pin is slightly thicker than the bottom, since it has to contain extra sensors and indicator lights, but its still about the same depth as the Watch Ultra 2. Snap on a magnetic attachment, and you add about 8mm (0.31 inches). There are a few accessories available , with the most useful being the included battery booster. Youll get two battery boosters in the complete system when you buy the Humane AI Pin, as well as a charging cradle and case. The booster helps clip the AI Pin to your clothes while adding some extra hours of life to the device (in theory, anyway). It also brings an extra 20 grams (0.7 ounces) with it, but even including that the AI Pin is still 10 grams (0.35 ounces) lighter than the Watch Ultra 2. That weight (or lack thereof) is important, since anything too heavy would drag down on your clothes, which would not only be uncomfortable but also block the Pins projector from functioning properly. If you're wearing it with a thinner fabric, by the way, youll have to use the latch accessory instead of the booster, which is a $40 plastic tile that provides no additional power. You can also get the stainless steel clip that Humane sells for $50 to stick it onto heavier materials or belts and backpacks. Whichever accessory you choose, though, youll place it on the underside of your garment and stick the Pin on the outside to connect the pieces. Hayato Huseman for Engadget How the AI Pin works But you might not want to place the AI Pin on a bag, as you need to tap on it to ask a question or pull up the projected screen. Every interaction with the device begins with touching it, there is no wake word, so having it out of reach sucks. Tap and hold on the touchpad, ask a question, then let go and wait a few seconds for the AI to answer. You can hold out your palm to read what it said, bringing your hand closer to and further from your chest to toggle through elements. To jump through individual cards and buttons, youll have to tilt your palm up or down, which can get in the way of seeing whats on display. But more on that in a bit. There are some built-in gestures offering shortcuts to functions like taking a picture or video or controlling music playback. Double tapping the Pin with two fingers will snap a shot, while double-tapping and holding at the end will trigger a 15-second video. Swiping up or down adjusts the device or Bluetooth headphone volume while the assistant is talking or when music is playing, too. Cherlynn Low for Engadget Each person who orders the Humane AI Pin will have to set up an account and go through onboarding on the website before the company will ship out their unit. Part of this process includes signing into your Google or Apple accounts to port over contacts, as well as watching a video that walks you through those gestures I described. Your Pin will arrive already linked to your account with its eSIM and phone number sorted. This likely simplifies things so users wont have to fiddle with tedious steps like installing a SIM card or signing into their profiles. It felt a bit strange, but its a good thing because, as Ill explain in a bit, trying to enter a password on the AI Pin is a real pain. Talking to the Humane AI Pin The easiest way to interact with the AI Pin is by talking to it. Its supposed to feel natural, like youre talking to a friend or assistant, and you shouldnt have to feel forced when asking it for help. Unfortunately, that just wasnt the case in my testing. When the AI Pin did understand me and answer correctly, it usually took a few seconds to reply, in which time I could have already gotten the same results on my phone. For a few things, like adding items to my shopping list or converting Canadian dollars to USD, it performed adequately. But adequate seems to be the best case scenario. Sometimes the answers were too long or irrelevant. When I asked Should I watch Dream Scenario , it said Dream Scenario is a 2023 comedy/fantasy film featuring Nicolas Cage, with positive ratings on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Its available for streaming on platforms like YouTube, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. If you enjoy comedy and fantasy genres, it may be worth watching. Setting aside the fact that the answer to my query came after a lot of preamble I found unnecessary, I also just didnt find the recommendation satisfying. It wasnt giving me a straight answer, which is understandable, but ultimately none of what it said felt different from scanning the top results of a Google search. I would have gleaned more info had I looked the film up on my phone, since Id be able to see the actual Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores. To be fair, the AI Pin was smart enough to understand follow-ups like How about The Witch without needing me to repeat my original question. But its 2024; were way past assistants that need so much hand-holding. Were also past the days of needing to word our requests in specific ways for AI to understand us. Though Humane has said you can speak to the pin naturally, there are some instances when that just didnt work. First, it occasionally misheard me, even in my quiet living room. When I asked Would I like YouTuber Danny Gonzalez, it thought I said would I like YouTube