Although reviews have been mixed, we actually like the Logitech G Cloud. It’s an Android-powered handheld designed to play AAA titles through game-streaming services, in addition to mobile games. You can even play retro titles through emulators like RetroArch. The controls are solid, the hardware feels great, the battery life is astounding, and the seven-inch, 1080P screen is easy on the eyes. The handheld feels a little under-powered, though, and struggles with some of the more processor intensive mobile games currently available, even if your phone would have no issue with them. At $349, it’s only $50 cheaper than Valve’s entry-level Steam Deck. If Logitech knocks the price down a bit for 2023, the G Cloud would definitely be worth considering.
Fitness trackers like Apple Watches and Fitbits, generally aren’t as expensive as tech like smartphones and tablets, but they’re not exactly cheap. You certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to snag one for free. And as it turns out, many insurance companies include fitness programs that either come with a complimentary tracker, allow you to earn a free tracker, or offer discounts towards a device.
HowToGeek dove into the fitness rewards for some of the largest insurance companies to see which ones offered deals or freebies for Apple Watches and Fitbits. Now, not all insurance companies offer the same fitness tracking deals—some let you have a Fitbit or Apple Watch for “free” (with conditions, of course), while others merely provide discounts on the devices. Still, it’s worth looking into your provider’s promotions to see what you qualify for.
But that Fitbit or Apple Watch isn’t really “free”
However, it’s also worth reading the fine print. In many cases, your insurance company will have access to the activity and health data you generate while moving with the fitness tracker, as well as the data you provide in the insurance company’s app or connected health app on your phone.
Here is United Healthcare’s privacy policy, for example. A careful read reveals the company is ready to take all the data it can from you, including health, activity, camera use, local storage, phone dialer, where you touch your screen, sleep data, nutrition data, among other data points. While all privacy policies differ, there is similar language from other insurance programs.
While that’s not great, it’s also not exclusive to the fitness tracker deal:These privacy policies typically also apply if you simply use the provider’s health app. If you’re already using their programs, you’re not handing over much if any new information by opting in for a free fitness tracker. To prevent these companies from accessing your data, you’d have to stop using their apps entirely, so you’ll have to decide whether the apps and freebies are worth the privacy trade-off.
Those caveats aside, here are the devices and deals on offer from various providers.
United Healthcare — A free fitness tracker
Speaking of United Healthcare, if you’re under their insurance, you are eligible for the “Motion” app for iPhone and Android, which comes with a complimentary fitness tracker. While United Healthcare doesn’t specify on its site which trackers are eligible, HowToGeek reports you can qualify for a free Fitbit or Apple Watch after earning enough credits through your workouts. It’s possible the initial free tracker is a different, third-party option, and the Fitbit or Apple Watch comes down the line.
Aetna — A mostly free Apple Watch
Aetna customers have access to Attain by Aetna, an app is available for iPhone and Android, but which requires an Apple Watch to use. That’s why Aetna allows users to snag a mostly free Apple Watch (you’re responsible for the activation fee and sales tax).
However, you can’t sign up for the app, take your Watch, and sit back and relax. Aetna requires you to “pay” for the Watch with points earned from workouts and other fitness activity over the following 24 months. If you’re someone who’s generally active, that’s likely not going to be a problem. But if you’re getting into fitness for the first time, that could be a steep commitment. If you decide the workouts aren’t for you, but you still want the watch, you’ll need to pay the remaining difference.
Cigna — A free Apple Watch or Fitbit with subscription to Active&Fit
If you have Cigna, you can save 25% off an Active&Fit subscription. According to Active&Fit’s FAQ, standard plans are $29 a month, so you end up paying $21.75 per month. That might not sound as enticing as other offers here, but, as noted by HowToGeek, that subscription comes with a promo code towards a free Fitbit or Apple Watch. If you think you’d use the Active&Fit subscription, it could be a good deal for you.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield — 22% off a Fitbit
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s “Blue365” program offers a lot of deals, but a free fitness tracker ain’t one of them. Still, the company will take 22% off the purchase of a new Fitbit, and offers 12 months of Fitbit premium for free (tied to the Fitbit purchase). If you already have a Fitbit, you can get an annual membership for $56, $24 less than the normal price.
