AI-powered voice recorders have started appearing in some unusual form factors. We have already seen the Vocci smart ring put a recorder on your finger, while the Flowtica Scribe hides similar note-taking smarts inside a fairly ordinary pen.
Mobvoi is putting the same idea somewhere that arguably makes a little more sense: in a smartwatch. The new TicNote Watch is designed to record conversations, turn them into transcripts, and generate AI summaries without requiring a phone to start capturing audio.
Pressing and holding the dedicated recording button for two seconds starts capturing audio, and Mobvoi says recording works offline. The watch supports in-person conversations and two-way phone calls, while a double press starts a recording of up to 60 seconds for shorter notes. Dual omnidirectional microphones can reportedly pick up voices from 3 to 5 meters away. The watch can store up to 200 hours of recordings locally, while Mobvoi claims more than 24 hours of continuous recording on a charge.
Live transcription appears directly on the watch in 17 languages. Mobvoi claims at least 98% accuracy and latency below 1.5 seconds, although those figures have yet to be independently verified. Users can mark important moments with a tap, and recordings can be turned into AI-generated summaries and mind maps. Flowtica’s pen offers a similar combination of recording, transcription, summaries, and follow-up actions through its companion software.
The TicNote Watch also incorporates health and activity data. Its AI Journal brings conversations together with workouts, sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and readiness information in a searchable timeline. AI Recap uses the collected information to generate an evening summary with notable moments and action items. Recordings and notes can sync across the watch, phone, and PC through TicNote Cloud. Users can export transcripts and summaries to Notion and Obsidian, while the TicNote API supports access from ChatGPT, Codex, and Claude.
Wearable recording also raises privacy considerations, since people nearby may not immediately realize a conversation is being captured. Similar concerns apply to other discreet recording devices, including the Flowtica Scribe. TicNote Watch costs $249, with a limited introductory price of $199. The included Plus plan provides 600 transcription minutes per month, while Mobvoi also offers Pro and Business plans.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.