do I need Gonzalez and responded Its unclear if you would like Dulce Gonzalez as the content of their videos and channels is not specified. When I repeated myself by carefully saying I meant Danny Gonzalez, the AI Pin spouted back facts about the YouTubers life and work, but did not answer my original question. Thats not as bad as the fact that when I tried to get the Pin to describe what was in front of me, it simply would not. Humane has a Vision feature in beta thats meant to let the AI Pin use its camera to see and analyze things in view, but when I tried to get it to look at my messy kitchen island, nothing happened. Id ask Whats in front of me or What am I holding out in front of you or Describe whats in front of me, which is how Id phrase this request naturally. I tried so many variations of this, including What am I looking at and Is there an octopus in front of me, to no avail. I even took a photo and asked can you describe whats in that picture. Every time, I was told Your AI Pin is not sure what youre referring to or This question is not related to AI Pin or, in the case where I first took a picture, Your AI Pin is unable to analyze images or describe them. I was confused why this wasnt working even after I double checked that I had opted in and enabled the feature, and finally realized after checking the reviewers' guide that I had to use prompts that started with the word Look. Look, maybe everyone else would have instinctively used that phrasing. But if youre like me and didnt, youll probably give up and never use this feature again. Even after I learned how to properly phrase my Vision requests, they were still clunky as hell. It was never as easy as Look for my socks but required two-part sentences like Look at my room and tell me if there are boots in it or Look at this thing and tell me how to use it. When I worded things just right, results were fairly impressive. It confirmed there was a Lysol can on the top shelf of the shelving unit and a purple octopus on top of the brown cabinet. I held out a cheek highlighter and asked what to do with it. The AI Pin accurately told me The Carry On 2 cream by BYBI Beauty can be used to add a natural glow to skin, among other things, although it never explicitly told me to apply it to my face. I asked it where an object I was holding came from, and it just said The image is of a hand holding a bag of mini eggs. The bag is yellow with a purple label that says mini eggs. Again, it didn't answer my actual question. Humanes AI, which is powered by a mix of OpenAIs recent versions of GPT and other sources including its own models, just doesnt feel fully baked. Its like a robot pretending to be sentient capable of indicating it sort of knows what Im asking, but incapable of delivering a direct answer. My issues with the AI Pins language model and features dont end there. Sometimes it just refuses to do what I ask of it, like restart or shut down. Other times it does something entirely unexpected. When I said Send a text message to Julian Chokkattu, whos a friend and fellow AI Pin reviewer over at Wired , I thought Id be asked what I wanted to tell him. Instead, the device simply said OK and told me it sent the words Hey Julian, just checking in. How's your day going? to Chokkattu. I've never said anything like that to him in our years of friendship, but I guess technically the AI Pin did do what I asked. Hayato Huseman for Engadget Using the Humane AI Pins projector display If only voice interactions were the worst thing about the Humane AI Pin, but the list of problems only starts there. I was most intrigued by the companys pioneering Laser Ink display that projects green rays onto your palm, as well as the gestures that enabled interaction with onscreen elements. But my initial wonder quickly gave way to frustration and a dull ache in my shoulder. It might be tiring to hold up your phone to scroll through Instagram, but at least you can set that down on a table and continue browsing. With the AI Pin, if your arm is not up, youre not seeing anything. Then theres the fact that its a pretty small canvas. I would see about seven lines of text each time, with about one to three words on each row depending on the length. This meant I had to hold my hand up even longer so I could wait for notifications to finish scrolling through. I also have a smaller palm than some other reviewers I saw while testing the AI Pin. Julian over at Wired has a larger hand and I was downright jealous when I saw he was able to fit the entire projection onto his palm, whereas the contents of my display would spill over onto my fingers, making things hard to read. Its not just those of us afflicted with tiny palms that will find the AI Pin tricky to see. Step outside and youll have a hard time reading the faint projection. Even on a cloudy, rainy day in New York City, I could barely make out the words on my hands. When you can read whats on the screen, interacting with it might make you want to rip your eyes out. Like I said, youll have to move your palm closer and further to your chest to select the right cards to enter your passcode. Its a bit like dialing a rotary phone, with cards for individual digits from 0 to 9. Go further away to get to the higher numbers and