Since you don’t need to connect that discounted Fitbit to an app, you can safely get away with this discount without signing away your data. That’s a win in my book.
Humana — A credit towards Fitbit or Garmin
Humana’s program, Go365, allows you to earn credits while you workout, that you can exchange for rewards like a Fitbit or a Garmin. However, without access to the program, it isn’t clear how many credits you need to earn these fitness trackers, or whether those trackers are “free” or are simply at a discount. If you have access to Go365, dig in to find out.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 was the first Wear OS 3 smartwatch.Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
Rumors surrounding Google’s forthcoming Pixel smartwatch have been circulating for more than a year, and while we know some details about the product, a specific release date hasn’t even been speculated.
Today, that changed. Leaker Jon Prosser posted on Twitter that Google is planning on launching the Pixel Watch on May 26, a date that aligns with the company’s I/O developer conference.
Prosser had previously said that Google might reveal the watch alongside the Pixel 6 in October but warned that the date was a moving target. He later corrected the timeline, claiming the watch had been delayed to Q1 2022. Now the device looks likely to arrive in Q2.
While Google hasn’t confirmed the release date—no less the existence of a Pixel Watch—just yet, this latest leak should be encouraging Android users waiting for a proper Apple Watch rival because, as Prosser points out, this is the “first we’ve seen a set date on the device behind the scenes.” Moreover, Google’s I/O 2022 conference, which took place from May 18 to 20 last year, would be a logical launchpad considering it’s where Google announced Wear OS 3, the most meaningful update to its watch OS in years.
We’ve been hearing about a Google-made smartwatch for a long time now, and while Google has squashed those rumors in years past, now might finally be the time. A December report claimed the codename for the device is “Rohan” and that it’ll have a round face (like basically every other Android smartwatch). It is said to offer basic fitness-tracking, like step counts and heart rating monitoring, along with other features taken from Google-owned Fitbit.
There had been plenty of speculation about how Google would approach smartwatches after finalizing its acquisition of Fitbit last year. It was unclear whether the company would release a Pixel-branded device or go the Nest route and put its smartwatch division under the Fitbit brand. Anything is possible, but leaks and rumors suggest the wearable will be a companion device to Google’s smartphones.
If past leaks are accurate, then we’ve already seen the device. Late last year, Prosser posted on his YouTube channel what he claims are official promotional photos. They show a watch similar to the one featured in renders from April—it has a circular design and a practically bezel-free watch face that waterfalls around the edges.
As for specs, the rumored wearable could be powered by a Samsung Exynos chip and support Google Assistant, based on a report from 9to5Google that claims to have found a “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_WATCH” feature tag within a Google app. It might have been assumed that Google would turn to Qualcomm, but remember, Google partnered with Samsung to help it fix its tragically failing smartwatch OS. We wouldn’t be surprised if this partnership also involved using the other’s hardware.
We don’t know how much the watch will cost, but a recent Business Insider report, corroborated by The Verge, claims it will be more expensive than a Fitbit and priced to compete against the Apple Watch. And like the Apple Watch, the Pixel Watch (if it’s named that) will need to be charged daily. In any case, most of what we think we “know” about the Pixel Watch is based on speculation and rumor, so this Android user is keeping his excitement in check.
Apple has debuted a pretty intense commercial to pump up the new Apple Watch Series 7 with LTE. I must admit, when I first saw it, I was left almost speechless, my mouth slightly agape. The first thing I managed to think of a few seconds afterwards was, “Well, that was mighty unsettling.”
The commercial, which the company released on Jan. 1, opens with a 911 operator asking the person on the call what their emergency is. It then goes on to feature three calls, with ominous music in the background, of people who used their Apple Watch to get in touch with emergency services when they got in trouble. One person had a car accident, another got pushed out to sea while paddle boarding, and a third broke their leg while on their farm.
It looks like these are real 911 calls, but we’ve reached out to Apple to confirm. We hadn’t heard back from the company by the time of publication, but we’ll make sure to update this article if someone gets back to us.
