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because we've gotten to the point where we have to make up solutions to problems that don't exist/aren't already solved by and done better by what is already made
Was there a “problem” before the iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch? I think there are still many “problems” with those product, and I’d say it’s obvious that new kinds of products will come to solve them.
 
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I would love for Apple to release a smart ring. There are occasions when I would prefer to wear a non-smart watch, and still track my activity
 
They really have no idea about the future do they

no one wants to face the reality that we've already hit peak everything. but shareholders want to see infinite growth still so everyone's trying to sell literal junk under the guise of "innovation"

There's a quote from like 1910 lamenting the fact that everything has already been invented.

Nobody knows. It is decided by the people that dare to make it.

The idea of infinite growth comes from the fact that new people are born, and people die. Same thing for companies. If you aren't always growing, your existing customers will eventually die off if nothing else, either literally or their business. It is possible, the company just has to keep changing and growing along with the world.
 
because we've gotten to the point where we have to make up solutions to problems that don't exist/aren't already solved by and done better by what is already made

Eh, that cart with a motor, who needs it, I have this horse already that does just fine.

Sorry, but you arent saying anything new. People have predicted for centuries that we have hit the pinnacle. Physicists said there was nothing new to learn in physics, then this patent clerk came along. Maybe you have heard of him, Einstein? Point is you can’t measure progress day to day, it goes in leaps, and while we may or may not be in a trough, its silly today we have hit the pinnacle.
 
They really have no idea about the future do they

And you conclude this from this article or is that just a general off topic comment? Like a professional photographer will take 100’s of photos to get that one, a good R&D department will try out a lot of things, some quite improbable, to find something that has potential. Like who would have thought combining a small screen with a scroll wheel and a before then unheard of small hard drive to a MP3 player would actually be a thing?

I dont see the point of a camera in my AirPods. But sounds like a fun thing to try.
 
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If true, sounds like it’s just ideas they’re bouncing around. Also, the tech for glasses that they envision won’t come before 2029 and more likely, 2031.
 
How is it that XReal produces such compelling and “future forward” products (True AR glasses with displays, hand tracking, 6DoF, etc.) yet Apple is “exploring” glasses with no AR, and ONLY have cameras and speakers? Based on this I believe Apple has peaked and genuinely has no sense of direction or any unique/game changing products in the pipeline. AirPods with cameras?? (How would it work with certain hairstyles and lengths?) A Home Pod with a screen?? A smart ring?? Where are the REVOLUTIONARY products?
I know Apple's MO is to arrive late to a market with a better product, but I think some of these devices/markets are ones Old Apple would have just passed on (deeming them quick-cash gimmicks with little longterm growth potential as standalone products).

Why spend resources on "Apple Meta Ray Bans" when you have VPro that will eventually replace that entire form-factor?
 
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TLDR: the ring for accurate measures makes sense.

The other day I was reading a user here saying Apple Watch was showing him 88% oxygen saturation despite always being 95% or more in his doctor visits. Don’t know how common is that low accuracy, but the ring makes sense as SpO2 sensors use IR light through skin to measure the red blood cells (hemoglobin). and the top of the wrist where the Apple Watch sensors are (red, green and IR lights with photodiodes to read back) is a place with lots of bones and few skin/veins. That’s why pulsioxymeters are always placed in the finger tip, much easier for IR light to go through and read it. And if by any chance Apple tries reading glucose using IR sensors aswell (like MIT recently did), the finger would also be a much better place than the wrist.
 
They really have no idea about the future do they
Who does? All of the big tech companies are pretty much working on the same things, some more successfully than others. I'd say that Apple's vision for the future is about as good as anyone else's these days.

Personally I don't find any of this wearable stuff remotely interesting or beneficial. The mobile phone + social media made people incredibly narcissistic and self-centered. The effects on mental health cannot be denied. The data is very clear. Teen suicide rates skyrocketed around the time Instagram became popular.

And now we have wearables. Whereas social media made people crazy from constantly comparing themselves and their lives to others, wearables are making us obsessed with our bodies and "health" in very unhealthy ways. I see some value in wearables (unlike social media), but overall I think wearables are yet another detriment to mental health. Obsessing over one's calories, steps, sleep cycles, etc. is not healthy.

