’Tis the season for AI apps and AI gadgets

’Tis the season for AI apps and AI gadgets

Image: William Joel / The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 21, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, sorry for all the bad jokes, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

I’ve been in Vegas all week for CES, the annual extravaganza of gadgets and gizmos aplenty, whozits and whatsits galore. Most of what’s here isn’t yet available for purchase (and a lot of it never will be), but I love getting a peek into what the tech industry is dreaming about, so I figured I should share some of the best new stuff here. I’ve also been reading about how Cyberpunk 2077 turned into a hit, learning some new tech minimalism ideas, watching Patriot and rewatching Archer, and trying out a new homescreen layout after discovering the Blank Spaces app for iOS.

I also have for you some awesome updates to old apps, a couple of movies worth streaming this weekend, all the AI silliness you could imagine, an Android launcher worth trying, and much more. Big week, lots of gadgets! Let’s go.

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be into right now? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you want to get Installer in your inbox a day early, subscribe here.)

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The Drop

• The GPT Store. I still hate that we’ve allowed “GPT” to become the standard name for AI tools. But alas. OpenAI’s app store is already full of GPTs to help you with research, brainstorming, tattoo design for some reason, and lots more. Lots of fun stuff to play with.
• Clear 2. The original Clear launched more than a decade ago, and there’s still no to-do list app as fun to use. I’m digging the new version (which is iPhone and iPad-only), too, with all its customizable colors and icons and sounds.
• True Detective Season 4. Some of True Detective has been near-perfect television. Some of it has been, uh, bad. But I have high hopes for this season, both because Jodie Foster and Kali Reis are starring and because “mysterious disappearance in an Alaska research station” is a premise you just can’t ruin.
• BBEdit 15. The 30-year-old text editor keeps chugging along, and it keeps being great. The new version has some power-user organizational tools, a really neat ChatGPT interface, and my favorite new thing: a mini map that makes it way easier to find stuff in a huge document.
• Ayaneo Next Lite. I’m convinced 2024 is going to be The Year of The Gaming Handheld, as the whole tech world tries to copy and one-up the Switch and Steam Deck. Ayaneo had been good at this for a while, and there’s some weirdness around the SteamOS-ness of this one, but it looks like it might be a winner.
• Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s finally streaming! I look forward to watching this movie 25 minutes at a time on Apple TV Plus, hopefully finishing it right before it wins a bunch of Oscars.
• Hey Calendar. I churned out of Hey’s email app after a while because while it has lots of good ideas, it was just too much change in my email setup. Calendar strikes a better balance: it’ll import your other events, but then has a ton of smart UI and features (like habit tracking! I love habit tracking!) on top. App Store shenanigans aside, this is just a really nice app.
• Dunkey’s Guide to Streaming Services. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that the streaming TV landscape really is as stupid as it seems. We live in a golden era of content, except nothing makes sense, it’s all too expensive and complicated, and god help you if you just want to watch a Spider-Man movie.
• Self Reliance. This movie was basically made for me in a lab: I love Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick, I’m a sucker for the silly premise about a dark-web reality TV show, and I love a good comedy slash thriller slash meta commentary on the modern world. This is top of my Hulu watch list for the weekend.

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Spotlight

As I mentioned above, it’s CES time! Usually I spend this week wandering around Las Vegas checking out neat new gadgets, devising strategies for convincing my wife that we totally need a 98-inch TV that costs as much as a house, and trying to figure out what fun trends we’re going to see over the next 12 months.

This year, it was both obvious and not at all surprising what everyone’s thinking about. It’s AI. It’s cars. It’s cars with AI. It’s headphones and smart rings and robot bartenders and projectors and AI inside of all those things, too.

The Verge has a lot of great coverage of all things CES, and you should definitely spend some time poking through our stories and streams. Here are just a few of what I think are the most interesting, Installer-y things in Vegas this year:

• The Rabbit R1. The most intriguing gadget of the year so far, at least for me. This is a great-looking, Teenage Engineering-designed, surprisingly inexpensive AI device. Can it be more than just a smartphone app? Is its Large Action Model a total privacy disaster? I don’t know! But I find this much more compelling than certain other AI gadgets.
• The Honda Zero Series. This car concept straight up looks like the Batmobile, and I can’t decide whether I love or hate it for that. But I love that Honda’s looking for ways to make cars lighter and sleeker instead of bigger and truck-ier, and you know? I do want to drive the Batmobile. I love it.
• Ballie. Projectors were one of the stories of the year this CES, and Samsung’s Ballie — a rolling AI assistant / projector / robot companion — kinda stole my heart. I’m still not sure anyone has made a good case for why you need a robot in your home, but Ballie’s one of the best so far.
• Xreal Air 2 Ultra. Apple wasn’t at CES, and the Vision Pro was still one of the most-discussed things in Vegas. But I continue to think Xreal is on a cool path: it’s building displays into glasses and giving those displays more and more power. The $699 Air 2 Ultras are heavy on technology and light on cool apps, but that might change fast.
• Movano’s Evie Ring. I agree with Victoria Song: this is the year of the smart ring. The Evie Ring, which has some impressive health-focused features and is designed specifically for women, is a pretty impressive device — but I suspect we’re going to see a lot more like it this year.
• The Aqara Hub M3. We’re inching slowly closer to the interoperable smart home we need and deserve, but we’re not there yet. For now, we get super-versatile hubs like this one. Aqara is a rising star in the smart home world, and the hub makes it a serious player.

I’d bet heavily that at least one of these things will never ever actually hit the market. (Ballie and Honda are probably the favorites to never appear.) But the trends here are really interesting: cars are being rethought from the ground up, the screens are starting to follow us around, and everyone is pushing hard to find a new kind of device that isn’t a smartphone or a watch. It’s going to be really fun to see if any of it actually takes off.

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The Verge’s Mia Sato warned me when I asked her to share her screen that it was going to be super boring. To which I said, Mia, there are no boring homescreens, only boring people. Wait, no, not that. Only boring app icons? I don’t know. We’ll come back to it.

Mia covers a lot of things for The Verge, and this week wrote a spectacular story about how SEO culture and optimization has changed the way websites work. Everyone’s trying to be seen by Google, and so the whole web looks the way Google wants. It’s a great story, with some amazing illustrations and interactives.

