Wearable Computing & Fashion News - Page 1

Microsoft launched Windows XP in 2001, and in the ensuing years, it has become one of the company's most celebrated versions of the iconic desktop operating system. A major shakeup to the overall Windows '95 and '98 aesthetic, XP's bright blue default theme was accompanied by its desktop wallpaper depicting Napa Valley wine country.

Windows XP also became one of the longest-supported and widely used versions of Windows and was one of those rare releases that outlived its successor. This interesting failure was Windows Vista. XP was so popular that the iconic default blue theme helped make the photo used for desktop wallpaper one of the most widely viewed photographs ever.

And for as vibrant and colorful as the image is - it's unedited. Affectionately called Bliss, the photo and Windows XP desktop wallpaper are the centerpieces for this year's Windows Ugly Sweater. Although this is purely subjective, I think this flashback to the early 2000s looks cool - so much so that I'd gladly wear it year-round.

There are already multiple smart rings available from the likes of Oura and similar companies, and Samsung is heavily rumored to have a Galaxy Ring product ready to be announced as soon as January 2024, likely alongside the new Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones. But Apple doesn't want to be left behind and is hard at work on a smart ring of its own - and it might do something no other smart ring does.

That's according to a new AppleInsider report based on a newly granted patent that makes a point of explaining that the smart ring doesn't necessarily have to be worn around the wearer's finger. In fact, the patent claims that it could be worn almost anywhere else including around a user's wrist, arm, leg, ankle, neck, head, and/or other body part. That final bit leaves little to the imagination, so you get the idea.

Little information is available in terms of features but we can around the Apple ring to be able to measure the wearer's heart rate, temperature, and more - much like rings that are already on sale today. But Apple's patent allows for products that are built to fit on different parts of the body - could we see an Apple bracelet, or an Apple headband, for example?

The Apple Watch first went on sale in April of 2015 and we're getting closer and closer to a full decade of the world's most popular watch. But there were of course plenty of prototypes before that model went on sale and we've seen some of those pop up online in recent years. But none of them have been quite so old as this one.

This new prototype is in the hands of the Apple collector Giulio Zompetti with photos shared with 9to5Mac. While Zompetti had previously shared photos of an Apple Watch prototype from early 2014, it seems that this one is even older than that and was being put through its paces in December of 2013.

The newly shared prototype is apparently running a version of SwitchBoard that is based on the same version of iOS 8 that used to power the iPod touch at the time. SwitchBoard is software that is used inside Apple to allow its engineers to test specific features and components of a device before it progresses to wider testing. But there are some other notable differences here as well.

When you updated your Apple Watch to watchOS 10 back in September 2023 you probably noticed that you could no longer wipe from one watch face to another, allowing you to quickly change when you want a new look or additional functionality. The removal of the feature didn't go down very well with a lot of people, but it now appears that Apple is going to fix its mistake and bring the feature back to Apple Watch users all around the world.

Apple's watchOS 10.2 beta 3 update is now in the hands of beta testers who have been putting the new update through its paces. And one of those is developer and researcher @aaronp613, an X user who has a history of finding unannounced features in new beta software. According to a post by them, the watchOS 10.2 beta 3 release brings back the much-loved swipe gesture for changing watch faces.

There will be an option to enable and disable the feature via the Settings app, under the Clock sub-setting so there will be a way to prevent accidental swipes changing faces if that's something that you've experienced in the past.

Samsung is yet to officially take the wraps off of the Galaxy Fit 3 fitness wearable but that hasn't stopped it from leaking. In images shared by Windows Report, the new watch has been shown off in a body that looks very familiar indeed.

The Galaxy Fit 3's leaked images show a device that appears to be similar to a somewhat compressed or squashed Apple Watch, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering that Apple's wearable is the most popular on the planet.

Little is currently known about the specifications of the Galaxy Fit 3 itself, but the display is clearly bigger than the 1.1-inch Galaxy Fit 2. That older watch also features a heart rate monitor, accelerometer, and a gyroscope. In terms of features, it offers sleep tracking and automatic workout detection so we can expect those to be present and correct next time out as well. The same goes for music playback control and notifications when paired with a phone.

