Wearable Computing & Fashion - Page 4

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.

If you bought the Apple Watch Edition back in 2015, you're probably not going to want to keep reading this because we've got some bad news for you.

According to an internal Apple memo seen by MacRumors, the original Apple Watch has now been added to Apple's list of obsolete products. That happened on September 30 which means that you're now using an Apple Watch that you might want to consider replacing. The problem? Some people bought the Apple Watch Edition which, depending on the model bought, could have cost up to $17,000.

The list of obsolete models includes the 18-karat gold model which was discontinued in 2016 after, presumably, nobody bought it. It was replaced in Apple's lineup by the white ceramic model which was arguably nicer to look at and cost a lot less - just $1299.

The Google Pixel Watch 2 is expected to be announced during an event on October 4, with Google also set to show off the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro officially for the first time. Expectations are high for the whole lineup, and now new leaks show just how much of the Fitbit DNA is starting to appear on the Pixel Watch 2.

The Pixel Watch 2 will be Google's second attempt at building a top-quality smartwatch and it didn't do a bad job with the first model that was released last year. However, this new model looks set to lean heavily on Fitbit by adding some key new features that will be familiar to Fitbit wearers.

As noted by 9to5Google, the most obvious is a new Body responses screen which is expected to use a new EDA sensor to help with stress tracking for the first time. We also see new images, shared by X leaker Evan Blass, which show a redesigned interface for heart rate monitoring with a "target zone." It isn't clearly mentioned what that feature will do, although talk of pace training might give us a hint.

Fitbit is back with its new fitness tracker, the Charge 6. And it's now more like a smartwatch than ever with improved features and whole new ones that show Google's fingerprints are all over this thing.

The new fitness tracker was announced as an upgrade to the company's number one product of its type, and it's definitely going from strength to strength with a number of improvements.

At the top of Fitbit's list is an improved heart rate tracker that borrows innovation from Google's Pixel Watch. We're told that heart rate tracking during things like workouts, spinning, and rowing is now up to 60% more accurate, which is noteworthy to be sure.

Alongside the full reveal of the new Meta Quest 3 VR and mixed-reality headset today at Meta Connect 2023, the company unveiled its second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses collection, which "combines iconic style and cutting-edge technology." And they'll be here October 17, starting from USD 299.

Although smart glasses have been around for a while and haven't taken off, Meta's new Ray-Ban collaboration improves on the company's first-gen efforts while adding AI capabilities and revamping the audio with redesigned speakers optimized for bass, higher volume, and directional sound to deliver calls, music, and podcasts in noisy environments.

According to Meta, you'll get "double the bass," which sits on top of the ability to capture POV media with the new ultra-wide 12 MP camera that can capture 1080p videos of up to 60 seconds each. Meta adds that the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform enabled higher-quality photos and video processing and faster access to features.

When Apple released watchOS 10 to the public last week it brought with it a ton of new features as well as tweaks to existing ones. But it turns out it also brought something else to the table - a bug that prevents the Weather app's complications from working properly.

So when Apple released watchOS 10.0.2 yesterday there was a lot of hope. Could this update fix the weird complication issue? It appeared that it indeed did, with people who downloaded the updated reporting that their complications were working once more. Except, soon enough, it all went wrong and the complications stopped working all over again.

The issue appears to be that Weather app complications simply stop working, refusing to display data even when there is data to be found. Tapping the notification opens the Weather app and weather data is indeed present and correct. But it seems that information isn't finding its way through to the complication, causing problems as a result.

Apple's watchOS 10 update has been around for a few days now and it comes preinstalled on the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. And while it brings with it some cool new features, it isn't without its problems. Like the one that basically stops the Weather app's complication from working.

Complications are the little bits of information that you can place on your Apple Watch's watch face, and they're great ways of seeing that information at all times. The weather is a great example of something you might want to do that with but as some are finding out, watchOS 10 has other ideas.

9to5Mac was the first to highlight the issue that appears to happen on both watchOS 10 and watchOS 10.0.1, which means that you won't find a currently available software update to fix it.

When it comes to the world of the smart ring there aren't all that many competitors in the market. The Oura Ring is very likely the one that you've heard of, but there might be a big new player on the way. And it's doing its best to ruin the surprise.

That new player is of course Samsung, and we've been hearing of the potential for a Galaxy Ring for a few weeks now. Details are sparse, but Samsung appears to have not only confirmed that the Galaxy Ring is indeed real but also when it will be announced.

The Galaxy Ring is something that is now almost nailed on for a release sooner rather than later. The Galaxy Ring name was found in the latest build of the Galaxy Wearable Android app with details posted to a Korean forum. There is also a small image showing the ring, but it's just an outline drawing that doesn't show us much.

When Apple announced the Apple Watch Ultra 2 alongside the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, and Apple Watch Series 9 on September 12, it made it immediately available for preorder. And it seems that people have been getting those orders in double-quick because some configurations are very much not available for day-one delivery right now.

Ordering an Apple Watch Ultra 2 right now could see you having to wait a very long time before it arrives on your doorstep, depending on the configuration that you choose. MacRumors notes that some delivery windows are already stretching far beyond the September 22 launch date with some people set to wait almost two months before their new watch will arrive.