the backspace button, and come back for the smaller ones. This gesture is smart in theory but its very sensitive. Theres a very small range of usable space since there is only so far your hand can go, so the distance between each digit is fairly small. One wrong move and youll accidentally select something you didnt want and have to go all the way out to delete it. To top it all off, moving my arm around while doing that causes the Pin to flop about, meaning the screen shakes on my palm, too. On average, unlocking my Pin, which involves entering a four-digit passcode, took me about five seconds. On its own, this doesnt sound so bad, but bear in mind that youll have to re-enter this each time you disconnect the Pin from the booster, latch or clip. Its currently springtime in New York, which means Im putting on and taking off my jacket over and over again. Every time I go inside or out, I move the Pin to a different layer and have to look like a confused long-sighted tourist reading my palm at various distances. Its not fun. Of course, you can turn off the setting that requires password entry each time you remove the Pin, but thats simply not great for security. Though Humane says privacy and transparency are paramount with AI Pin, by its very nature the device isnt suitable for performing confidential tasks unless youre alone. You dont want to dictate a sensitive message to your accountant or partner in public, nor might you want to speak your Wi-Fi password out loud. That latter is one of two input methods for setting up an internet connection, by the way. If you choose not to spell your Wi-Fi key out loud, then you can go to the Humane website to type in your network name (spell it out yourself, not look for one thats available) and password to generate a QR code for the Pin to scan. Having to verbally relay alphanumeric characters to the Pin is not ideal, and though the QR code technically works, it just involves too much effort. Its like giving someone a spork when they asked for a knife and fork: good enough to get by, but not a perfect replacement. Cherlynn Low for Engadget The Humane AI Pins speaker Since communicating through speech is the easiest means of using the Pin, youll need to be verbal and have hearing. If you choose not to raise your hand to read the AI Pins responses, youll have to listen for it. The good news is, the onboard speaker is usually loud enough for most environments, and I only struggled to hear it on NYC streets with heavy traffic passing by. I never attempted to talk to it on the subway, however, nor did I obnoxiously play music from the device while I was outside. In my office and gym, though, I did get the AI Pin to play some songs. The music sounded fine I didnt get thumping bass or particularly crisp vocals, but I could hear instruments and crooners easily. Compared to my iPhone 15 Pro Max, its a bit tinny, as expected, but not drastically worse. The problem is there are, once again, some caveats. The most important of these is that at the moment, you can only use Tidals paid streaming service with the Pin. Youll get 90 days free with your purchase, and then have to pay $11 a month (on top of the $24 you already give to Humane) to continue streaming tunes from your Pin. Humane hasnt said yet if other music services will eventually be supported, either, so unless youre already on Tidal, listening to music from the Pin might just not be worth the price. Annoyingly, Tidal also doesnt have the extensive library that competing providers do, so I couldnt even play songs like Beyonces latest album or Taylor Swifts discography (although remixes of her songs were available). Though Humane has described its personic speaker as being able to create a bubble of sound, that bubble certainly has a permeable membrane. People around you will definitely hear what youre playing, so unless youre trying to start a dance party, it might be too disruptive to use the AI Pin for music without pairing Bluetooth headphones. Youll also probably get better sound quality from Bose, Beats or AirPods anyway. The Humane AI Pin camera experience Ill admit it a large part of why I was excited for the AI Pin is its onboard camera. My love for taking photos is well-documented , and with the Pin, snapping a shot is supposed to be as easy as double-tapping its face with two fingers. I was even ready to put up with subpar pictures from its 13-megapixel sensor for the ability to quickly capture a scene without having to first whip out my phone. Sadly, the Humane AI Pin was simply too slow and feverish to deliver on that premise. I frequently ran into times when, after taking a bunch of photos and holding my palm up to see how each snap turned out, the device would get uncomfortably warm. At least twice in my testing, the Pin just shouted Your AI Pin is too warm and needs to cool down before shutting down. A sample image from the Humane AI Pin. Cherlynn Low for Engadget Even when its running normally, using the AI Pins camera is slow. Id double tap it and then have to stand still for at least three seconds before it would take the shot. I appreciate that theres audio and visual feedback through the flashing green lights and the sound of a shutter clicking when the camera is going, so both you and people around know youre recording. But its also a reminder of how long I need to wait the shutter sound will need to go off thrice before the image is saved. I took photos and videos in various situations under different lighting conditions, from a birthday dinner in a dimly lit restaurant to a beautiful park on a cloudy day. I recorded some workout footage in my buildings gym with large windows, and in general anything taken with adequate light looked good enough to post. The videos might make viewers a little motion sick, since the camera was clipped to my sports bra and moved around with me, but thats tolerable. In dark environments, though, forget about it. Even my Nokia E7 from 2 delivered clearer pictures, most likely because I could hold it steady while framing a shot. The photos of my friends at dinner were so grainy, one person even seemed translucent. To my knowledge, that buddy is not a ghost, either. A sample image from the Humane AI Pin. Cherlynn Low for Engadget To its credit, Humanes camera has a generous 120-degree field of view, meaning youll capture just about anything in front of you. When youre not sure if youve gotten your subject in the picture, you can hold up your palm after taking the shot, and the projector will beam a monochromatic preview so you can verify. Its not really for you to admire your skilled composition or level of detail, just to see that you did indeed manage to get the receipt in view before moving on. Cosmos OS on the Humane AI Pin When it comes time to retrieve those pictures off the AI Pin, youll just need to navigate to humane.center in any browser and sign in. There, youll find your photos and videos under Captures, your notes, recently played music and calls, as well as every interaction youve had with the assistant. That last one made recalling every weird exchange with the AI Pin for this review very easy. Youll have to make sure the AI Pin is connected to Wi-Fi and power, and be at least 50 percent charged before full-resolution photos and videos will upload to the dashboard. But before that, you can still scroll through previews in a gallery, even though you cant download or share them. The web portal is fairly rudimentary, with large square tiles serving as cards for sections like Captures, Notes and My Data. Going through them just shows you things youve saved or asked the Pin to remember, like a friends favorite color or their birthday. Importantly, there isnt an area for you to view your text messages, so if you wanted to type out a reply from your laptop instead of dictating to the Pin, sorry, you cant. The only way to view messages is by putting on the Pin, pulling up the screen and navigating the onboard menus to find them. Hayato Huseman for Engadget That brings me to what you see on the AI Pins visual interface. If youve raised your palm right after asking it something, youll see your answer in text form. But if you had brought up your hand after unlocking or tapping the device, youll see its barebones home screen. This contains three main elements a clock widget in the middle, the word Nearby in a bubble at the top and notifications at the bottom. Tilting your palm scrolls through these, and you can pinch your index finger and thumb together to select things. Push your hand further back and youll bring up a menu with five circles that will lead you to messages, phone, settings, camera and media player. Youll need to tilt your palm to scroll through these, but because theyre laid out in a ring, its not as straightforward as simply aiming up or down. Trying to get the right target here was one of the greatest challenges I encountered while testing the AI Pin. I was rarely able to land on the right option on my first attempt. That, along with the fact that you have to put on the Pin (and unlock it), made it so difficult to see messages that I eventually just gave up looking at texts I received. The Humane AI Pin overheating, in use and battery life One reason I sometimes took off the AI Pin is that it would frequently get too warm and need to cool down. Once I removed it, I would not feel the urge to put it back on. I did wear it a lot in the first few days I had it, typically from 7:45AM when I headed out to the gym till evening, depending on what I was up to. Usually at about 3PM, after taking a lot of pictures and video, I would be told my AI Pins battery was running low, and Id need to swap out the battery booster. This didnt seem to work sometimes, with the Pin dying before it could get enough power through the accessory. At first it appeared the device simply wouldnt detect the booster, but I later learned its just slow and can take up to five minutes to recognize a newly attached booster. When I wore the AI Pin to my friend (and fellow reviewer) Michael Fishers birthday party just hours after unboxing it, I had it clipped to my tank top just hovering above my heart. Because it was so close to the edge of my shirt, I would accidentally brush past it a few times when reaching for a drink or resting my chin on my palm a la The Thinker . Normally, I wouldnt have noticed the Pin, but as it was running so hot, I felt burned every time my skin came into contact with its chrome edges. The touchpad also grew warm with use, and the battery