Here’s Mia’s (decidedly not super boring) homescreen, plus some info on the apps she uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 11 Pro.

The wallpaper: I’ve had this wallpaper for almost a decade and across several phones. I have to keep finding a resized version when I upgrade my device. It’s a quote from William Blake, and the design is by artist Tessa Forrest.

The apps: Messages, Photos, Camera, Settings, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Instagram, Slack, Gmail, Clock, Bose Connect, Messenger, Transit, Compass, Notion, Mail, Safari, Phone, Apple Music.

I try to keep my homescreen a neutral space, so it’s heavy on the practical things: camera, photos, calendar, my public transit app, my Bose app for my headphones, Gmail for work. I have messaging apps that I need to keep an eye on: Slack for my job, Messenger for family. Most social media is buried deep on other pages, because otherwise I would be unwell — I don’t know why Instagram is there, to be honest.

I’m obsessed with the Compass app and am a Compass app power user, probably. When you get off the subway, Google Maps is always directionally confused, but the compass app will tell you which way to start walking. Putting Notion on the homescreen is my delusional stretch goal for the year: I’m trying to make a habit of organizing my thoughts instead of writing them on random scraps of paper that are then lost. I leave the bottom row empty so I can swipe without accidentally opening apps.

I also asked Mia to tell us a few things she’s into right now. Here’s what she shared:

• The Japanese post-harcore / pop-punky band Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. They never tour in the US, and I recently saw them in Brooklyn. The concert vibe was like someone opened several mosh pits at a K-pop concert. Everyone was doing coordinated hand motions. It was perfect. Maybe start here.
• I have been poring over a set of craft books from the ‘60s and ‘70s called Creative Hands. They have instructions for sewing, knitting, crochet, needlework, beading, literally any kind of home craft project you can think of. I’ve been gatekeeping these because I’m still missing a few editions.
• My mom got me a subscription to a monthly mystery tinned seafood box. Last month’s included sardine pate, which I forced my friends to try with me, and it was surprisingly incredible spread thin on crackers.
• I recently hosted a viewing party of Cher’s 1999 Do You Believe? Tour concert movie. It was an HBO special but is unstreamable online, so I ordered a DVD on eBay for $6. I watched this on VHS every single day from the ages of like five to eight, and it formed probably 60 percent of my personality. Put Cher in the Las Vegas Sphere! Then send me to write about it!

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Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message +1 (203) 570-8663 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week.

“Thermomix is the next level of kitchen gadgets! It’s been popular in Europe for decades, and they recently launched in the US. We’ve used it almost every day for years, it’s the best appliance! That said, pretty much the only things it doesn’t do are frying and pressure cooking, so your instant pot is still a great companion!” — Christophe

“Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. The best new game on Apple Arcade! a mix of Hello Kitty Island Adventure, Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley.” — Gabriel

“I recently stumbled across a website called Longreads. It’s a website that curates longer-form articles from different publications in a wide range of subjects. I think we could probably all benefit from going a little slower on the internet in this hyper-consumerism age, and this website is perfect for that. It’s like a really good restaurant in a town full of fast food joints.” — Tommy

“The new season of Dimension 20 came out on Dropout this week — it’s the third season of their very popular ‘Fantasy High’ storyline!” — Zach

“Niagara Launcher on my Pixel Fold! I usually shy away from third-party launchers on Pixel phones but I’ve been having a blast with Niagara. It’s super clean, has nice features and has a dev team that communicates!” — Nation

“The book Material World and a refurb Surface Duo as a sort of at-home tablet / widget to futz with.” — Matt

“Watching The Brothers Sun on Netflix. It’s better than expected, a fun action show about the Taiwanese triads. Most of the locations are based in LA.” — Andy

“After leaving Apple Music and Spotify for Plex, one thing I was going to miss was my Wrapped at the end of the year. But I hooked Plex up to ListenBrainz to track my listens, and got an awesome year in review page at the end of the year.” — Michael

“Dune. Reading it again in preparation for the second movie later this year.” — Manuel

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Signing off

On Thursday this week, I woke up and found out my iPhone had updated overnight. And suddenly it was totally unresponsive. I could wake up the screen, but touch didn’t work, swipes didn’t work, nothing worked. And over the course of a bunch of hours trying to fix it — which I eventually did, by semi-miraculously managing to just factory reset the thing — I realized I’m way too reliant on my phone. I had no other way to log into some apps without my phone for two-factor and QR scanning. I had no good way to reach my wife, because we talk on SMS. It was a bad setup.

So my new 2024 resolution is to make sure I’m not reliant on a single device for anything. I have to rethink my messaging setup, move my passwords and codes to a cross-platform app, and add some redundancy and backup plans to everything. It’s going to be a pain, but I am not eager to relive the feeling I had that morning of just being completely out of luck and out of touch for way too long. It’s the year we go device agnostic, my friends!

See you next week!

California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say

California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say Some companies are leaving the state or reducing their presence there after California greatly reduced incentives for homeowners to install rooftop solar panels.

The NFL and Taylor Swift surprisingly aren’t enough to crash Peacock

The NFL and Taylor Swift surprisingly aren’t enough to crash Peacock

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Peacock is the only source for tonight’s playoff game between Miami and Kansas City, and the most surprising result is that through three quarters, the service is mostly holding up to the task. The game just entered the fourth quarter, which is going to be “commercial free,” but that may not be enough to make everyone happy about the deal the NFL made to take a playoff game away from regular TV broadcast availability and put it on a streaming service operated by NBCUniversal.

Most initial viewer complaints online were more about needing Peacock to tune into the game, instead of connection or login issues that have occasionally marred live sports streaming before. However, some folks have noted audio problems, or had streams glitch and hang up during the action, or are only getting a low-resulotion version of the game.

@peacock horrible telecast of the game ‍♂️#NFL #NFLPlayoffs

— RC’s 5th fan (@Utd_max13) January 14, 2024

@peacock why is the actual play and the sound not matching up? @NFL @Chiefs

— Guy (@GuyCSmith1) January 14, 2024

Still, the broadcast has mostly avoided the quality issues experienced during Netflix’s mashup of F1 and golf that recently aired from Las Vegas, presenting a surprisingly standard HD NFL viewing experience, just online.

