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.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Google’s Pixel 10 range has leaked. This time Evan Blass did the honors, sharing images of the 10 Pro and Pro XL, the Watch 4, and our first look at the Buds 2A.
This week we’ve seen repeated leaks of the phone designs, the Watch 4’s new charger, and even an official tease, so there won’t be much left to tell when everything launches on August 20th,
Yesterday we learned Google’s new smartwatch might charge on its side, and now Android Headlines has shared official renders of it in various colors, matching almost every hue we’ve seen from the Pixel 10 phones: the vibrant “Indigo” and “Limoncello;” the muted “Moonstone” and “Porcelain;” and “Obsidian” black — plus a return for the Pixel 9A’s “Iris” purple.
More colors are expected, while the watch itself will apparently come in black, silver, gold, and “Moonstone.”
Workout Buddy is Apple’s foray into fitness AI, but the real stars of watchOS 26 are Wrist Flick and Smart Stack.
Google’s AI is rolling out to more wearables, after the company announced it was coming at I/O in May, then debuted it on the Galaxy Watch 8 this month.
Gemini replaces Google Assistant, and should be available from the Play Store for any watch running Wear OS 4 or later that has Assistant. But if your watch doesn’t have Assistant already, you’re not getting the Gemini upgrade.
[9to5google.com]
Meta’s hinted at this kind of wristband before, but The New York Times just published a deeper dive based on a research paper published in Nature. The neat thing is it can “predict” what you’re going to do based on electrical signals sent from your brain through your muscles. This isn’t a new concept. Third-party straps like the Mudra Band do similar things. But according to my colleague Alex Heath, this particular band will launch at Connect with Meta’s Hypernova glasses.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company has officially launched its hearing aid feature, along with the Apple Watch’s sleep apnea detection, in more locations, including Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and others.
Don’t take my word for it — I interviewed Jason Valley, a visually impaired Verge reader, for this week’s Vergecast. Jason tells me how he uses the Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a visual interpreter, and how the Live AI feature has helped him live a more independent life after losing much of his sight. I also chat with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley about why accessible design is universal design. Watch the full episode here.
When the Pixel Watch 4 design leaked looking thicker than we’re used to, we figured Google was doubling down on battery.
According to a new leak from Android Authority, we were right, though with less than 10 percent extra capacity, “doubling” it is not. The site also says Google is sticking with the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip for the third year running while it develops its own chip for the Pixel Watch 5.
[androidauthority.com]
If you missed anything from Samsung’s big event earlier this week, we’ve got the highlights for you to watch right here, along with our first impressions of the new Fold / Flip and Galaxy Watch 8 series.
Victoria Song and Allison Johnson also joined Jake on this week’s episode of The Vergecast to give more of their opinions on everything we saw this week, plus some other tech news.
Gemini’s on the wrist, there’s a new Antioxidant Index, and a slightly updated Ultra, too.
The OpenAI CEO wore a pair of bold glasses while talking to reporters at the Sun Valley conference, and he says they aren’t smart glasses and that he doesn’t like the form factor. Altman briefly teased OpenAI’s upcoming hardware, but only to say that “it’s going to be great.”
He also touches on the talent war between OpenAI and Meta.
On the Vergecast: our classic mic test with over-the-ear headphones, strength training apps, and AI fitness summaries.
Some images that reportedly show the new Galaxy Watch 8 (40mm/44mm dial size), Watch 8 Classic (46mm), and Watch Ultra (47mm) have leaked ahead of the Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday, where they’re expected to be officially unveiled. The round body of the Watch and Watch Classic has notably been updated to the round watch face and squircle body design used by the Ultra, alongside other changes and specification upgrades.
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I regret to say it’s still only athletes who should give a whoop about Whoop.
It’ll cost a combined $149.99 a year, which is roughly 60 percent cheaper than if you were buying both separately. This makes a ton of sense given that Strava announced it had acquired Runna back in April. The caveats are that the bundle is only on an annual basis — no monthly option — and you have to buy through Strava’s app. The good news is that there are refund / subscription extension options if you’re already a Runna or Strava subscriber.
I asked AI for insight into my health data. It gave me a regurgitated book report.