I own an Apple Watch and use it for working out. I wear it when I go to the gym or for a hike, mostly so that I can observe my heart-rate and stay within my target zone. After my workout, I take it off. I don't care how many steps I take. I don't care what some (likely inaccurate) algorithm tells me about my sleep. I bought a Garmin Fenix and wore it 24/7 for a few weeks. I returned it because all of the metrics were causing me to feel more anxious about my health, not more empowered.

In the end, all of this wearable tech and all of these metrics aren't going to replace what has worked since the dawn of time. Eat right, move your body, put in the work. That's how you get/stay healthy. If you have a genuine medical condition, I totally understand how a wearable device might be beneficial, even life-saving, but most people do not fall into that category. Obsessing over social media or obsessing over one's wearable metrics isn't mentally healthy. We've probably never been this mentally unhealthy as a society and all of this addictive tech is clearly to blame.
 
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It still amazes me Apple has no clue about the home entertainment and smart home market. They could have developed and released so many cool products by now, cementing Apple at the core of our houses.
Completely agree! Apple should have bought Sonos years ago. HomeKit is a great idea but third-party product quality is hit or miss. A better idea would have been a line of high-quality first-party smart home products that work seamlessly together.
 
Would the “iRing” replace the watch or work with it? Probably won’t buy one right away, but I’m definitely optimistic.
 
I reckon google glasses were far ahead of their time, the cameras out everywhere is more normalised now than it was a decade ago. There have been other products since and now that people aren’t making a big stink about. I also think the more normal form that current smart glasses come in plus the more prominent recording lights you can’t block, are far less off putting and noticeable than that Star Trek-esque product. Things Apple puts on the market, there’s always initial people making fun of it, then it’s normal by the following year.
Aye, that’s a great product, but it’s not something you can wear the whole day and go about your life with, it’s a different use case. The closest thing in my mind is what vuse and tcl are doing with waveguide displays, but the FOV, resolution and colours not to mention extra bulk I imagine Apple won’t consider mature enough. even if I think they’re enough for basic information as a heads up display for notifications and controls, I reckon they’ll wait till they’re good enough for media consumption and AR.
I highly doubt Apple wouldn’t consider that technology mature enough when they released Apple Vision Pro, 2 hour battery pack, heavy, and a battery pack that is attached with a cord. Let’s face it, Apple is no longer “forward thinking”. If what this article is stating is true, Apple is CLUELESS. Based on your statements I know you haven’t tried XReal Air Pro 2. The battery life alone is greater than that of the Apple Vision Pro, is it an all day device? No. But why should it be?
 
If they could make smart rings with health tracking and serve as high def haptic feedback for vision pro I would definitely buy
 
It takes some experimentation to invent it, yes.
What do you mean? When Steve Jobs single handedly invented the iPhone, he did it in one go, because he knew the future. Apple has lost its way.
 
And you conclude this from this article or is that just a general off topic comment? Like a professional photographer will take 100’s of photos to get that one, a good R&D department will try out a lot of things, some quite improbable, to find something that has potential. Like who would have thought combining a small screen with a scroll wheel and a before then unheard of small hard drive to a MP3 player would actually be a thing?

I dont see the point of a camera in my AirPods. But sounds like a fun thing to try.
The article IF true is showing that the direction of the R&D department is being misguided. Just look at what other companies are “trying”. Lenovo just showed off “Project Crystal” a laptop with a transparent microLED screen, and XReal has true AR glasses, that can go from fully transparent to “sunglasses”, and have a BETTER battery life than Apple Vision Pro. Apple is to playing it safe and no longer, THINKS DIFFERENT.
 
Who does? All of the big tech companies are pretty much working on the same things, some more successfully than others. I'd say that Apple's vision for the future is about as good as anyone else's these days.

Personally I don't find any of this wearable stuff remotely interesting or beneficial. The mobile phone + social media made people incredibly narcissistic and self-centered. The effects on mental health cannot be denied. The data is very clear. Teen suicide rates skyrocketed around the time Instagram became popular.