Windows swung right open, playoff air, jacket 'round my shoulders is yours ❄️

Stream #MIAvsKC exclusively on Peacock. pic.twitter.com/dx44rnnPc8

— Peacock (@peacock) January 14, 2024

Last year when the NFL announced Peacock had obtained the rights to the “first-ever exclusive live streamed NFL Playoff game” they knew the date, but couldn’t have predicted

Like the last Peacock-exclusive pro football game, airing on a Saturday night is definitely affecting the viewership. But given Travis Kelce adding Taylor Swift’s fans to the group of people tuning in (and some guy named Patrick Mahomes), it may register a number much higher than the nearly 10 million viewers Nielsen counted for that Bill vs. Chargers game in December.

Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.

How to copy and paste on an iPhone

How to copy and paste on an iPhone

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

I’m always moving bits of information around on my iPhone — between documents and screens and apps — but I’m not always sure I’m doing it in the best way, especially since Apple has regularly changed the way that copy and paste works through successive versions of iOS.

That’s why I wanted to look at all the different options iOS currently gives you for copying and pasting text and images, without the familiar shortcuts you get on a computer keyboard. Those options are outlined below and will take you from basic copy and paste through to some more advanced tricks.

A note: I’m writing this guide using an iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 17.2.1, the latest version of the software at the time of writing.

Copy and paste text

Text selections can be refined with the handles at each end.

Pasting text just takes a couple of taps.

To copy and paste text, you first need to select it:

• To select non-editable text (such as text on a webpage), press and hold on any part of a word until it’s highlighted.
• To select editable text (when the on-screen keyboard is showing), double-tap on a word to select it, or triple-tap on a paragraph to select it.

Whichever method you use, you can keep your finger pressed down and then move it to expand the selection. You’ll also see handles at each edge of the selection, which you can tap and drag to change where the selection starts and stops. (Note: some apps handle text selection differently, but the press and hold action will usually work.)

Once you’re done, a pop-up bar will appear above your selection. What appears in the bar can vary:

• Depending on the app and the text, you may see a Select All option listed. Tap this to select all the text on a page or in a section.
• If you see Cut and Copy options, just tap either to perform the action. If Cut isn’t showing, the text can’t be moved.
• If you prefer gestures, pinch closed with three fingers on the selection to copy the text, or pinch closed with three fingers two times to cut it.

You’re then ready to paste the text:

• With the on-screen keyboard visible, tap on the screen where you want the text inserted.
• Pick Paste from the pop-up bar that appears.
• You can also pinch open with three fingers to paste text.
• If you’re working on an editable document and want to move the text, you can simply select the text, tap and hold it, then drag it to a new location.

Copy and paste images

A tap and hold action on images will usually bring up a copy option.

In Photos, you have to go through the Share menu to copy an image.

Copying and pasting images is a little more straightforward. To select an image in most apps, including Notes and Safari:

• Press and hold on the image.
• Tap Cut or Copy on the pop-up bar that appears. (Cut will only appear if you’re working in an editable document).

Apple Photos doesn’t work in the same way. To copy an image using that app:

• Tap the image thumbnail to make it full screen.
• Then tap the Share button (the square with the arrow, lower left), and choose Copy Photo.

That sends the image to the clipboard. To paste it somewhere else:

• With the on-screen keyboard showing, tap where you want to paste the image.
• Tap Paste on the pop-up bar.

If the app that you’re pasting the image into supports image resizing, you’ll see handles around the image that you can use to change its size. Note that you can’t use the pinch gestures with images as you can with text.

More options

Sometimes the share option works better than copy and paste.

Sharing can work well for getting text and images into a message.

You’ll notice that when you highlight text and images, there are several options that appear on the pop-up bar. The most useful one from a copy and paste perspective is probably Share — tap on this to send the selected text or image directly to another app on your iPhone.

In fact, in some situations you might find it easier to share something rather than copying and pasting it — the selected text and image will automatically be inserted in the app you choose. The Copy option also appears on the Share menu, if you need it.

Then there’s the Universal Clipboard feature: If you have an iPad or Mac signed into the same Apple ID with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, and the Handoff functionality turned on, all these devices will share a clipboard.

That means you can copy something on your iPhone, then switch to your Mac to paste it somewhere, or vice versa. It’s important to be aware of Universal Clipboard, even if you don’t want to use it — otherwise, you might find yourself copying and pasting content between devices when you don’t really want to.

Samsung’s inexpensive Tab A9 Plus is now on sale in the US

Samsung’s inexpensive Tab A9 Plus is now on sale in the US

The A9 Plus comes in a 5G version that’s well under $300. | Image: Samsung

Samsung has quietly put its budget Galaxy Tab A9 Plus on sale following its launch in October last year. It starts at $219 for a Wi-Fi-only version, but unlike most other Android tablets around that price, you can pick up a version with 5G. The A9 Plus with a cellular connection costs $269, and you can take your pick from T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and US Cellular versions on Samsung.com. 9to5Google first spotted that the tablet had gone on sale.

The A9 Plus offers an 11-inch screen with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate — a rare feature at this price and definitely something you won’t find on an entry-level iPad. It has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and comes with a 7,040mAh battery. The Wi-Fi version comes with either 4GB RAM / 64GB storage or 8GB RAM / 128GB of storage; the 5G version is just offered in the 4GB / 64GB configuration.

For well under $300, that’s an attractive deal on paper, but the A-series tablet misses out on a couple of notable features: S Pen stylus compatibility and an IP rating for water and dust resistance. You’ll have to step up to the Tab S9 series, which starts at $449, if you want either of those things.

There’s one more thing the A-series is missing, too: color. The A9 Plus is available in a very straight-laced navy, graphite, or silver. If you’re looking for mint or lavender, well, you’ll have to pay up.

Why Casey Left Substack, Elon Musk and Drugs, and an A.I. Antibiotic Discovery

Why Casey Left Substack, Elon Musk and Drugs, and an A.I. Antibiotic Discovery It’s a drug episode.

