Get ready for Alexa in your ears: Amazon is working on Alexa wireless earbuds featuring built-in fitness tracking.
Think of the new device, code-named “Puget,” as a combination of AirPods and a Fitbit, powered by Alexa. The earbuds will have an accelerometer to measure running pace, run distance, and calories burned, according to CNBC, which talked to a “person directly involved” in the Puget project.
According to the CNBC report, Amazon is also working on a “bulkier” Echo speaker that will have a subwoofer and a better-quality speaker. It’s essentially aimed at audiophiles who expect better sound quality.
We’ve reached out to Amazon for official word on the Puget earbuds project and will update this story if we hear back.
Priced lower than its main competitors — they’re expected to cost less than $100 — the new Amazon earbuds will need your phone nearby to access the internet, but will give you access to Alexa with your voice just about anywhere.
In theory, Alexa would have access to all of your fitness data tracked by the earbuds, so you could ask her whether you were on a better pace than your previous runs or how many calories you burned during a workout.
Unlike Google and Apple, which can put their voice assistants in Android and iOS phones by default, Amazon requires you to download an Alexa app to access her on the go. The Puget earbuds could change all that — as part of Amazon’s strategy of putting Alexa everywhere, it would let you easily ask her questions while you’re outdoors or on the go.
The low price is important: Amazon has been known to sell its products at low prices to get Alexa into people’s homes. On Prime Day, the company gave away free Alexa-powered Echo dots with purchases of many of its other products, like the Ring home security system. Amazon has the sheer market power to undercut its competitors in order to get Alexa into your ears.
Amazon’s expected to announce a number of new products during its upcoming hardware event on Wednesday, but it’s not clear whether the new earbuds will be a part of that announcement.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.