Apple's next wearable frontier

PLUS: Lenovo's see-through laptop

Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.

Apple’s already seen major success in the wearables market, but a new land grab may be on the horizon.

The tech giant is reportedly exploring new smart devices like rings and glasses — with a potential ecosystem expansion that could put competitors on notice. Let’s investigate…

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Apple eyes wearable market with smart ring, glasses

  • Lenovo debuts see-through laptop

  • 7 New products

  • Samsung shows off Galaxy Ring

  • Xiaomi showcases SU7 Max EV Tesla competitor

  • Intuitive Machines, JAXA moon landing updates

Read time: 3 minutes

TODAY’S HEADLINES

APPLE

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Apple is exploring a range of new wearable devices, including a fitness-focused smart ring, AirPods with cameras, and even lower-cost glasses.

The details:

  • Gurman said Apple engineers have discussed smart glasses to compete with Meta and Amazon, with features like audio, integrated AI, and camera functionality.

  • Apple has also explored adding enhanced functionality to AirPods, including cameras, AI, and health-tracking tech.

  • A ring concept would be focused on health functionality, targeting users who want to track health data without having to wear a watch.

  • Apple’s wearable sector is already highly profitable, with the Apple Watch and AirPods accounting for 10% of overall revenue.

Why it matters: With Apple's existing success in wearables, competing with the likes of Samsung’s upcoming ring and Meta’s existing glasses makes sense. New wearables could both deepen product integration within the ecosystem and attract new users looking for Apple’s magic touch to product development.

TOGETHER WITH OCTOAI

The Rundown: OctoAI makes it simple to evaluate, optimize, and scale the newest AI models at the best price/performance.

Why flexibility matters:

  • LLMs are getting better, faster, and cheaper

  • New models are launched nearly every week

  • Quickly productionizing models is ‘do or die’ to compete

OctoAI’s singular API will help you swap cost-optimized endpoints into your app at scale.

LENOVO

Image source: Wired

The Rundown: Lenovo just unveiled Project Crystal at Mobile World Congress 2024, a fully-functioning concept laptop with a transparent micro-LED display that offers a literal clear view of what’s behind it.

The details:

  • The 17" prototype runs Windows with a bright, transparent MicroLED display surrounded by Gorilla Glass.

  • The concept features an AR camera for overlaying graphics and a digital keyboard for input.

  • Reviewers questioned the utility of the transparent screen, highlighting potential privacy concerns and impractical features.

  • Lenovo’s other announcements included a new line of ThinkPad AI-infused PCs, featuring built-in access to Microsoft’s Copilot assistant.

Why it matters: Lenovo is known for pushing the boundaries of tech with experimental features, and this laptop seems to fit the bill. While it may not be a mainstream product any time soon, the prototype sparks discussion on how AR and transparent displays can integrate into future devices.

NEW PRODUCTS

📝 AFFiNE- An all-in-one workspace for dynamic note-taking, tasks, visualized mindmaps and presentations (link)

📣 Slogan Generator- Summarize your marketing in one sentence and grab audience attention effortlessly (link)

🎥 HeyEditor- A cutting-edge online platform with advanced AI tools for video and photo editing (link)

💸 Rupt- Monitor and prevent account sharing while preserving seamless user experiences (link)

🕺VideoTok- Create viral TikToks and Shorts from text-to-video with AI (link)

🗣️ Immersive Translate- Bring bilingual subtitles to YouTube, Vimeo, and 50+ platforms with near instant translations (link)

🔖 Bookmarks- A home for collecting and retrieving the most precious hyperlinks (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

SNIPPETS

Google rolled out 9 new Android updates, including AI-powered message summaries and captions, enhanced Maps features, new health tracking integrations, and more.

Samsung officially showed off its Galaxy Ring at MWC 2024, entering the smart ring wearables market with sleep tracking at the forefront.

Xiaomi unveiled its new SU7 Max EV, boasting a 2.78 second 0-100 km/h speed and positioning the company as a competitor to Tesla.

Nintendo will reportedly launch its Switch console successor in early 2025.

Japan’s JAXA Moon lander sent a surprising message back to Earth, surviving the lunar night after an initial rough landing risked permanently losing power.

Cybersecurity firm Cisco announced it is laying off over 700 employees as part of reorganization efforts.

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander sent images from its sideways landing, but will likely cease operations within a day due to limited sunlight reaching its solar panels.

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THAT’S A WRAP

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