The Peregrine lunar lander didn’t land, but it’s still collecting data

The Peregrine lunar lander didn’t land, but it’s still collecting data

Astrobotic

Astrobotic’s ill-fated Peregrine moon lander may soon be tumbling through space, but in the meantime, it’s collecting data for science. In an update on Thursday, NASA disclosed that payloads aboard the lander successfully collecting data. Astrobotic shared a similar update on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in the day.

NASA says the plan is to extend Peregrine’s mission for as long as possible in order to continue data collection efforts. “Measurements and operations of the NASA-provided science instruments on board will provide valuable experience, technical knowledge, and scientific data to future CLPS lunar deliveries,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in a statement included in NASA’s announcement.

In a joint mission with NASA, Astrobotic, a private space company based in Pittsburgh, launched Peregrine Mission One in the early hours of January 8th. The plan was to make the first US lunar landing in more than 50 years — with the ultimate goal of reaching the moon’s surface in late February. But a leak in Peregrine’s propulsion system was detected shortly after launch, and the company announced on Tuesday there wasn’t enough propellant left — only a couple of day’s worth — to make a soft landing.

Peregrine is still operationally stable as of Thursday evening. In an update posted at 4:01PM PT on Thursday, Astrobotic reported that Peregrine has an estimated 48 hours of fuel remaining — much more than what was anticipated in its earlier reports — because the rate of the leak has slowed as time has progressed.

Peregrine is also carrying Iris Lunar Rover, a tiny rover built by Carnegie Mellon University students that was supposed to take photos on the moon. A photo of Iris’s wheels and a fuel tank with the American flag was also posted today by Astrobotic on X. Iris also sent a message to Earth: “Hello, Earth!”

(2/2) Update #12 for Peregrine Mission One: pic.twitter.com/Ay8T7oaaXD

— Astrobotic (@astrobotic) January 11, 2024

U.S. Criminally Charges EBay in Cyberstalking Case

U.S. Criminally Charges EBay in Cyberstalking Case The case involves eBay employees trying to intimidate a Massachusetts couple who write and produce an e-commerce newsletter. The company will pay a criminal penalty of $3 million.

Google Cuts Hundreds of Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

Google Cuts Hundreds of Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions The company, which has been working to trim expenses, laid off employees who worked on core engineering, the Google Assistant product and hardware such as the Pixel phone.

Google is losing its Fitbit leaders and laying off hundreds of AR employees

Google is losing its Fitbit leaders and laying off hundreds of AR employees

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google’s hardware division just took a body blow. The company has confirmed it’s laying off hundreds of hardware workers, especially in its augmented reality division — and 9to5Google is reporting that Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman, and other Fitbit leaders are leaving the company entirely.

Here’s Google’s statement to 9to5Google:

A few hundred roles are being eliminated in DSPA with the majority of impacts on the 1P AR Hardware team. While we are making changes to our 1P AR hardware team, Google continues to be deeply committed to other AR initiatives, such as AR experiences in our products, and product partnerships.

Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini confirmed the numbers to The Verge.

This is likely the end of Fitbit as we know it, just over four years after Google bought the company for $2.1 billion in November 2019.

Not that this entirely comes as a surprise. My colleague Victoria Song spent a good portion of last year writing about how Google was not only dropping the ball with Fitbit, but hanging users out to dry by axing beloved features, presiding over multi-day outages, and generally pushing people towards a Pixel Watch instead of a Fitbit band. The company even quietly pulled Fitbit products from over a dozen countries.

I’m not going to say we told you so, particularly since the Pixel Watch is shaping up to be a decent device, but... we definitely discussed the possibility that Google-Fitbit could be quite a mess.

Google’s AR efforts have similarly been in question after the company’s head of that tech, Clay Bavor, left last February to pursue AI instead, and the team’s software leader Mark Lucovsky departed as well. The company reportedly killed its Project Iris augmented reality glasses many months ago. Stephen Lake, co-founder of the AR glasses company North that Google bought in 2020, also left Google last June according to his LinkedIn page.

When Google says its “1P AR hardware team” is seeing the majority of impacts, that means it’s chosen to spend fewer dollars on developing its own glasses by itself. The company’s also been public about working with Samsung and Qualcomm on headsets, but we’ve yet to see the fruits of those labors and one report suggested the Samsung partnership was facing setbacks as well.

Google didn’t respond to our question about whether it’s no longer working on its own AR hardware, and it didn’t specifically confirm the departure of Fitbit leaders. Here’s what the company would say:

As we’ve said, we’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead. To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally. We’re continuing to support any impacted employees as they look for new roles here at Google and beyond.

Also helpful to know / include that impacted employees will all be able to apply for open roles across Google. We’re also supporting all impacted employees, in line with local requirements, including time to explore different roles at Google and elsewhere, outplacement services, and severance offerings.

We’ve written about Google’s “postpandemic reckoning” layoffs, and the company’s certainly not alone in letting go of tech workers during this winter season.

Here’s what we know about the SAG-AFTRA AI voice acting licensing deal

Here’s what we know about the SAG-AFTRA AI voice acting licensing deal

Photo by Isaac Brekken/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images

During CES 2024, SAG-AFTRA announced an agreement with AI voice technology company Replica Studios. The agreement would permit SAG-AFTRA members, specifically voice performers, to work with Replica to create digital replications of their voices. Those voices can then be licensed out for use in video games and other interactive media projects with SAG-AFTRA authored protections.

In the announcement, SAG-AFTRA characterized the deal as a “way for professional voice over artists to safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas with industry-leading protections tailored to AI technology.” However, as news of the deal reached the voice performer community at large, the reaction was less positive with performers either outright condemning the deal or voicing concerns about what this deal means for the future health and viability of their profession.

Love how we're paying dues to a union that will throw our jobs to AI and then claim we all agreed to it. https://t.co/IXILcIWaDn

— Emi Lo @ EN Maomao / Ruan Mei (@KitsuneSqueak) January 10, 2024

“Love how we’re paying dues to a union that will throw our jobs to AI and then claim we all agreed to it,” wrote Emi Lo, a voice performer with roles in Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, on X.

“I think the first thing that I would just say is I think there are quite a large number of members who are very pleased with this announcement,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator told The Verge in an interview. “And I think sometimes it’s a mistake to hear a certain number of voices, even if they’re raised in a very concerned or agitated tone as being representative of the entirety of the membership that work this contract or work in this area.”

Crabtree-Ireland added that SAG-AFTRA “will be putting out more information today with greater detail” so that its membership can better assess the deal. “We want all of our members to be both well informed about what the contract contains and also to be confident that our contracts protect them in their work lives,” he said.

The SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement, a union contract that covers roughly 140,000 members and has several of the video game industry’s largest publishers as signatories including Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, and Electronic Arts, is currently under negotiation. Last year, union members voted in favor of a strike authorization for performers covered under that agreement — in other words, your favorite video game voice actors can go on strike if those negotiations aren’t successful.

The Interactive Media Agreement, however, does not cover Replica Studios, and this new deal was made separately from that ongoing negotiation.

“This company is not part of that bargaining group,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “The work that [Replica Studios] is going to be doing — creating digital replicas of voices — will now be done solely in compliance with our collective bargaining agreement.”

Basically, Replica will act as a SAG-AFTRA-approved third-party provider of AI voices to video game companies. If a SAG-AFTRA member choses to license out their voice, Replica’s agreement ensures that performer will be fairly compensated, their voice data will be protected from unauthorized use, and that a replicated voice cannot be used in a project without the performer’s informed consent.

“There’s nothing in this agreement that is a lesser term than what was just approved by our membership at large a month ago with an 80 percent ‘yes’ vote in our ratification for the studio and streamer contracts,” Crabtree-Ireland said.

“The work that [Replica Studios] is going to be doing — creating digital replicas of voices — will now be done solely in compliance with our collective bargaining agreement.”

Crabtree-Ireland also said that the union’s Interactive Media Agreement committee — which is the committee that oversees everything video game related — had struck the deal, having worked on it for over a year. On X, Aftermath reporter Nathan Grayson shared screenshots of a conversation he had with Sarah Elmaleh, the chair of SAG-AFTRA’s interactive media bargaining unit, which provided additional context for the deal.

“The performer would sign with [Replica] and [be] covered by them and the license to devs would require the protections and compensation be carried through,” Elmaleh wrote. “Obviously many developers will want to use the same technology directly themselves. Having clear and binding requirements around the transparency, consent, and compensation that Replica is in compliance of, must be included in the fundamental agreement covering this work. That’s why we’re adamant and waiting on a fair deal for the [Interactive Media Agreement.]”

Crabtree-Ireland said that this agreement should act as a signal to the video game companies currently bargaining with SAG-AFTRA to hopefully get them to rethink their position on AI, which has been a sticking point in the negotiating process.

“This [agreement] is a real sign to the video game companies that companies that know what they’re doing in the AI space are comfortable with making the kinds of commitments contained in this agreement,” he said.

Though this deal was created under the auspices of the interactive media bargaining unit, some voice actors are still worried that the acceptance of AI in the creative process will lead to loss of work for all but the most popular performers and the dilution of their art.

“I want to ACT,” wrote Chris Hackney, who voiced Rauru in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Rusty in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, on X. “I do not want to sell someone my likeness to use and then pay me. It defeats the purpose of art and performance when neither art is created nor do I perform.”

Here are the best deals on headphones and wireless earbuds we could find

Here are the best deals on headphones and wireless earbuds we could find

The Beats Studio Pro are nearly half off right now, which doesn’t happen all that often. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

When it comes to headphones and true wireless earbuds, there are a ton of brands and products to choose from. However, the sheer range of available models can also make them difficult to shop for, especially since many of them cater to different lifestyles, budgets, and priorities. Some are better suited for long-haul flights and vigorous workouts, for instance, while others let you tune out noise so you can focus better.

That’s why we’ve curated a list of the best headphone and earbud deals available. Here, you’ll find sales on all kinds of earbuds and over-ear headphones, all of which come with their own strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to do even more research before making a buying decision, we’ve put together guides to the best wireless earbuds and best noise-canceling headphones, which can help you determine which pair is right for you.

Best Apple deals

AirPods Pro (second-gen) deals

If you own an iPhone or multiple Apple products, the second-gen AirPods Pro are probably your best bet when it comes to wireless earbuds. In comparison to the base AirPods, the Pros offer better sound quality and feature active noise cancellation, not to mention seamless integration with iOS and a MagSafe-compatible charging case.

In 2022, Apple launched a new pair of AirPods Pro with improved sound quality and better noise cancellation. They also include onboard volume controls and a new MagSafe charging case, one that can beep if you ever misplace it thanks to its deeper Find My integration. The earbuds even come with an extra swappable tip for smaller ears.

A year later, Apple released the updated AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case. Along with USB-C support, the wireless earbuds offer a more robust IP54 rating for water and sweat resistance. Plus, when paired with Apple’s forthcoming Vision Pro headset, they support lossless audio.

During Black Friday, we saw steep discounts on both versions of the second-gen AirPods Pro, with retailers taking up to $60 off. These deals have since resurfaced, and you can currently buy the AirPods Pro with USB-C at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $189 instead of $249.

Read our impressions of the latest AirPods Pro here.

AirPods (second-gen) deals

Alternatively, you can buy a pair of the second-gen AirPods with a Lightning charging case. Their sound quality isn’t quite up to par with newer models, however, they remain the cheapest Apple earbuds on the market and continue to pair seamlessly with a range of Apple products thanks to their built-in H1 chip. The entry-level AirPods normally retail for $129, but you can currently get them for around $99 at Amazon, Walmart, and Target.

The second-gen AirPods are a lot harder to get ahold of with a MagSafe charging case, that is, unless you’re shopping for a used or refurbished pair of earbuds. Luckily, you can still buy them in new condition at Adorama for $119.99 ($30 off).

Read our AirPods (second-gen) review.

AirPods (third-gen) deals

Last on Apple’s wireless earbuds block are the third-gen AirPods, which represent the latest iteration of the base model. They blend a bit of the AirPods Pro look with the hard plastic build of the second-gen model; they also offer IPX4 water resistance and improved sound quality over the latter, even if they are still lacking in the low end.

Right now, you can buy the third-gen AirPods with either a MagSafe charging case or a Lightning-only charging case. The option with the wired charging case is on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $149.99 ($20 off), while the option with the MagSafe charging case is going for $169.99 ($10 off) at Costco (if you’re a member) or for $174 at B&H Photo.

