The Apple Watch Ultra 4 launches September 18 at $799, offering improved health sensing, more memory, and better battery life compared to the Ultra 3. For existing Ultra 3 owners, upgrading is generally not worthwhile unless recovery tracking or extended battery life are priorities; new buyers should prefer the Ultra 4 unless the Ultra 3 is significantly discounted.
A 7.5-inch monochrome e-ink display with 800x480 resolution, SPI interface, and Arduino compatibility. Designed for low-power applications like e-readers and wearables, priced at $34.50 for orders of 10 or more units.
Eric Migicovsky demonstrates a new Pebble feature enabling users to fork Pebble OS, customize it via an AI agent, and install the modified version directly on their watch through the Pebble mobile app.
Apple's new Apple Watch features Live Rewind and Siri Recap audio-record conversations to provide transcriptions and summaries, raising privacy concerns under two-party consent laws in several US states. Although Apple's technology stores audio only temporarily in a secure chip inaccessible to users and others, legal experts say the features may still violate state recording laws, requiring courts to establish new precedent.
Apple's new "Audio Intelligence" feature for Apple Watches will continuously listen to and transcribe conversations, raising privacy concerns since non-owners could be recorded without consent. The article discusses how this represents an escalating trend of surveillance through consumer devices like smart speakers, Meta's AI Glasses, and OpenAI's wearable, creating a pervasive surveillance infrastructure that exceeds dystopian scenarios like Orwell's 1984.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 introduce a new Readiness app that scores user fitness readiness on a 0-10 scale based on activity, vital signs, and sleep data. The app requires upgraded hardware with new optical and electrical sensors and is exclusive to these latest models.
After a year wearing an Oura Ring for health tracking, the author abandoned it due to practical downsides: fingers change size with weight loss and temperature, rings must be removed during weightlifting, and they trap moisture during daily hand washing. Two devices failed within months, prompting a switch to a wrist-based Google Fitbit tracker.
Scientists developed smart underwear with embedded sensors to continuously track human flatulence by monitoring hydrogen release from gut microbes, overcoming limitations of previous self-reporting and uncomfortable measurement methods. A study of 60 participants found healthy adults produce an average of 32 farts daily, significantly higher than the 14 previously reported in medical literature, with applications for understanding digestive diseases like irritable bowel syndrome.
Apple released AirPods 5 as its new entry-level model starting at $129, featuring Active Noise Cancellation on both versions but limiting wireless charging to the $149 premium model. AirPods Pro 3, priced at $249, offer superior noise cancellation (3x more), longer battery life (8 hours vs 4-5 hours), a heart rate sensor, and exclusive health features, though both models share the same H2 audio chip and support Adaptive Audio, Transparency, and Spatial Audio.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 improves upon the Ultra 3 with extended battery life (up to 50 hours vs. 42 hours), advanced health tracking with enhanced heart rate sensors and new metrics like readiness scores, and the S11 chip enabling AI features such as Siri recap and audio intelligence. The design remains largely unchanged with subtle refinements for comfort, while maintaining durability and premium aesthetics.
Casio has launched the G-Shock GBA-9501A in the UK market, a fitness-focused watch featuring step tracking, GPS compatibility, and smartphone app integration. The model joins other G-Squad variants and improves upon the earlier GBA-900 series with a slimmer, lighter design while maintaining water resistance and dual-time functionality.
Apple CEO John Ternus dismissed concerns about privacy and AI wearables by joking about Meta's AI glasses backlash, then explained how Apple's new AI-enabled Apple Watch features prioritize privacy through on-device processing, no audio recording, and transparency indicators.
Apple launched the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with pre-orders starting September 12, while the foldable iPhone Duo arrives October 16. Apple also released the Apple Watch Series 12 with enhanced health sensors and AI audio features, along with cheaper AirPods 5 with improved audio capabilities.
Apple released a study demonstrating that Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 feature the most accurate heart rate sensing in wearables, tested against leading competitors like Garmin, Google, Samsung, and Oura across 1,460 participants in outdoor and indoor activities. The new Health Sensing System with upgraded electrical and optical sensors showed statistically better accuracy in 139 of 159 comparisons.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 features a new S11 chip with doubled RAM, an upgraded Health Sensing System with improved heart rate and HRV tracking, and extended battery life reaching 50 hours versus Ultra 3's 42 hours. New exclusive features include a Readiness app for daily fitness capacity analysis and Audio Intelligence capabilities like Sound Recognition and Live Rewind.
Images of Meta's 'Project Phoenix' mixed reality headset have leaked ahead of its Connect unveiling later this month, revealing prescription lens support via Zenni Optical, multiple outward-facing sensors, and a tethered hybrid design with an external compute unit. The device appears to target prosumers and enterprise users rather than consumers, marking Meta's pivot away from metaverse gaming toward a general computing platform competing with Apple Vision Pro.
Apple is redesigning its Health app for iOS 27 with new features powered by Apple Intelligence, including Insights, Personal Guidance, Readiness scoring, and a new Longevity tab that assesses overall health across multiple dimensions. The update leverages improved sensors in the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, which now take heart rate readings every five seconds, and partners with Quest to offer bloodwork testing directly in the app for $119.
Samsung is developing its first Android XR glasses with a color display targeting a late 2027 launch, featuring ultra-small microdisplays around 0.2 inches or smaller. The company is still deciding between monocular and binocular designs while balancing performance and price considerations. Samsung's initial Android XR glasses will launch without a display, similar to Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses with only a camera and open-ear headphones.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 users in 33 countries may temporarily lose hypertension notifications at launch due to pending regulatory clearances for the devices' redesigned health sensors. The new models feature upgraded ECG, optical heart rate, and electrical heart sensors for more frequent and accurate health tracking.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 features a redesigned sensor array with 32 electrodes and a new S11 processor that enable heart-rate readings every 5 seconds (versus every 5 minutes previously) and introduce new health features like Readiness scores and Daytime vitals tracking. The watch also gains AI-powered audio tools including Live Rewind and Siri Recap for conversation transcription and summarization. Battery life improves to approximately 50 hours, up from 42 hours on the Ultra 3.