booster resting against my chest also got noticeably toasty (though it never actually left a mark). Hayato Huseman for Engadget Part of the reason the AI Pin ran so hot is likely that theres not a lot of room for the heat generated by its octa-core Snapdragon processor to dissipate. I had also been using it near constantly to show my companions the pictures I had taken, and Humane has said its laser projector is designed for brief interactions (up to six to nine minutes), not prolonged usage and that it had intentionally set conservative thermal limits for this first release that may cause it to need to cool down. The company added that it not only plans to improve uninterrupted run time in our next software release, but also that its working to improve overall thermal performance in the next software release. There are other things I need Humane to address via software updates ASAP. The fact that its AI sometimes decides not to do what I ask, like telling me Your AI Pin is already running smoothly, no need to restart when I asked it to restart is not only surprising but limiting. There are no hardware buttons to turn the pin on or off, and the only other way to trigger a restart is to pull up the dreaded screen, painstakingly go to the menu, hopefully land on settings and find the Power option. By which point if the Pin hasnt shut down my arm will have. A lot of my interactions with the AI Pin also felt like problems I encountered with earlier versions of Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant. The overly wordy answers, for example, or the pronounced two or three-second delay before a response, are all reminiscent of the early 2010s. When I asked the AI Pin to remember that I parked my car right here, it just saved a note saying Your car is parked right here, with no GPS information or no way to navigate back. So I guess I parked my car on a sticky note. To be clear, thats not something that Humane ever said the AI Pin can do, but it feels like such an easy thing to offer, especially since the device does have onboard GPS. Googles made entire lines of bags and Levis jackets that serve the very purpose of dropping pins to revisit places later. If your product is meant to be smart and revolutionary, it should at least be able to do what its competitors already can, not to mention offer features they dont. Screenshot One singular thing that the AI Pin actually manages to do competently is act as an interpreter. After you ask it to translate to [x language], youll have to hold down two fingers while you talk, let go and it will read out what you said in the relevant tongue. I tried talking to myself in English and Mandarin, and was frankly impressed with not only the accuracy of the translation and general vocal expressiveness, but also at how fast responses came through. You dont even need to specify the language the speaker is using. As long as youve set the target language, the person talking in Mandarin will be translated to English and the words said in English will be read out in Mandarin. Its worth considering the fact that using the AI Pin is a nightmare for anyone who gets self-conscious. Im pretty thick-skinned, but even I tried to hide the fact that I had a strange gadget with a camera pinned to my person. Luckily, I didnt get any obvious stares or confrontations, but I heard from my fellow reviewers that they did. And as much as I like the idea of a second brain I can wear and offload little notes and reminders to, nothing that the AI Pin does well is actually executed better than a smartphone. Wrap-up Not only is the Humane AI Pin slow, finicky and barely even smart, using it made me look pretty dumb. In a few days of testing, I went from being excited to show it off to my friends to not having any reason to wear it. Humanes vision was ambitious, and the laser projector initially felt like a marvel. At first glance, it looked and felt like a refined product. But it just seems like at every turn, the company had to come up with solutions to problems it created. No screen or keyboard to enter your Wi-Fi password? No worries, use your phone or laptop to generate a QR code. Want to play music? Here you go, a 90-day subscription to Tidal, but you can only play music on that service. The company promises to make software updates that could improve some issues, and the few tweaks my unit received during this review did make some things (like music playback) work better. The problem is that as it stands, the AI Pin doesnt do enough to justify its $700 and $24-a-month price, and I simply cannot recommend anyone spend this much money for the one or two things it does adequately. Maybe in time, the AI Pin will be worth revisiting, but its hard to imagine why anyone would need a screenless AI wearable when so many devices exist today that you can use to talk to an assistant. From speakers and phones to smartwatches and cars, the world is full of useful AI access points that allow you to ditch a screen. Humane says its committed to a future where AI seamlessly integrates into every aspect of our lives and enhances our daily experiences. After testing the companys AI Pin, that future feels pretty far away. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...9.html?src=rss

