Wearable Computing & Fashion - Page 5

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.

Apple's 2023 is far from over and there are big things expected in the final few months of the year. Alongside the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, there's ongoing talk of new wearables as well. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 seem like a given at this point, but anyone hoping for the arrival of a new Apple Watch SE looks set to be left very disappointed indeed.

While we saw Apple release an updated Apple Watch SE alongside the Apple Watch Series 8 in 2022, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that we won't see a repeat performance when the Apple Watch Series 9 arrives this fall. Writing in the weekly Power on newsletter Gurman said that Apple is settling into a two-year release pattern for the budget wearable, leaving 2023 out in the cold. If you want to buy a new Apple Watch SE, you're going to have to make do with the current model or wait another year to fall 2024.

That is of course bad news for those who wanted to pick up a refreshed $249 Apple Watch SE this September, and it means that the watch will be even more out of date by the time a new model arrives. The current Apple Watch SE is already missing multiple features that are available on high-end models. Those features include ECG support, an always-on display, a blood oxygen sensor, and wrist temperature monitoring. The display is also less impressive, featuring thicker bezels and smaller cases than the best Apple Watches.

If you like the look of the Apple Watch Ultra but that silver finish just isn't going to work for you, we have good news. It appears that there might be a new color arriving with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 this year and it's going to be a more moody option for those who prefer a darker color.

The new color would be a dark titanium look which is no surprise given the fact that the watch is made from titanium. But the darker look could be closer to the Space Gray Apple Watch that we're all so familiar with, and that's absolutely something that we can get behind.

In fact, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writing in the weekly Power On newsletter says that Apple had originally looked at the darker color option back in 2022. It was designed ahead of the original Apple Watch Ultra release but was ultimately canned because Apple's designers didn't like the appearance. It isn't clear yet whether that has now changed since that opinion, but Gurman says that the dark titanium look could pop up again in 2023.

If you plan on picking up a new Apple Watch Ultra 2 or Apple Watch Series 9 when they arrive later this year you're going to be in for a good time, it seems. Because for the first time in years, these new watches are going to have an upgraded chip that should make them much faster to use.

That speed improvement will hopefully ensure that apps load more quickly and data refreshes with fewer hiccups than can be the case on other Apple Watches. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, reports that both new Apple Watches announced this year will use a new S9 chip, and it'll actually be new this time.

While Apple has increased the number of its S-series Apple Watch chips every year, the last time there was a notable speed increase was right back in 2020 with the S6 inside the Apple Watch Series 6. Since then Apple has made minor changes to the chip without improving performance noticeably. Gurman says that will change this year and that we should look forward to a sizable performance bump thanks to the upgraded S9.

The Google Pixel Watch, like the Apple Watches that came before it, has multiple watch faces that users can choose from when wearing their wrist computer. With attention having now turned to the Pixel Watch 2 it seems that Google has been working on some new watch faces that will be offered on that wearable.

According to a new report, there will be as many as four new watch faces, all of which will be exclusive to the Pixel Watch 2. That means that buyers of the original Pixel Watch will have to upgrade to the new model if they want to enjoy the new watch faces.

The watch faces have been leaked by Android Authority which claims to have come about them by way of a Google insider. They're said to be an anonymous source inside Google, so it's difficult to know how legitimate this leak is at this point.

Rumors continue to point to Samsung announcing its own fitness ring similar to the Oura Ring and a new report claims that the company will make a decision on mass production as soon as next month.

The report claims that the development of the Galaxy Ring has been in the concept stage, with mass production not planned to kick off until August. However, it appears to suggest that Samsung hasn't yet decided that mass production will actually happen which could mean that the project might be delayed or ditched entirely.

The report, courtesy of the Korean supply chain watchers at The Elec, also notes that even if the mass production is given the go-ahead for August it might e some time before the product can actually go on sale. The wearable would need to go through all of the testing and licensing to ensure that it can be used to measure heart rates and other medical data. It's likely that the Galaxy Ring will keep track of things like blood oxygen levels, too.

Samsung might have only just announced the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but it's already added a new version to the lineup, Say hello to the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Golf Edition complete with a green rotating bezel.

The new model is only available on Samsung's Korean website right now and it comes with special features that make it more suited to use on the golf course. Those included a special band and caddy app to help people work on their handicap when out on the course.

The new watch is essentially the same as the standard Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, however. That means that it comes in 43mm and 47mm configurations and features a Super AMOLED display with a 432 x 432 or 480 x 480 resolution depending on the size that you choose. It also features a Sapphire Crystal cover to ensure that nothing gets scratched. Other specifications include a 300/435mAh battery and Exynos W930 chip. The whole thing is powered by Google Wear OS 4, too.

The Apple Watch is getting some new software this fall when watchOS 10 finally ships. The update was announced during WWDC on June 5 and it's been in developer beta ever since. The latest beta includes one of the features that wowed everyone when it was previewed - a new animated Snoopy watch faces.

Apple has only just added the new animated watch faces and people have been enjoying it ever since the updated beta arrived a day or two ago.

The new watch faces show Snoopy and Woodstock but rather than be static images they're animated in such a way that they react to the time, The result is that the watch hands can knock the pair over while they're in position and the effect is as cute as it sounds.

They'd both been rumored for months but the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic are both finally here, and they both look pretty sweet.

Samsung announced the two wearables during its Unpacked event alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5.

While Samsung did announce two watches, they're both essentially identical in terms of functions. Where things differ is in the aesthetics and price, with the Galaxy Watch 6 adding an overall larger case size and a rotating bezel.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic are expected to be announced in less than a week now and new details have leaked that show the specifications that we can expect from these devices.

Samsung is set to announce the new wearables during the Unpacked event on July 26 and leaker SnoopyTech has now shared details of what they believe to be the specifications of the watches. There's a lot of data here, and you can see the full details in the tweet embedded below.

According to these leaks we can expect the following main specifications: