Wearable

Foley’s pivot to founding a bespoke rug startup was reported a while back, but he’s remarkably candid about what he’s been up to since leaving Peloton in this New York Post interview.

“I’m working hard so that I can try and make money again... because I don’t have much left. And so I’m hungry and humble.”

But why rugs?

“I love rugs, I love interior design.”

“Simple, you throw the entire device away.”

So says iFixit of smart rings, including the new Samsung Galaxy Ring, in its teardown blog for the wearable. The site concludes that there’s “no question” that Galaxy Rings are unrepairable, destined to become part of our continued e-waste problem.

Apple has rolled out a new version of iOS 17.6.1 that fixes a bug that had prevented users from enabling its Advanced Data Protection feature, as spotted by MacRumors.

watchOS 10.6.1 is also out with a fix for a bug that kept users from accessing Apple Fitness Plus through the watch, the outlet separately writes.

Apple is still planning to refresh the entry-level and mid-tier AirPods models this fall, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote today in the subscriber-only version of Power On, reaffirming his earlier reporting.

What he didn’t mention is a 2024 AirPods Max refresh he’d also mentioned before. It’s been nearly four years since they were released — one hopes they’re still on Apple’s roadmap.

In the latest public beta for Google Maps, the app will automatically download maps, apparently for your local area, and you’ll have the option to delete them, according to 9to5Google.

Without the update, you’d need an LTE version of wearables like the Pixel Watch 2 for turn-by-turn directions without a paired phone nearby. (The Pixel Watch 3 already supports offline maps.)

Peloton announced today that starting in September, Fitbit Premium users will get free access to more than 10 types of Peloton classes, including those for strength training, Pilates, running, and boxing.

That’s all part of a “multi-year” agreement between Peloton and Google. Peloton members will also be offered deals on the Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit Charge 6.

IEEE Spectrum’s Tekla S. Perry spoke to Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman, as well as designers and engineers to get the complete story on how the company’s first clip-on fitness tracker — inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s motion-tracking capabilities — came to be.

The rumored 45mm model will start at $50 more than the $349 price for the 41mm model, according to Android Headlines. With Google’s next big hardware event coming up on August 13th, we probably won’t have to wait long to see if that pricing is accurate.

Fitbit published a study in Nature Medicine using 6.5 million nights of sleep data from users that shows that sleep quality impacts long term health. In a nutshell, the worse your sleep quality, the more likely you are to have conditions like sleep apnea, obesity, migraines, high blood pressure, etc. You get it.

I won’t blame you for thinking “Duh” but this stuff can be helpful for researchers as it gives hard data to what we already know.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Z Flip 6, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Ring, and Galaxy Buds 3 revealed at Samsung’s Unpacked event went on sale globally today, though some regions / carriers may vary.

The exception is the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which are delayed (until August 28th in the US) due to quality issues with the removable ear tips.