the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models. However, it has now been found to affect the Apple Watch Series 7, Apple Watch Series 8 , and Apple Watch Ultra 1 models as well, according to reliable leaker "Fudge" on X. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

technology in the OLED display of the Series 10, which the report believes will be out later in 2024. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

landscape. For watch brands, upper-income teens have continued to rate Apple as their favorite once again. However, Apple's 36% share is a drop from the 42% of the Fall 2023 and Spring 2023 surveys, and it's only just ahead of its nearest rival, Rolex at 34%. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

Man Run Club teaming up for the punishing relay. The 12-member team was aided by navigators, a crew, team RVs, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

to the case between Apple and Masimo to hear Apple's appeal of the ITC ruling as of April 5th. The company told the court that Masimo's victory with the ITC was based on two flawed claims: the validity of Masimo's affected patents, and that Masimo claimed it was making competing products. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

device-maker Masimo??????s pulse oximetry patents. The ITC sided with Masimo, concluding that Apple had infringed their patents, and that the infringement was harming domestic industry. The ITC is an agency similar to a court that often deals with imported ??????articles?????? that may or may not violate intellectual property law. The word ??????article?????? matters more than you??????d think, since the statute that created the ITC... Continue reading???

specializing in Micro-LED displays that Apple acquired in 2014. In recent months, we've heard rumors about Apple canceling its plans to design and produce its own Micro-LED displays for the Apple Watch. Bloomberg recently reported that Apple gave up on the project because the screens "were difficult to produce in sufficient quantities." There are also more than 120 layoff notices filed by Apple in San Diego, which aligns with a January report about the company having recently closed a Siri data operations office located there. The office was responsible for evaluating Siri's responses to users and for helping the company improve the platform's accuracy. At the time, Apple offered to relocate all affected employees to offices in Austin, Texas, if they agreed. Unsurprisingly, the shutdown of the Apple Car project (internally known as Titan) also resulted in layoffs. Some of the offices listed by the records were used by Apple to develop and test its electric car. The company had been actively working on building a vehicle since 2014, but the challenges surrounding it made Apple give up on the project earlier this year. The report notes that some of the engineers working on the Apple Car have been offered positions elsewhere at Apple. "However, not everyone has the chance to be reassigned since there were more than 2,000 people working on this specific project." The latest rumor is that Apple is exploring the development of personal home robots. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Additionally, 371 employees were let go from Apple's primary car-related hub in Santa Clara, California. Others were affected across various satellite offices. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

images. Arguably, that's exactly what we've got now with the 3D features of the Apple Vision Pro. In that case, though, the 3D depth effect is made by sending subtly different images to the displays in front of people's left and right eyes. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

slightly faster there. The same clock we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the Moon, NASA space communications and navigation chief Kevin Coggins told Reuters . You saw Interstellar , right? Er, just like that. Exactly like that. No further questions. Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Metas AI image generator struggles to create images of couples of different races Our favorite cheap smartphone is on sale for $250 right now OnePlus rolls out its own version of Googles Magic Eraser How to watch (and record) the solar eclipse on April 8 You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Microsoft may have finally made quantum computing useful The most error-free quantum solution yet, apparently. What if we could build a machine working at the quantum level that could tackle complex calculations exponentially faster than a computer limited by classic physics? Despite all the heady dreams of quantum computing and press releases from IBM and Google, it's still a what-if. Microsoft now says its developed the most error-free quantum computing system yet, with Quantinuum. Its not a thing I can condense into a single paragraph. You saw Interstellar , right? Continue reading. Stability AIs audio generator can now create three-minute songs Still not that good, though. Stability AI just unveiled Stable Audio 2.0, an upgraded version of its music-generation platform. With this system, you can use your own text to create up to three minutes of audio, which is roughly the length of a song. You can hone the results by choosing a genre or even uploading audio to inspire the algo. Its fun try it out. Just dont add vocals, trust me. Continue reading. Bloomberg says Apple is developing personal robots now EVs schmee vees. Apple, hunting for its next iPhone / Apple Watch / Vision Pro (maybe?), might be trying to get into robots. According to Bloomberg s Mark Gurman, one area the company is exploring is personal robotics and it started looking at electric vehicles too. The report says Apple has started working on a mobile robot to follow users around their home and has already developed a table-top device that uses a robot to move a screen around. Continue reading. Another Matrix movie is happening. Not like this. Warner Bros. Whoa. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...?src=rss