Buying a new Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, or other Apple product just got cheaper - assuming that you have an old iPad or Apple Watch to trade in at the Apple Store. Apple has long allowed people to trade in their old devices as a way to help pay for new models, but the company is now paying more for a few different products.

As first noticed by MacRumors, Apple is now paying more for the iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, and Apple Watch Series 7. However, the trade-in prices for the iPhone, Mac, and other Mcas and Apple Watches have not changed at the time of writing.

The new prices include the iPad Pro being worth up to $580 (previously $510) and the iPad Air now being worth up to $325 (previously $315). The entry-level iPad is now worth up to $260 (up from $170). Those trading in an old Apple Watch Ultra will get up to $425 for their old wearable (up from $380) while the Apple Watch Ultra 7 is now worth up to $160 (an increase from $155).

If your Apple Watch battery has been running out quicker than usual, don't worry - a fix is on the way. We just don't know when it'll arrive.

Some Apple Watch owners have been suffering from excessive battery drain since they installed watchOS 10.1, an update that arrived with a couple of new features including support for Double Tap on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 9. But the update also brought with it a battery issue that MacRumors now reports is already on Apple's radar. What's more, a fix is on the way.

Citing an internal memo "obtained from multiple sources," MacRumors says that Apple has a fix on the way and that it will be available in a future watchOS 10.x update. As for when that will arrive, Apple reportedly said that it's coming soon without giving any more specific information. That leaves plenty of wiggle room to allow Apple to get its fix ready before rolling it out to the public.

If you want to use one of the new Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 wearables that Apple announced in September 2023, or indeed any of those that came earlier, you're going to need to own an iPhone. Or switch from Android, for that matter. Apple would take either of those things, but that might not always have been the plan.

A new report claims that Apple was at one time working to find a way to make the Apple Watch and accompanying iPhone Health app compatible with Androdi phones the world over. The project even had a codename - Project Fennel - but it never saw the light of day.

That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett, writing in a lengthy post discussing the way Apple works in relation to its plans to change the way healthcare works. The Apple Watch is a key aspect of that, and it's said that Apple was keen to bring it and its potentially lifesaving features to all who wanted it. Regardless of what they had in their pocket.

If you skipped the first Apple Watch Ultra and were left underwhelmed by the Apple Watch Ultra 2, it might be time to take the plunge and place an order regardless, especially if you were waiting for Apple to announce the Apple Watch Ultra 3 around September time 2024.

That's because one well-connected analyst believes that Apple isn't going to launch the Apple Watch Ultra 3 next year, or at least, it won't unless it hurries up and gets the ball rolling pretty soon.

That analyst is the supply chain watcher Ming-Chi Kuo and he was speaking in a new Medium post detailing Apple's plans for the Apple Watch through 2024. According to him, Apple has yet to get started on the development of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 which is thought to be unusual. In fact, Kuo goes on to say that if Apple doesn't officially get the ball rolling on Apple Watch Ultra 3 development within the next few weeks it will be "almost confirmed" that there won't be a new Apple Watch Ultra in 2024.

When Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra last month it confirmed that both wearables would support Double Tap. The new feature allows users to double-tap their fingers together to interact with on-screen buttons, perfect for those times when they don't have a free hand to tap the display with a finger. The feature itself wasn't available at launch, with Apple saying that it would ship later in the year. Now, with the release of watchOS 10.1, the new feature is here.

Apple has been beta testing watchOS 10.1 for a few weeks now which has given developers the chance to take the new Double Tap feature for a spin. But this is the first time that it has been made available to the public with Apple announcing its arrival via a press release posted to its Newsroom site.

Apple's announcement shows the new feature being used while also outlining some of the ways it can be used. The Double Tap feature won't work with all apps, for example, but it can be used to answer and end phone calls, pause, resume, and end timers, snooze alarms, and more. We can likely expect the functionality to expand in the future, too.