On Monday, October 21, reports emerged highlighting Apple’s work on an augmented reality headset, but Apple isn’t the only company working on the new tech. In fact, a new design patent was discovered that could give us a first look at an upcoming Samsung augmented reality headset. The patent was first spotted by Galaxy Club.
When it comes to consumer augmented reality, most companies are working towards headsets looking as natural as possible, but this headset seems to serve a different purpose. Instead, the headset looks to be something that you would wear for specific purposes, rather than simply during day-to-day activities.
As described in the patent, the headset itself would offer two displays, with one for each eye, and looks to have a cable running along the right arm. That cable could be for connecting the headset to a phone or another device, or could even connect to a module that would house processors and other internal components. Alternatively, the cable could just be for charging.
Samsung has a history in mixed reality, though it seems to have stepped away from the concept over the past few years. The company partnered with Oculus on the Gear VR headset, but the last iteration of that device was released in 2017. Not only that, but the interest in mobile VR, in general, seems to have died down a little. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 is the first Samsung handset to be developed over the past few years that doesn’t support the tech. Google is following a similar path — while a few years ago, Google was pushing its Daydream virtual reality platform, its interest in the platform has waned, and the Pixel 4 doesn’t support Daydream.
Augmented reality, however, could change all that. The ultimate goal for augmented reality is that it will be able to display things such as maps, notifications, and more on a headset that looks like a normal pair of glasses.
Still, just because Samsung has a patent on an augmented reality headset, that doesn’t mean that one will ultimately get released. That said, over the next few years, many companies will likely launch an augmented reality product of some kind — especially considering the fact that Apple is said to be working on a device for a 2020 release.
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.