11 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Wearable

The Verge is covering the rapidly evolving world of wearables. We test everything from smartwatches like the Apple Watch, to smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans, to fitness trackers like the Oura Ring to find out which ones deliver on their promises. Follow along to find out whether covering our bodies in screens and sensors can actually make us smarter and healthier.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Would you trust an emotional surveillance ring if its makers had leaked user data?

TechCrunch found that the RAW dating app actually exposed its user’s personal information and location data. That’s... not great! As for why that even matters, earlier this week I wrote about how the folks behind the app are also creating a smart ring for couples that some have described as a “dystopian loyalty tracker.” The company has since fixed the bug, and the RAW Ring doesn’t exist yet. But this definitely isn’t a great look.

Would you wear a smart ring that proves you’re not a cheater?

RAW Ring founder Marina Anderson claims this emotional surveillance could help deepen relationships.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Victoria Song
The OG Apple Watch first shipped 10 years ago today.

That’s a momentous milestone. Apple isn’t doing a huge thing today — it’s just launched Global Close Your Rings day and you can pick up a physical pin in store if you do. That said, today’s a fun day for a blast from the past and re-reading The Verge’s very first Apple Watch review. (And if you’re so inclined, a little retrospective I wrote just before the Series 10 launch in September.)

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Strava will predict your race times.

The feature is part of “Performance Predictions,” a feature for subscribers that uses a “machine learning model” to give you estimated finish times for 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon races, Strava says.

A screenshot showing Strava’s “Performance Predictions.”
Image: Strava
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The new Pebble’s new charger.

Designed by Nomad, the charger’s magnetic design looks similar to the one it created for the original Pebble watches eight years ago, complete with a USB-C port instead of a permanently attached cable so you can connect your own.

A person holding a magnetic USB-C charger for a smartwatch.
The Core 2 Duo smartwatch’s USB-C charging dongle is designed by Nomad.
Image: X
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Google’s April Pixel Watch update is back after several buggy software rollouts.

After the September Pixel Watch update to Wear OS 5 ran into issues, Google released a fix in November and said its wearables would have to wait until March for another update.

However, that March update and Google’s first attempt at an April update introduced some bugs of their own, and now it’s rolling out the April update again (version BP1A.250305.019.W8) to hopefully get Pixel Watch owners on Wear OS 5.1 without all of those problems.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
This mechanical watch was inspired by a transforming ‘80s wearable toy.

One of the more obscure toys of the ‘80s was a line of digital watches from Japan’s Takara called the Kronoform that could transform into vehicles, creatures, and even a robot. Hautlence’s modern take trades digital timekeeping for a self-winding mechanical movement featuring a tourbillon to improve accuracy.

The Retrovision ‘85 is also made from 3D-printed titanium instead of plastic, and since just eight are being made, you can expect a steep price tag.

<em>The Hautlence Retrovision ‘85 watch can be removed from its strap and transformed into a tiny robot.</em>
<em>The timepiece is made from 3D-printed titanium and has a power reserve of 72 hours, but also features a self-winding mechanism extending its run time while it’s worn.</em>
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The Hautlence Retrovision ‘85 watch can be removed from its strap and transformed into a tiny robot.
Image: Hautlence
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
ByteDance is apparently making smart glasses with AI-powered features, too.

The glasses seem like they could be similar to Meta’s Ray-Bans, based on a report from The Information. It’s unclear when they might come out or what regions they could be available in.

Buckle up for more subscriptionsBuckle up for more subscriptions
Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Another look at Google’s XR ambitions.

Android XR head Shahram Izadi just gave a TED talk showing off prototype smart glasses with a mini display and Project Moohan. In it, Izadi showed the prototype smart glasses performing live translation and scanning a book. Axios wrote up a small summary, but so far it sounds an awful lot like the hands-on I got with Android XR and Project Moohan back in December (which you can read below).

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
A fix for delayed Pixel Watch notifications.

Google’s April 2025 Pixel Watch update notes say that it “resolves an issue where some users were seeing delayed notifications on their watch.”

Users reported some later-than-expected notifications with the March 2025 update, according to Android Police.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Cory Booker wore an Oura Ring during his 25-hour speech.

According to The New York Times, his ring asked him if he was working out and showed that “his heart rate shot up to over 100 beats per minute.”

100bpm is the higher end of what’s considered a normal resting heart rate. The fact Booker considers that “shooting up” probably means his resting rate is lower. The ring asking if he was exercising indicates the device correctly identified Booker experienced an unusual for him amount of physiological stress.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is an awful lot like the Vivoactive 5.

Just don’t mistake it for a new Vivomove, Vivosport, or Vivosmart. (Why does Garmin do this!?)

In all seriousness, I spent some time going through the specs on the new $299 Vivoactive 6 versus the Vivoactive 5. There’s very few differences. You’re getting a handful of extra software features that weren’t around when the Vivoactive 5 launched, more activity profiles and GPS systems, a slightly slimmer form factor, and new colors. There’s no EKG compatibility, however. If you’re looking to upgrade, they go on sale April 4th.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Get a load of this smart manicure.

Last week I reviewed a smart nail chip that I saw on some trashy reality TV. This week, I give you a social video demonstrating how some of its NFC-powered features work. My favorite is playing the John Cena theme song every time I destroy my spouse in an argument.

Want to feel like a spy? Stick a smart chip in your manicure

5

Verge Score

Impractical party trick? Most definitely. But if you’re creative, a NFC nail chip is a cool wearable experiment.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Oura’s AI chatbot is officially out of beta.

Dubbed Oura Advisor, the chatbot combines generative AI with your actual data so you can ask it about your long-term trends and patterns, as well as general guidance on health matters. This is the second feature from the company’s experimental Oura Labs program — the first being Symptom Radar.

AI-powered features are the latest craze in health and fitness tech. Garmin, Strava, Samsung, and Whoop have also recently done the same.

Render of Oura Ring advisor talking about a user’s readiness score with a background of a woman in whit walking.
Image: Oura
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Apple’s future M chip plans come into focus.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter notes Apple’s push for an AI agent-powered “Project Mulberry” upgrade for its Health app next year, and that its its long-running attempt noninvasive glucose monitoring via Apple Watch sensors is still “many years away.” (Here’s more on why that’s been so difficult).

But if you’re into hardware, he reports new M5 iPad Pros are already in testing in addition to work on 2027-targeted M6 editions with Apple’s in-house modems, and while the regularly scheduled MacBook Pro M5 refresh is “a lock” for this year, a design overhaul may not come until its M6 update in 2026.

Wes Davis
Wes Davis
There may not be a plastic Apple Watch SE after all.

Apple has been expected to switch to a plastic case for its entry level smartwatch, but that plan is reportedly “in serious jeopardy,” according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Gurman writes:

The design team doesn’t like the look, and the operations team is finding it difficult to make the casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis.