Kuo: Jony Ive's Futuristic OpenAI Device Like a Neck-Worn iPod Shuffle

[MacRumors]

The big news in the technology world this week is that ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working more closely with Apple's former design chief Jony Ive on a futuristic AI device. The company is remaining tight lipped about the device, but Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared some alleged details about its design.

In a social media post today, Kuo said the device will be "slightly larger" than Humane's discontinued AI Pin. He said the device will look "as compact and elegant as an iPod Shuffle," which was Apple's lowest-priced, screen-less iPod. The design of the iPod shuffle varied over the years, going from a compact rectangle to a square.

Like the iPod shuffle, Kuo said OpenAI's device will not have a screen, but it would connect to smartphones and computers. The device will be equipped with microphones for voice control, and it will have cameras that can analyze the user's surroundings.

He said that users will be able to wear the device around their necks, like a necklace, whereas the AI Pin can be attached to clothing with a clip.

Kuo expects OpenAI's device to enter mass production in 2027, and the final design and specifications might change before then.

It remains to be seen if the device will be a success, or if it will go the way of the AI Pin and other attempts at going beyond the smartphone. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman is certainly confident, as he has tested the device at home and believes it will be "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." Quite the claim.

Article Link: Kuo: Jony Ive's Futuristic OpenAI Device Like a Neck-Worn iPod Shuffle

 

[sniffies]

Can you pin it on a chest as an option?

 

[aeralto]

A screenless device just is not appealing to me. I have enough trouble with Siri as is.

I need to be able to have conversations that don’t involve me stating my personal business out loud, and that requires me to have my phone, making this device pointless.

 

[HouseLannister]

I am all for a watch-like device or glasses, but I am not wearing AI-jewelry.

 

[awshucks]

Am I the only one excited and not complaining about the new product?

 

[Rank Sarpac]

Aaaaaand nope. I’m sorry, I just can’t see any tech working mainstream that immediately labels you as an invasive tech nerd to other people. Even if it sounds potentially exciting.

 

[nottorp]

and it will have cameras that can analyze the user's surroundings.

IveHoles like the olde Google GlassHoles?

 

[locovaca]

Good luck, I will never own one.

 

[gpat]

It's probably going to be outsold by the 2025 iPod Shuffle itself.
Which doesn't exist.

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Won’t last, the technology is not there yet to make it appealing. In 50 years, we gonna have devices that can read your brainwaves, thats gonna be cool.

 

[Andres Cantu]

One more device to charge and carry. Won’t catch with the mainstream imo.

 

[Billy_Bob]

People don't keep necklaces on their desk or in their pockets. The new device was previously described as something that could be in pocket or on desk. But I already have an iPhone in my pocket or on my desk... so wouldn't it make the most sense to add this functionality to my iPhone instead of creating a new device? I wonder whether this new company was founded with the intent to develop a technology that Apple could purchase and integrate into future iPhone or AppleWatch models?

 

[adamlbiscuit]

I don’t want to have to talk out-loud to it. I only ever talk out-loud to voice assistants when I’m at home on my own. Rest of the time, I want to type at which point I’d need to get out my phone, which then defeats the purpose of having a supposed AI necklace.

I’m not writing it off but as an initial reaction, this is something I think is gonna be an issue for a lot of people.

Thinking out loud for a moment, I guess I do wonder if people felt the same about talking into the first ever brick-sized mobile phones. At least they were talking to an actual person on the other side.

 

[azentropy]

As of now I just don't see wanting to carry around yet another device. It is one of the reasons the previous similar devices failed (along with the sucking).

 

[VulchR]

Great! Another auto-surveillance device that might record you even if you aren't wearing one. At least people pointing their phones at you is a little more obvious.

 

[Slix]

iPod mentioned?!


I used to wear my iPod shuffle around my neck. I was probably the coolest kid at school.

 

[Plerf]

Why not simply a medallion for the center of your forehead?

 

[nottorp]

Am I the only one excited and not complaining about the new product?

Maybe also the only one who doesn't remember the emoji keyboard that Ive crammed into the mbpros, making them anything but pro (not necessarily because of the touch bar but because they keyboard was unusable for typing and died when it met the first speck of dust).

And the only one who doesn't remember bars displaying "no glassholes" when Google had those camera glasses.

And possibly an "AI" believer.

 

[WWP99]

A solution in search of a problem...

 

[frenchcamp49er]

AI clown nose

 

[zencowboy]

correct me if wrong...but wouldn't ...eventually...Apple Intelligence on iPhone with more content/app/and surrounding awareness....just do what this thing wants to do?

 

[Falco McGregor]

Boy did some tech influencers really get over their skis on this thing yesterday. It’s two years away and appears to be in a form factor that has already failed. Sure, it might work, but it’s amazing to see all the people who bash Apple for foolishly hyping features not ready to ship dropping to their knees like shipwrecked sailors ready to drink seawater for a nonexistent product just because they’re bored with the current state of tech hardware.

 

[rickdollar]

Wrist? Sure. Finger? Eh, maybe. Neck? Ew.

 

[spazzcat]

Wasn't this already tried and failed miserably.

 

[grandchester]

People don't keep necklaces on their desk or in their pockets. The new device was previously described as something that could be in pocket or on desk. But I already have an iPhone in my pocket or on my desk... so wouldn't it make the most sense to add this functionality to my iPhone instead of creating a new device? I wonder whether this new company was founded with the intent to develop a technology that Apple could purchase and integrate into future iPhone or AppleWatch models?

Agreed. Either add functionality to my phone (or watch) or replace it. I'm not carrying around another device. The only other alternative is the glasses form factor but that is because I already wear glasses. That won't work for everyone.