The calls get very intense. The person who had the car accident tells the operator that there’s water getting in their car and they can’t get out. At one point, the person says the water is “getting to my neck.” In another call, the person who got stuck paddle boarding says they “can’t find the wind anymore.” Meanwhile, the person hurt at their farm tells the operator to “please hurry” because they’re in a lot of pain.
I’m getting anxious at this point, and this commercial is only a little more than a minute long. Apple anticipates this, I think, and cuts to the chase.
“With the help of their watch, Jason, Jim, and Amanda were rescued in minutes,” Apple says at the end of the commercial.
Ah, relief. But that was one stressful minute (actually, multiple minutes, since I had to watch it many times to write this article).
If these calls are indeed real, I’m so glad that these poor people got the help they needed. In fact, even if they aren’t real, they demonstrate a key feature Apple Watches have in an emergency. However, I’m left wondering: Was there really no other way to try to sell the Series 7 with cellular than by trying to scare people into buying it? I mean, they could have easily gotten the same point across and used the phone calls without being all dark and ominous. For instance, they could have changed the music.
I say this as a proud Series 7 owner. Heck, I love the thing and its big screen. While calling 911 from my Apple Watch, a feature the devices have had for years, isn’t necessarily the first thing I would think to do in an emergency, I’m glad that there are commercials like these that remind me of this very useful capability.
But we’re already living in a world full of anxiety and fear, and we don’t need more promotional content in that vein on top of it. It really strange—and again, unsettling—for Apple to try to exploit these emotions to sell more Series 7 devices with LTE, especially when it doesn’t need to.
Though it wasn’t technically available to buy in 2021, Amazon revealed its tiny, privacy-abolishing robot Astro this year, so it still counts. More or less an Alexa on wheels with cute eyebrows, Astro presented us with an answer to a question we didn’t remember asking: “What if Wall-E were real, evil, and knew how to beatbox?”
Priced at a cool $1,500—$1,000 for members of Amazon’s Day 1 editions program—Astro is billed and advertised as a domestic assistant. And like any good assistant, Astro gets to work on day one by getting to know you, your house, and your family. The robot begins by “enrolling” the faces and voices of any member of your household who might conceivably give it a command, and then sets out to loosely map the terrain of your home so that it can scoot around without falling down a set of stairs.
Astro also comes fully equipped with what’s known as “Sentry” mode, which enables it to patrol your house for people or events that it doesn’t recognize. Have you seen this episode of Black Mirror before? If not, that’s OK: It’s happening right now, in real time.
For privacy-minded consumers, Amazon touts the fact that Astro is “designed to protect your privacy,” noting that the robot’s microphones, cameras, and sensors can be manually disabled, and that boundary zones can be set so that Astro knows where it’s not allowed to roam. But the reality is that Astro is just another creepy addition to our digital panopticon—an ever-watching, ever-roaming surveillance device that’s designed to memorize and analyze as much of your personal data as possible.
Facebook is pausing all sales of its Oculus Quest 2 headset over concerns that the foam used between the headset and your face can in some cases cause severe “skin irritation”.
Facebook has known for a while now of the possibility the foam being used would do this; in a post back in December 2020, the company said:
We’ve received reports of skin irritation from about 0.01% of people using Quest 2, occurring where the foam portion of the Quest 2 headset rests on their face. While the vast majority of cases are mild and cases should resolve on their own, this doesn’t meet our high standards for customer experience.
Then in April 2021, Facebook decided there wasn’t a problem, posting an update:
After conducting a comprehensive investigation into this issue, we did not find any contamination or unexpected substances in our manufacturing process. We identified a few trace substances that are normally present in the manufacturing process which could contribute to skin discomfort, and while these were already at levels below the industry standard, out of an abundance of caution we changed our process to reduce them even further. We’ve confirmed with expert dermatologists and toxicologists that these levels are considered extremely low. While this issue has only been reported by a very small percentage of Quest 2 users, with these changes, we believe that users are even less likely to experience irritation resulting from any substances in the foam facial interface. We encourage any customer who experiences irritation from using Quest 2 to contact Oculus Support for a facial interface replacement.