And now we have wearables. Whereas social media made people crazy from constantly comparing themselves and their lives to others, wearables are making us obsessed with our bodies and "health" in very unhealthy ways. I see some value in wearables (unlike social media), but overall I think wearables are yet another detriment to mental health. Obsessing over one's calories, steps, sleep cycles, etc. is not healthy.

I own an Apple Watch and use it for working out. I wear it when I go to the gym or for a hike, mostly so that I can observe my heart-rate and stay within my target zone. After my workout, I take it off. I don't care how many steps I take. I don't care what some (likely inaccurate) algorithm tells me about my sleep. I bought a Garmin Fenix and wore it 24/7 for a few weeks. I returned it because all of the metrics were causing me to feel more anxious about my health, not more empowered.

In the end, all of this wearable tech and all of these metrics aren't going to replace what has worked since the dawn of time. Eat right, move your body, put in the work. That's how you get/stay healthy. If you have a genuine medical condition, I totally understand how a wearable device might be beneficial, even life-saving, but most people do not fall into that category. Obsessing over social media or obsessing over one's wearable metrics isn't mentally healthy. We've probably never been this mentally unhealthy as a society and all of this addictive tech is clearly to blame.
What is strange is that you wear an Apple Watch to know certain metrics and arguably, partially “obsess over”. There are millions of people around the world that workout and have ZERO data about themselves at any point during their day, workout included.

Oddly, you take your Apple Watch off because you find it overwhelming, when you can simply control the information and notifications to limit being “overwhelmed”. There are settings for this. Who is in control in your situation, you or your Apple Watch?
 
Shudder. The concept of humans bristling with ever more cameras, microphones and biosecurity sensors. All connected to the mothership 24/7/365. Enough to make Orwell blush.
 


Apple has considered developing several new wearable devices over the years, including a smart ring for health and fitness, smart glasses, and upgraded AirPods with built-in cameras and more sensors, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

samsung-galaxy-ring.jpg

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring

Below, we recap what Gurman shared about these devices in his Power On newsletter today.

Smart Ring

A few years ago, Apple's industrial design team presented the idea of a "smart ring" focused on health and fitness features to executives on the company's health team, according to Gurman. However, he said Apple is not actively developing the finger-worn device at this time, so it is unclear if it will ever be released.

Gurman said the ring could be a lower-cost alternative to the Apple Watch that could sync health and fitness data with a paired iPhone. It would compete with products like the Oura Ring and Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring.

Smart Glasses

It has long been rumored that Apple eventually hopes to release advanced AR glasses based on its Vision Pro headset. In the meantime, Gurman said the company has considered developing a "less ambitious" pair of smart glasses that would compete with the likes of Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and Amazon's Echo Frames.

Apple has discussed creating glasses that would serve as an "AirPods replacement," with built-in speakers, cameras, health sensors, and AI capabilities, according to Gurman. The glasses are in a "technology investigation" stage within Apple's hardware engineering division, he said, so it sounds like a release is still far off.

AirPods With Cameras

Apple engineers last year started exploring how to fit low-resolution camera sensors into AirPods, according to Gurman. If ever released, he believes these AirPods could offer AI features that "assist people in their daily routines."

Article Link: Apple Has 'Explored' a Smart Ring, Glasses, and AirPods With Cameras
Can't wait for Apple to invent the ring like they did the VR headset
 
I highly doubt Apple wouldn’t consider that technology mature enough when they released Apple Vision Pro, 2 hour battery pack, heavy, and a battery pack that is attached with a cord. Let’s face it, Apple is no longer “forward thinking”. If what this article is stating is true, Apple is CLUELESS. Based on your statements I know you haven’t tried XReal Air Pro 2. The battery life alone is greater than that of the Apple Vision Pro, is it an all day device? No. But why should it be?
No I meant specifically because the xreal lenses aren't clear, they aren't normal glasses. You can't see the outside world unobstructed. It doesn't get out of your way in the way that I believe apple aims it's wearables to be.

Also isn't the Xreal just a display? I don't think it has internal battery and it's reliant on the device that it's mirroring and doesn't have any on board processing and requires a wired "Beam" pack for limited DoF or phone/laptop/etc to work.
 
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