the right one for your needs. Do wireless charging pads work with any phone or device? It wont be shocking to hear that your smartphone choice influences your choice in a wireless charger. Only iPhone owners will need to consider Apple Watch compatibility. Likewise, youll need an Android phone if you expect to power a Galaxy Watch . Buy an iPhone 12 or newer and you can attach your phone magnetically using MagSafe, while the latest Android phones often have some form of fast wireless charging. However, its not simply a question of getting the fastest charger. You should consider what you might buy in the future. Dont buy a two-device charger if you have an iPhone and AirPods, but have been eyeing an Apple Watch. And if you think you might switch to an Android cell phone (or vice versa), youll want to get something more generic that doesnt lock you into any one ecosystem. Some chargers include cradles, trays and other features that are heavily optimized for particular products, and might not even account for year-to-year changes. Some vertical stands are too tall for small phones like the iPhone 13 mini , for instance. While you can never completely guarantee that next years phone or watch will work, its worth buying something more likely to last. Having said all this, dont be afraid to get a charger with vendor-specific features if youre fiercely loyal to one brand. Apple isnt expected to ditch MagSafe any time soon, and Samsung will likely keep making Galaxy Watches for a while to come. How to pick the best wireless charging pad for your needs: Location, location, location Sebastian Bednarek on Unsplash Even without a charging cable to worry about, youre probably buying a multi-device wireless charger with one location in mind. It might sit on your nightstand or on your desk. Not everyone buys a charger just for themselves, though; you might want to use one as a shared station for you and a partner. If the charger will sit on your nightstand, youll likely want a compact, stable unit that wont swallow all your free space or tumble to the floor (and if it does fall, one with enough durability to survive). You may also prefer a lay-flat phone pad so your screen is less likely to keep you awake. The Apple Watch and some other smartwatches can double as tiny alarm clocks, so you might want a vertical charging option for any wristwear. At a desk, however, you may want a vertical phone stand so you can check notifications. Will the charger sit on a low table? Horizontal charger pads may make it easier to grab your devices in a hurry. Travel chargers should fold up or otherwise protect the pads while theyre in your bag. And, yes, aesthetics count. You may want something pretty if its likely to sit in a posh room where guests will see it. If its a shared charging station, youll want something with multiple generic surfaces, and youll probably have to forgo charging more than one watch at a time. In those cases, consider the handful of 4-in-1 wireless chargers on the market, or models with USB ports. Wireless charging speed and performance Its no secret that wireless charging is typically slower than wired, and powering multiple devices adds a new wrinkle. As these chargers often have to support a wide range of hardware, youll have to forget about the fastest, device-specific options from brands like Google, OnePlus and Samsung. Thats not to say these will be slow, but there just isnt much separating them on the charging speed front. As a general rule, the quickest multi-device chargers tend to top out at 15W for phones. And youll need an Apple MagSafe charger if you want to get that full 15W on an iPhone. Its rare that youll find a truly slow example, mind you. Even some of the most affordable options weve seen will recharge your phone at a reasonable 7.5W or 10W, and the 5W for other devices is more than enough. If youre only docking overnight or while you work, speed wont make a huge difference. Just be sure that whatever you buy is powerful enough for a phone in a case. Its also worth noting that fast charging for other devices is rare, although youll occasionally find speedier options for the Apple Watch Series 7. Quality, box contents and small details Melvin Thambi on Unsplash The difference between a good charger and a great one often boils down to little details. You wont always need to pay extra to get those, but a larger outlay may be worthwhile to avoid frustrations for years to come. A textured surface like rubberized plastic or fabric will reduce the chances your expensive gadgets will slide off their charging points. The base should have enough grip and weight that the charger wont easily shift out of place. Any floating or vertical stands should be sturdy steer clear if theres any wobble. Youll also want to make a note of whats included in the box. Some chargers dont ship with power adapters, and we've seen numerous models whose Apple Watch stands are merely holders for your existing charging puck. Then theres helpful touches like status lights for confirming correct placement, although youll want to make sure they dim or shut off after a certain amount of time. And while its still true that cradles and trays can limit compatibility, you do want your devices to stay where you put them. Shelves and lips can prevent your phone or watch from sliding. Oh, and be wary of floating smartwatch mounts, as heavier timepieces might sag. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...