Read our AirPods (third-gen) review.

Best Beats deals

Beats Studio Pro

Last year, Apple-owned Beats replaced the Beats Studio 3 with the Beats Studio Pro. The over-ear headphones offer better sound quality thanks to new features like support for lossless audio over USB-C. They also cancel noise out far better, while allowing you to take advantage of both iOS and Android features, including Fast Pair and Google’s Find My Device platform. The Beats Studio Pro normally go for $349.99, but right now they are on sale for $179.99 ($170 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.

Read our Beats Fit Pro review.

Beats Fit Pro deals

The Beats Fit Pro are the latest fitness earbuds from Apple and offer a sportier design and better sound than the first-gen AirPods Pro. The wing tips help to keep them in place when you’re active, while also ensuring they remain comfortable over long listening sessions. Their functionality with Android phones is slightly limited, but if you use an iPhone, you get all the conveniences of Apple’s H1 chip and deeper OS integration and connectivity. Their only real downside is that the included charging case is overly large and lacks wireless charging (which is more forgivable at lower price points).

You can currently buy the Beats Fit Pro for $159.99 ($40 off) in select colors — including blue and yellow — at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. You can also pick them up at Amazon and Best Buy in other shades, like black, for $20 more.

Read our Beats Fit Pro review.

Best Sony deals

Sony WH-1000XM5

They aren’t a huge departure from the previous model, but the Sony WH-1000XM5 are still our favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones. The XM5s improve on all of the features that made the XM4s so awesome by providing better active noise cancellation, improving the voice call quality, and boosting the overall sound of the already excellent headphones. While the lack of new features is a bit disappointing, the Sony XM5s remain one of our top recommendations for anyone looking for a premium pair of noise-canceling headphones.

Right now you can buy the XM5s in black for $299.99 ($200 off) at Amazon and Target, which remains one of their best prices to date.

Read our Sony WH-1000XM5 review.

Sony WH-CH720N deals

If you’re looking for noise-canceling headphones for under $150, Sony’s WH-CH720N might be worth a look. The budget-friendly headphones come with adjustable noise cancellation and are exceptionally light, which allows for a more comfortable fit. They also feature Bluetooth support and offer up to 35 hours of continuous playback on a single charge, though they lack support for Sony’s higher-quality LDAC codec.

The headphones typically retail for $149, but right now, you can buy the WH-CH720N in black for $99.99 at Amazon.

Sony WF-C700N deals

The WF-C700N are another pair of noise-canceling earbuds from Sony and are currently available for $85.85 ($35 off) at Amazon. They’re an exceptionally comfortable pair of earbuds with decent sound quality and support for an array of useful software features, including Fast Pair support on Android as well as location-based sound settings. Admittedly, their noise cancellation doesn’t truly drown out the world, but it does eliminate some sound. Voice call quality isn’t particularly impressive, either, but if you just need an affordable pair of earbuds to help you tune out some noise, the WF-C700N should do just fine.

Read our Sony WF-C700N review.

Best Bose deals

Bose QuietComfort 45 deals

The Bose QuietComfort 45 remains a terrific pair of noise-canceling headphones despite the fact Bose recently replaced them with the Bose QuietComfort Headphones. They’re foldable, so you can easily carry them around with you, and exceptionally comfortable. Battery life sits at 24 hours as well, meaning you needn’t worry about constantly having to charge them, and they include a transparency mode that comes in handy when you want to be more aware of your surroundings. They don’t come with adjustable noise cancellation and you can’t set custom listening modes like you can with the newer QC Headphones, but they’re otherwise a solid buy. And right now, you can pick them up for $229 ($100 off) at Best Buy and Target.

Read our Bose QuietComfort 45 review.

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 deals

If you plan to frequently use your headphones for voice calls, Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are a great option for doing so. They boast excellent voice call quality, meaning everybody on your Zoom call will be able to hear you loud and clearly, and they offer great noise cancellation with satisfactory sound. The over-ear headphones can also connect to two devices simultaneously but only offer 20 hours of battery life, which is less than other top noise-canceling headphones.

Unlike the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra, however, they don’t have a foldable design or physical controls. Their call quality and noise cancellation aren’t as impressive, either, and they lack the higher-quality Bluetooth codecs and immersive audio mode found in Bose’s newer headphones. If none of that matters to you, though, you can, currently buy the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 for $299 ($80 off) at Best Buy.

Read our Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 review.

Best Google deals

Google Pixel Buds Pro deals

The Google Pixel Buds Pro are another good pair of noise-canceling earbuds, particularly for Pixel phone owners. The wireless earbuds offer terrific sound quality and battery life, along with useful features like multipoint Bluetooth connectivity. If you own a Pixel phone, you’ll also get access to exclusive features like head-tracking spatial audio and easy access to their settings menu.

We’ve seen the wireless earbuds sell for as low as $118, however, right now they’re only on sale in select colors at Amazon and Walmart starting at $149.95 ($50 off).

Best Samsung deals

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro deals

Samsung has a few different wireless earbuds to choose from. Its most high-end pair, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, launched in 2022. They’re still a good option if you’re an Android user or Samsung devotee who wants a pair of premium earbuds, with top-notch sound quality that’s even better than their predecessor. Samsung Galaxy phone owners can also take advantage of higher bit rate audio, while everybody can enjoy good active noise cancellation and a relatively robust IPX7 sweat and water resistance.

You can currently buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on sale for $169.99 ($60 off) at B&H Photo and direct from Samsung.

Read our Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review.

Samsung Galaxy Buds FE deals

In late 2023, Samsung launched a new pair of wireless earbuds, the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE. For a relatively affordable pair of buds, they deliver impressive noise cancellation along with solid audio performance. What’s nice is that they also come with wing tips, which should offer a more secure fit depending on your ear shape. The main trade-off, though, is that the budget-friendly buds lack multipoint connectivity and wireless charging.

If that’s not a problem for you, you can buy the Galaxy Buds FE right now for just $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon and Samsung. That’s $10 shy of their all-time low, and their second-best price to date.

Best Jabra deals

Jabra Elite 8 Active deals

Jabra’s Elite 8 Active are a pair of fitness-focused earbuds and the successor to the excellent Elite 7 Active. They’re a terrific pair of earbuds if you like to go for runs, with a robust IP68 rating water resistance rating, adaptive ANC, and soon — thanks to a scheduled over-the-air update announced during CES — wind detection tech that should allow them to fare better under windy conditions. Plus, unlike similar offerings from Beats and Anker, the Elite 8 Active offer a secure fit without the need for added hooks or fins. At the same time, they retain the essentials, like support for multipoint and wireless charging.

Normally $199.99, they’re currently on sale for $159.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Jabra’s online storefront.

Jabra Elite 4 Active deals

If you prefer a more affordable pair of earbuds that are geared toward working out, there’s also Jabra’s Elite 4 Active. They come with IP57 water resistance and active noise cancellation (though you can’t adjust it) but lack wireless charging. However, if you’re fine without the extra bells and whistles, you can buy them for $79.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.

Jabra Elite 3 deals

The Jabra Elite 3, Jabra’s budget-friendly wireless earbuds from 2021, are also available right now for a nice little discount. In his review, The Verge’s Chris Welch noted that even though the Jabra Elite 3 shed features like active noise cancellation and multipoint Bluetooth support, they still provide an excellent listening experience at a relatively low price point. Normally $79.99, the earbuds are currently available from Jabra, Target, and Walmart in select colors for around $49.99.

Read our Jabra Elite 3 review.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 deals

At CES this year, Sennheiser announced the new Momentum True Wireless 4 wireless earbuds will be available on February 29th for $299.95. If you can’t wait until then, though, their predecessor, theMomentum True Wireless 3, are currently on sale.

We’ve yet to test the forthcoming earbuds, which Sennheiser says should offer better battery life and sound quality. Until we do, the third-gen earbuds remain our top pick if you prioritize sound quality above all else. They offer better noise cancellation than their predecessor, along with a sleeker design and wireless charging support. This does come at a fairly steep regular price of $279.95, but right now you can buy them starting at just $175 in black at Amazon. You can also buy them on sale in a greater number of shades for $199.99 at Best Buy and from Sennheiser directly.

Read our Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 review.

Best UE deals

UE Fits deals

After testing a pair for ourselves, we remarked in our review that the UE Fits were the most comfortable consumer earbuds on the market. That’s because, unlike the other wireless earbuds on this list, the UE Fits are uniquely capable of permanently molding to the shape of your ears in just 60 seconds, making them a great choice for those concerned their earbuds may come loose or fall out. We also found that they offer good sound quality, as well as lengthy, eight-hour battery life. Normally $199, you can get them right now for $169.99 direct from Ultimate Ears.

Read our UE Fits review.

Best Nothing deals

Nothing Ear Stick deals

If you like the new Beats Studio Buds Plus because of their transparent look, Nothing’s Ear Stick earbuds are a cheaper option that’s currently available for $79 ($40 off) from Nothing. They’re not quite as capable as the Beats and lack premium features like active noise cancellation, but they’re certainly stylish thanks to their see-through design and tube-like charging case. The open-style earbuds also deliver good sound, along with improved battery life and better voice call quality than their predecessor.

Read our Nothing Ear Stick review.

Walmart is bringing drone deliveries to 1.8 million more Texas households

Walmart is bringing drone deliveries to 1.8 million more Texas households

Image: Walmart / Zipline

Walmart is expanding its drone delivery program to 1.8 million more households in Texas. The retailer says its drone deliveries now cover 75 percent of the population in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, all thanks to partnerships with drone startups Wing and Zipline.

Walmart launched its drone delivery program with Zipline and DroneUp in Arkansas in 2021 before expanding it to more states in 2022. The newly expanded service in Texas allows customers living within 10 miles of a participating Walmart to get items delivered to their homes via drone.

GIF: Walmart

Since there is a weight limit, customers can only have smaller products like cold medicine, birthday candles, and even a carton of eggs delivered. Walmart says deliveries arrive in 30 minutes or less, with some reaching customers’ doorsteps in as fast as 10 minutes.

In 2023, Walmart partnered with Wing, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, to deliver to 60,000 more homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from two different stores. But this marks its biggest expansion yet, adding 30 more towns and municipalities within the Texas metroplex. The program also now uses drones from both Wing and Zipline to make deliveries in the area, both of which are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones “without a dedicated observer being able to see the drone at all times.”

Image: Walmart

These are all the areas Walmart’s drone delivery service will soon cover.

“Zipline is excited to enable Walmart’s vision of providing customer delivery so fast it feels like teleportation,” Zipline co-founder and CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said in a statement. “We’re excited for folks across Dallas-Fort Worth to experience delivery that is 7x as fast, zero emissions and whisper quiet.”

So far, Walmart has completed over 20,000 successful drone deliveries. Wing says it will start delivering to new locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area “in the coming months” and expects to complete the expansion with Walmart within the year. You can check if your address can receive drone deliveries from Walmart on the Wing and Zipline websites.

SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF

SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF The X account of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the approval of an investment product linked to Bitcoin. It wasn’t true.

MSI made a $5,000 laptop with an RGB trackpad

MSI made a $5,000 laptop with an RGB trackpad

This beefy boy packs a whole lot of power.

MSI is debuting a bunch of new laptops at CES 2024, but none are quite as over the top as the Titan 18 HX A14V, a boat anchor of a gaming laptop that costs as much as a beater car and has one of the coolest (or most garish, depending on your preference) trackpad designs I’ve ever seen.

The Titan 18 HX sports an 18-inch Mini LED display with 3840 x 2400 resolution and 120Hz refresh, Intel’s new 14th Gen Core i9 14900HX processor, an RTX 4080 or 4090 GPU with DLSS 3.5 support, up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM in its four slots, three M.2 SSD slots (one of which is PCIe Gen 5), a six-speaker audio setup, a SteelSeries-made mechanical keyboard, and a new vapor chamber cooler with a slick-looking exhaust design on the laptop’s elevated underside.

Note: due to LED flickering, the trackpad appears to have dark spots in some captured photos, but in person, the lighting was seamless.

