TechCapsules

Reviewers have begun evaluating Apple’s September‑release wearables, the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, noting notable health‑sensor upgrades and extended battery life. Both models incorporate the new S11 chip, more frequent heart‑rate and HRV measurements, and redesigned health sensors that deliver readings within two beats per minute of chest‑strap monitors. The Series 12 starts at $399, adds features such as Readiness, Sound Recognition, Live Rewind, and Siri Recap—most of which rely on Apple’s contested Audio Intelligence—but many [...]

Apple unveiled the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, keeping their familiar looks while introducing a new Health Sensing System that captures heart‑rate data every five seconds, regardless of activity. The Series 12 offers updated finishes—aluminum (Dark Bronze, Light Gold, Black, Space Gray), titanium (Radiant Gold, Natural) and ceramic (Night Blue, Pearl White)—and a slightly wider case with a 2% smaller display area. The Ultra 4 retains its titanium finishes (Natural, Black) and shares the same advanced sensing hardware. Both models [...]

Lumus, the Israeli augmented‑reality optics maker, announced a strategic partnership with China‑based Crystal‑Optech to secure components for its next‑generation AR displays. Under the agreement, Crystal‑Optech will manufacture high‑precision waveguides and diffractive elements in its Shenzhen facility, while Lumus will provide optical designs and quality‑control protocols. The collaboration aims to reduce lead times, diversify sourcing away from European suppliers, and support Lumus’s planned expansion of production capacity for its “Lightfield” glasses slated for launch in 2025. Both companies [...]

Meta is reportedly preparing a version of its upcoming AI‑enabled smart glasses that omits built‑in cameras, offering a privacy‑focused alternative to the standard model. The glasses will retain Ray‑Ban‑style frames, support phone calls, and integrate Meta’s conversational AI chatbot, but will lack the video‑capture hardware that has drawn criticism from privacy advocates. Sources familiar with the product roadmap say the camera‑free option aims to address concerns that wearers could inadvertently record bystanders, a controversy that has intensified [...]

Meta has announced a new smart glasses model, Luna, that omits built‑in cameras to address privacy concerns. The device will feature six microphones and a side button to activate Meta’s AI chatbot and Muse, its consumer agent. Luna is slated for a potential reveal at Meta Connect in Menlo Park next week. The move follows backlash over the company’s camera‑equipped glasses, which critics labeled “pervert glasses.” Meta’s Reality Labs continues to post significant losses, underscoring the financial [...]

Apple’s watchOS 27 introduces a new Siri app that, for the first time, preserves chat history across devices. The feature allows users to reference prior queries and resume conversations without restarting, improving natural interaction. While the iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions support seamless thread continuation, the Apple Watch version displays chat threads but lacks a direct UI to continue them. Users can still append to a thread by invoking Siri via the Digital Crown or voice command while [...]

Google began rolling out the September 2026 Feature Drop for Wear OS, delivering a software update to Pixel Watch 2, 3 and 4 models. The update introduces “Gemini Personalization,” which draws on users’ past conversations and data from Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube and Photos to generate more contextual responses, using a hybrid offline profile and live online retrieval. New voice prompts such as “What’s on my calendar today” and “Find the tracking number in my email” become available across [...]

Apple’s new Series 12 Watch introduces “Siri Recap,” a feature that continuously listens to conversations and summarizes them, and “Live Rewind,” which retrieves the last 15 seconds of audio as text. The watch also automatically identifies sounds like alarms, sirens, and doorbells. Apple claims the audio is processed in a secure hardware enclave, the Secure Exclave, preventing the company from accessing raw recordings. Encrypted audio can be sent to a paired iPhone for text conversion, but remains [...]