fair competition, especially given the company's influence in the tech world. Amidst the ongoing lawsuit against Apple from the Department of Justice, observers are examining the company's business and how it affects users and competing platforms. For example, iPhone users have a strong preference for Apple-branded accessories like AirPods and the Apple Watch . Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

could make the band match whatever they were wearing. Rather than going through the now apparently burdensome business of changing Watch straps by hand, or even changing Watches, a simple control could alter the band's appearance. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

Milanese Loop band styles, reports MacRumors . This brings the Link Bracelet down from $349 to $209 for employees, while the Milanese Loop is down from $99 to $59. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

of the biggest changes for the Series 9 was the addition of Double Tap. This feature allows you to bring your thumb and index finger together (on the watch-wearing hand) to activate controls like hanging up a call. The Apple Watch Series 9 is also the first in its lineup to offer on-device Siri. This shift means Siri works a bit faster and is also available even when your watch is offline. The Series 9 smartwatch offers a comprehensive range of health features, including a heart rate monitor, sleep monitoring and cycle tracking. Plus, as an added bonus, the Apple Watch Series 9 is carbon neutral , so you can feel a little better about buying another device. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...ss

sale ends tonight. Top deals at Best Buy Continue Reading on AppleInsider

product that was entirely developed in the Tim Cook era of the company's history. Apple has been conservative about launching all-new products, preferring to iterate on its existing and popular Mac, iPhone , and iPad lines. That said, the Apple Watch was and continues to be a hit, following some muddled marketing at the beginning. Looking at the development stages of the Watch may provide us with clues on how the future releases of the Vision Pro and its potential offshoots may unfold. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

competitors, particularly those running on Android when used with its own devices. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

world. The DOJ accused Apple of illegally monopolizing the software app market by imposing limitations on iOS that degrade the compatibility of innovative apps and cloud streaming services with the mobile platform. But the company claimed it only selectively restricts the APIs app developers have access to in order to protect user privacy and security. It gave the same reason for why it implements limitations for third-party digital wallets. The company also said that it never blocked "super apps" from its platforms, pointing out that Facebook, WeChat and Line are available for iOS users. Game streaming services, it clarified, have always been welcome in the App Store, as well. In response to the accusation that it is anticompetitive for the Apple Watch to be capable of deeper integration with the iPhone compared to rival wearables', the company explained that offering wide support for all smartwatches means having to develop products with every OS and model in mind. Most importantly, Apple denied that it's making it difficult for users to switch to competing products, whether it's because of iMessage's lack of interoperability with Android or any other reason. Users can easily transfer data from iPhone to Android devices, it reportedly said while suggesting that people may not be switching to its competitors because they simply love its products. Apple previously said that the lawsuit, if successful, would "set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology." It vowed to "vigorously defend against it." US Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote in a press release, however, that "Apple undermines apps, products, and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on the iPhone" and that it's "discouraging innovation" that threatens its monopoly by stifling innovation. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...c=rss

accessories for it ??? and now it's been granted another related patent. This newly-granted patent , "Skin-To-Skin Contact Detection," covers multiple ways of detecting "contact or movement gestures between a first body part and a second body part." That includes options that seem more relevant to Apple Watch bands, or even just a person's hands interlocking, but it comes down to both skin and gesture detection. Continue Reading on AppleInsider Discuss on our Forums

company's alternatives. The smartwatch has all the usual options, like heart-rate monitoring, crash detection, and emergency calling. The retina display offers up to 1,000 nits brightness, and the battery lasts 18 hours. If you're considering buying an Apple Watch SE , one thing to keep in mind is that it's not IPX6 rated for dust resistance like the Series 8 and Ultra. However, it is water resistant up to 50 meters. Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide : Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazons Big Spring sale event . Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazons Big Spring Sale , hear from Autoblogs car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon , and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you. This article originally appeared on Engadget at ...44728862.html?src=rss