Being such a beefy laptop, it has room for plenty of ports, with two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1, and a full-size SD card reader. While all of this costs an eye-watering $5,000, it also weighs a shoulder-tiring 7.94 pounds / 3.6kg. And like other new MSI laptops, it has AI-based performance profiles that promise to optimize settings based on whether you’re gaming or doing other tasks like video conferencing. Though, I expect almost nobody buying this behemoth is going to do much outside of play games with it and won’t be moving it around. This desktop replacement machine is meant to mostly live in one spot and play games as it lets its colorful peacock feathers of RGB lighting shine.

In addition to the usual per-key RGB lighting that’s found on most gaming laptops, the Titan’s most unique accoutrement is its edge-to-edge illuminated trackpad. It’s a small sight to behold up close, as the entire front deck of the laptop is a clean sheet of matte-finished glass with the trackpad lighting up in the middle. It’s certainly a look, and it uses MacBook-like haptics to maintain a clicky feel when you press it. It’s silly and fun and lands squarely in the “I know nobody needs this but I’m glad it exists” camp. Because, come on, if you’re actually going to spend $5,000 on a gaming laptop, it should offer a bit of flair as well as have the specs to back it up.

Compared to last year’s very formidable Titan GT77 HX, the 2024 Titan is capable of 270W power output over the GT77’s 250W. The Titan 18 also has a display that’s bigger / taller by 0.7 inches but with a slightly slower refresh rate (120 versus 144Hz). That may be a fine compromise for the lovely and massive Mini LED panel of the new Titan, especially since it uses the much superior 16:10 aspect ratio compared to the last-gen’s 16:9 screen. The new model also has Wi-Fi 7, and while its battery is still a four-cell Li-polymer setup with 99.9Whr of capacity, its power supply is a whopping 400W brick for faster charging — yet it’s a little smaller than the previous 330W version.

Everything about the Titan is very Extra, as its name implies it very well should be. I’d love to know who actually buys these kinds of halo laptops, which are simply not made for mere mortals and seem to be a bit of a dying breed — the days of laptops like the absurd Acer Predator 21 X are long gone now.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Authy is shutting down its desktop app

Authy is shutting down its desktop app

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Authy, the two-factor authentication (2FA) app, will soon only be available on mobile devices. An updated support page spotted by Bleeping Computer says Authy’s app on Windows, macOS, and Linux will go away in August 2024.

Similar to other 2FA apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator, Authy generates a different code every 30 seconds that you can use to sign in to a linked account. However, Authy is one of the only 2FA apps available for desktop, making it an ideal choice when you want to sign into an account on your computer without having to get out your phone.

If you have a Mac with M1 or M2 silicon, Authy says you’ll still be able to download the iOS version of the app on your device. Otherwise, Authy recommends switching to the mobile version instead, which you can automatically sync with the app on your computer. If you’d rather switch apps altogether, it’s worth noting that Authy doesn’t come with an export feature. That means you’ll have to disable 2FA on all of your connected accounts before linking them with a new 2FA app.

Twilio, Authy’s parent company, is also moving Authy’s customer support hub to the help center on Twilio’s website after January 15th, 2024.

Twilio says it made the decision to sunset its desktop app to “streamline our focus and provide more value on existing product solutions for which we see increasing demand.” The company laid off 5 percent of workers in December 2023, and it just announced on Monday that it has replaced its CEO.

Withings’ latest gadget combines a thermometer, pulse oximeter, EKG, and stethoscope

Withings’ latest gadget combines a thermometer, pulse oximeter, EKG, and stethoscope

Of course, it has to get FDA clearance first. | Image: Withings

Withings always shows up to CES with a futuristic health tech device in tow, and this year is no different. The company’s latest gadget is the $249.95 BeamO, a so-called multiscope that measures your temperature, takes electrocardiograms, reads blood oxygen levels, and works as a stethoscope to monitor heart and lung health.

The device itself resembles some of Withings’ other contactless thermometers, but it contains photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors, electrodes, a digital stethoscope, and a second-gen version of the infrared temperature sensor in the Withings Thermo. You’re probably more familiar with PPG sensors as the green LED you find in most smartwatches that measures heart rate by shining light into the skin. The sides of the BeamO also have electrodes to enable EKG readings for atrial fibrillation detection.

Image: Withings

Like Withings’ Thermo thermometer, the BeamO will take contactless temperature readings from the temporal artery.

But more interesting is how Withings has managed to stick a stethoscope into the mix. It does this by including a piezoelectric disc. The gist is the disc captures acoustic noise from your chest or back and then converts it into an electric signal that can be read by the BeamO. (This is how many electronic stethoscopes work.) The device also has a USB-C to headphone jack adaptor so you can listen in before transferring the audio to the Withings app. In telehealth sessions, you can also stream the audio directly to your provider.

These are all measurements that you can already take at home. You could buy a stethoscope, infrared thermometer, and pulse oximeter, and many smartwatches have similar single-lead EKG functions. Many wearables already let you save your data in PDFs that can be shared with doctors. The novel thing here is condensing them all into a single device that can be shared within a family.

Image: Withings

The BeamO is a 4-in-1 device that measures temperature and blood oxygen levels and takes EKG readings. It also doubles as a stethoscope.

Of course, there are some other factors at play, too. The EKG and AFib detection features will need to undergo the FDA clearance process. Withings says in its press release that it expects the BeamO to go on sale in June this year, but if I had a dollar for every time a health tech company failed to hit their initial FDA clearance estimates, I’d be a millionaire.

Withings in particular has had so-so luck with announcing a gadget at CES and getting timely FDA clearance. It introduced its Move ECG watch at CES 2019, but that product never actually made it to the US. At CES 2020, it introduced the ScanWatch, which also had EKG testing and sleep-related SpO2 monitoring features. However, it took the watch nearly two years to actually go on sale in the US. Meanwhile, the company announced the Withings Body Scan, a smart scale with EKG features, at CES 2022, but it took until August 2023 to get FDA clearance. We’re still waiting on the U-Scan, the at-home urinalysis device Withings brought out for CES 2023.

In any case, Withings has clearly invested a lot of resources in the past few years in building out its at-home health platform. The BeamO is just the latest entry in that ecosystem. It just might take a hot second before Withings can fully realize its telehealth vision.