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Turns out there must be some kind of problem, though, because earlier today the company posted another update, this one saying (emphasis mine):
Today, we’re introducing a new silicone cover for all customers globally, including as part of a joint voluntary recall of the Quest 2 removable foam facial interface with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada. In addition, we’ve been communicating with global regulators and are taking the extra step of temporarily pausing sales of Quest 2 globally while we work to include the new silicone covers in all Quest 2 packages. The new silicone cover fits over the Quest 2 removable foam facial interface and starting on August 24, all Quest 2 headsets will come with a silicone cover included in every box. For more information, please visit the Oculus blog.
From August 24—when sales resume—all new Quest 2 headsets will include this as standard.
The new silicone cover, which pops over the existing foam padding.Image: Facebook
For those who already own a Quest 2, you can get one one of these silicone covers shipped out by asking for one.
Good news for those of you who are eagerly waiting to see what’s new for Android smartwatches. According to a new SamMobile report, Samsung’s next-gen Wear OS devices will be powered by a beefy new chip called the Exynos W920—and at least on paper, the gains are promising.
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty. The Exynos W920 will reportedly be 1.25 times faster, with 1.5GB of RAM and 8.8 times the graphic performance compared to the Exynos 9110, the chip that’s powered every Samsung smartwatch since the Galaxy Watch. SamMobile also says Samsung specifically created this chip for the new Wear, a unified platform that mashes together the best bits of Tizen OS and the old Wear OS. Just looking at the numbers, this is massive. No Wear OS watch currently on the market has more than 1GB of RAM, and the overwhelming majority are still running on last-gen processors.
These specs dovetail with a rumor we heard in May from leaker Ice Universe, who claimed the new Samsung watches would sport a 5nm processor. But hasn’t Wear OS’s problems been mostly about neglected software and incremental updates? Well, to an extent, yes. However, another massive problem has been that, until now, nearly all Wear OS watches have been powered by Qualcomm’s lackluster Snapdragon Wear platform. The Snapdragon Wear chips have always used incredibly outdated processor tech, putting it far behind Samsung’s Exynos and Apple’s S-series processors. That in turn led to a chicken-and-egg scenario. No matter what software updates Google would push out, they would always be somewhat hamstrung by the Snapdragon Wear chips.
For years Wear OS languished on the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip, which was built on 28nm process tech. This was process node tech that was superseded by 22nm in 2012. That’s two years before the first Wear OS—then Android Wear—smartwatches ever showed up. The Snapdragon Wear platform didn’t get a meaningful update until 2018, when Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform. While it added a co-processor, this chip was also based on 28nm tech. In 2018, both Apple and Samsung had moved on to 7nm and 10nm process tech, respectively. Last June, Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform, which promised to boost processing power from 28nm… to 12nm. While that’s a significant boost, it’s still tech that’s several generations behind. In 2021, there are still only two Wear OS smartwatches that use Qualcomm’s 4100 platform: Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 3 and the TicWatch Pro 3 LTE.
This is a big reason why Wear OS smartwatches often felt laggy in comparison to Samsung’s Tizen OS watches, Apple Watches, and less power-intensive Fitbits. It’s also why marquee features like LTE connectivity and sleep-tracking took so long to make their way to Wear OS hardware.
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So the fact that the first smartwatches to feature the new unified platform will be powered by chips using current process tech? That’s worth noting. It’s absolutely not a guarantee that the new platform will be outstanding, or that it won’t have growing pains to overcome. However, it’s at least giving this fledging platform a chance to start off on the best foot possible.
When Samsung and Google officially announced their collaboration, Gizmodo asked if it was possible that Samsung might license its processor tech to other companies in the space. At the time, Samsung declined to comment. It’s very possible that it won’t and that this beefy processor will only work on Samsung watches. However, if it does make its way to other smartwatches, that would be huge. And even if it doesn’t, proving that the new Wear OS could be great on current hardware might give Qualcomm a kick in the butt to stop dragging its feet on updating its Snapdragon Wear platform. Or, who knows? Perhaps it might inspire other vendors to experiment with their own SoC and bypass Qualcomm entirely.
Whatever ends up happening, a capable processor that can showcase Wear OS’s actual potential is long overdue—and it’s reason to hope that Google and Samsung are serious about this new venture succeeding.