The worst-hit models seem to be those that come with the Trail Loop in Orange and Beige for both S/M and M/L sizes. Those Apple Watch Ultra 2 wearables won't arrive for anything up to seven weeks, it seems. Apple Watch Ultra 2 models that are ordered with an Alpine band could be waiting up to three weeks at the time of writing - and those delivery estimates are only going to get worse, too.

Apple is currently unveiling its next-generation Apple Watch, officially called the Apple Watch Series 9, a new watch that comes with an unforgettable new gesture that makes snoozing your alarm that much easier.

At the time of writing this article, Apple is currently livestreaming its Wonderlust event, where its expected to unveil a selection of new products, and what the company has already showcased is the brand new Apple Watch, Apple Watch Series 9. The next-generation Apple Watch comes with an improvement in battery life, with Apple claiming an "all day 18-hour battery life," which can be attributed to the new Apple silicon that comes with a "neural engine" that's separate cores on the processor dedicated to carrying out specific user requests.

Apple noted throughout its presentation that its Dictation feature on the Apple Series 9 is 25x times better than Dictation on the Apple Series 8. Additionally, the Series 9 is able to answer a wider span of Siri questions, such as "How much did I sleep last night?", while also coming with a new maximum brightness of 2,000 nits, doubling the brightness of the Apple Series 8. Probably the most impressive aspect of the Apple Series 9 is the new gesture the company demoed, which Apple calls the "Double Tap".

Apple is ready to hold a special event on September 12 that will see the unveiling of a raft of new products, not least the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. But while the new iPhones will surely get the lion's share of the attention, there are two wearables on the way as well. And now we might know more about what they will have to offer.

Writing as part of a wider piece discussing the September 12 event, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has laid out his expectations for the new Apple Watches. While there are some aspects that won't be changing, there are some that will - and those changes could make a big difference to the way the Apple Watch is used.

Gurman says that while the new Apple Watches won't get a new look, they could get new colors and finishes. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is already rumored to have a new black color, for example. But Gurman does also say that things will change on the inside.

Scientists from Singapore have designed a new way to keep smart contact lenses charged without the inclusion of wireless charging.

It seems like it's only a matter of time before the masses widely adopt smart contact lenses, and whether or not that's in the immediate future or 20 years from now, humans are going to have to think of a way to keep these contact lenses powered. A team of researchers from Singapore may have found the solution, and according to a newly penned paper, the scientists created a new battery that's comprised of biocompatible material, along with a glucose coating that reacts with sodium and chloride ions to generate electricity.

Both sodium and chloride ions are found in human tears. The researchers took the new battery and proved it was capable of generating 45 microamperes at a maximum output of 201 microwatts, which they say is enough to power their smart contact lenses. If you think this is the breakthrough humanity needs to adopt smart contact lenses, you'd be sadly wrong, as the researchers' current design of smart contact lenses is only capable of being charged 200 times before it no longer works.

Google hasn't yet officially announced the Pixel Watch 2 but we know it's coming, and it's likely to arrive alongside the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones. Leaks are starting to bubble to the surface as well, and now a new one appears to have actually come from Google itself.

9to5Google reports that Eos, the codename for the Pixel Watch 2, has now appeared in the Google Play Console device catalog which is a list of Android devices that developers can access and use when they distribute their apps. Whenever a device appears here, it's a sign that it's on its way to release and what's more, it also includes some key specifications for the device as well. That means that we now have more information than we did before, specifically about things like the chip and RAM that will be on offer.

According to the entry the Google Pixel Watch 2 will switch from the Exynos 9110 chip that was used in the previous model. It'll be replaced by a Qualcomm SW5100 which is thought to be a standard Snapdragon W5 chip.

Those of us who lift weights don't typically get much help from our fitness watch in terms of actually tracking a workout properly, and that's true of the Apple Watch - but a new sensor that might be inbound for a future model could really help here.

MyHealthyApple spotted a job listing in which a future strain sensor is mentioned, floating the idea that this could be an addition for an Apple Watch down the line.

As it stands, Apple's Workout app's strength training feature only tracks active calories and heart rate, which is a pretty limited set of data to work out how much you're exerting yourself when lifting a weight. Sometimes even with heavy weights, your heart rate won't go up that much necessarily (certainly not as much as when hitting the cardio hard).

When Apple announces the Apple Watch Series 9 next month we can expect it to be all about the spec bump rather than any big new design changes, according to a new leak. That means that anyone who had been hoping for a big change in the way the Apple Watch Series 9 looks is set to be left disappointed. Maybe next year!

This is according to a new MacRumors report based on a post by Weibo leaker Instant Digital. According to them, the Apple Watch Series 9 will be "basically unchanged" when compared to the model that is currently available. That model is the Apple Watch Series 8, which itself was basically unchanged from the Apple Watch Series 7 that came before it.

This is all in terms of design, of course. There are still expected to be reasons to buy the new Apple Watch. We'd been told by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman to expect the new Apple Watches to feature an upgraded S9 chip that will offer improved performance when compared to older models. This will be the first time that the Apple Watches have been updated, in terms of processing power, in a number of years. And while the wearables might not change that much in terms of aesthetics the improved performance will be most welcome.