Wearable

Des Yap did some initial testing of the new $649.99 T-Rex Dual Solar from Amazfit — the first endurance watch with a bright and colorful OLED to be fitted with teeny-weeny solar panels. The ring around the display can extend life a bit, but the larger rear panel around the heart-rate sensor can add a few percentage points of charge when you arrive at camp, or when the watch is slung off a running vest, so maybe you can leave your ultralight power bank home on your next multi-day adventure.

If you’re worried about the green LEDs being a bigger distraction in a dark theater now that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 measure your heart rate every five seconds, Theater Mode now reduces readings to five minute intervals while still silencing alerts and keeping the screen off. But you can override that new feature in the Apple Watch’s settings to restore the continuous monitoring.

They’ve opened “at least one criminal probe” following complaints about the glasses being used to film women on the street in public without their consent, Reuters reports. France’s data protection authority also says businesses are “increasingly” asking if they can ban smart glasses at work, similar to a ban under consideration in Australia.

Late last night, we published my video about trying Snap’s Specs AR glasses at the company’s headquarters. The hardware, which costs $2,195, is interesting, but the experience of actually using them was rather finicky. Despite yesterday’s splashy launch event, the Specs also don’t yet have a firm release date beyond sometime this fall.

Spiegel just wrapped us up. I got to try the Specs, check out my story!

Heap is a Specs “visionary” (a celebrity partner), and she’s interacting with digital elements she can see in the Specs to make a song in real-time. It’s all very sci-fi.

Spiegel is trying it out now. He’s been flipping through a virtual book to try out different experiences, and got a letter from a virtual owl that was “sitting” on his arm. He’s also doing a Wingardium Leviosa spell.

The “SPECS First Look” opens at Westfield Century City in LA on October 1st, where you can “experience SPECS in person, meet members of the team, and check out what we’re building,” Snap says. Meta has also used pop-up shops as a way to show off its hardware.

The case, available as part of a bundle for $2,395 (a $200 increase over the Specs on their own), gives you an option to more easily get internet while wearing the Specs. In the US, Snap is working with Verizon to offer data plans and financing options.

After a brief interlude about how Specs can work in enterprise environments, Spiegel is pitching how Specs can help you learn things. Spiegel is down a live demo showing himself practicing drawing. He’s using a real pen to trace a digital alien mascot that’s layered over a real piece of paper.

I usually can’t see his eyes — they’re hidden behind the digital content he’s looking at.

We’ll see how this goes! Right now, he’s showing some menus, including quick access items that he pulled up by looking at his palm.

He’s giving an overview of the Specs AR glasses, which were initially announced in June. He says we’ll get live demos.

Made a friend walking in the door. I should have asked what he’s looking at.

The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.

9to5Google spotted this FCC entry for the Goertek-made SZGG8BL6, which lines up with other Google devices. Like the Fitbit Charge, it has Bluetooth and GNSS, but lacks Wi-Fi, while its e-label suggests it has a screen and could run wearOS similar to a mysterious wearable spotted in Google ads.

The developer of the iPhone app told Business Insider that he examined the Bluetooth signals emitted by popular smart glasses to establish corresponding fingerprints. The app can then alert users when a pair of potential “pervert glasses” are nearby.

It’s not too surprising that most of Apple’s wristwear is now listed as unavailable on its website for shipment or pickup (but not all — we did see some Ultra models available), with a product event scheduled for tomorrow, but MacRumors points out that the value-priced version of the Apple Watch is unavailable too.