Kalakshar US

Soon after launching AI playlists in the US, Spotify is adding a new way to keep the music going when you lose your internet connection. The new Offline Backup feature for iOS and Android automatically creates a playlist of your queued and recently played tracks, ready for listening on flights or off-the-grid excursions. Offline Backup is for Premium users only.

The feature complements Spotify’s existing offline mode for user-triggered downloads. In contrast, the Offline Backup playlist doesn’t require any manual downloads. So, think of it as more preparation with less planning. (And, of course, the standard offline mode will still be there.)

Spotify says the playlist will “evolve,” learning your habits as you continue to listen. It will also include the tracks already cached on your device from regular use.

Once you go offline, the Offline Backup playlist will appear automatically in your Home feed. Once it populates, you can filter and sort songs within it to more easily nail down the artist, genre or vibe you’re feeling. Spotify also lets you add the playlist to your library for easier access.

You’ll need to turn it on manually to start using the feature. You’ll find it under Data Saving and Offline or Storage in the Spotify app’s settings. Turn on the toggle for Offline Listening to activate Offline Backup.

Offline Backup is available now for Spotify Premium subscribers globally. (And you’ll need to have listened to five songs or more recently.) If you don’t see it after toggling it on and going offline, the company recommends checking for updates to the Spotify app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/spotify-can-now-automatically-create-a-playlist-for-airplane-mode-120038259.html?src=rss 

Oura’s next-gen ring appears to be an upgrade in every way. It features a sleeker design, longer battery life and smarter sensors to offer deeper insights for wearers. No more squarish edges; it’s a perfect ring this time. Oura says Ring 4 has 18 signal pathways, up from eight in the Gen3, which is paired with its new Smart Sensing algorithm.

New features include automatic heart rate and activity detection for up to 40 activities. It’ll land in six colors: Silver, Brushed Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Stealth and Black. All bar the Stealth is made of titanium. Oura Ring 4 is available to pre-order today, with shipping expected to begin on October 15, 2024. Prices start at $349.

— Mat Smith

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Students used Meta’s smart glasses to automatically dox strangers

Through an Instagram stream and publicly available information.

Two Harvard students used facial recognition tech and a large language model to unearth a subject’s name, occupation and other details. Their setup (dubbed I-XRAY) can use that information to pull data like addresses, phone numbers, family member details and partial social security numbers from various sources online.

In a demo video, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio used the glasses to address people who appear to be strangers by name, discuss their work and bring up a place where they may have met in the past, based on information picked up. The students told 404 Media they developed I-XRAY to make people aware of what’s possible with current technology — they won’t release the code they used.

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Polestar 3 first drive

The long-awaited SUV is finally here.

Following its first two cars of the same name, the Polestar 3 delivers what many of us were looking for. It’s a mass-market machine to fill the needs and wants of buyers looking for an all-electric SUV with proper dimensions — and yellow seat belts. After all the delays, we’ve got a test drive.

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Tesla stops selling its cheapest car

The new minimum price for a Model 3 is $42,500.

Tesla’s Model 3 Standard Range Rear-Wheel Drive is no longer available in its online configurator. Electrek first reported on the absence of the cheapest option from the electric vehicle brand, with a price tag of $39,000. Now the Model 3 with Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive takes that title with a retail price of $42,500.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-ouras-return-to-the-smart-ring-fight-111642885.html?src=rss 

Oura, the Finnish company that has done more than most to put smart rings on the map, is ready to show off its fourth-generation Ring. The new model gets a sleeker design, longer battery life and smarter sensors producing even smarter insights for wearers. But the thing I really care about is that the company has finally made a perfectly-round ring that doesn’t include any ugly-ass etchings on the outside.

The biggest change made to the Ring 4 is in the sensors, which were previously housed in raised bumps that kept contact with your finger. Now, the sensors are flush with the body, making the whole thing a lot smoother and sleeker than it was before. And while I haven’t seen it in the flesh yet, the press images seem to suggest it’s a decent chunk thinner than its predecessors.

Those sensor improvements aren’t just focused on making them smaller, but also improving their ability to peer into our bodies. Oura says Ring 4 has 18 distinct signal pathways, up from eight in the Gen3, which is paired with its new “Smart Sensing” algorithm. The ring will automatically optimize which of those 18 pathways to use to maintain a constant reading, given how much jewelry moves around through the day.

This is a real issue for some Oura users, because if the ring shifts around too much, you’ll get inconsistent readings. The company claims that the new hardware offers a 30 percent increase in blood oxygen sensing, 31 percent fewer gaps in nighttime heart rate and seven percent fewer gaps during the day. Oura hasn’t said what battery size the Ring 4 has, but says the above tweaks should help it get up to eight days of life on a single charge.

Ring 4 is available in 12 sizes (4-15) and in six colors; Silver, Brushed Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Stealth and Black. All bar the Stealth is clad in titanium with physical vapor deposition coating, with the outlier draped instead in titanium with diamond-like carbon coating. Much like its predecessor, its water-resistant to depths up 100 meters, and is suitable for saunas and swimming, but not deep-sea diving.

The company is also redesigning its mobile app to group all of the data it collects about you into three distinct categories: Today, Vitals and My Health. The first two of those help you explore your vital signs for the day in aggregate or in detail. My Health, meanwhile, will offer longer-term insights including your cardiovascular age, cardio capacity, stress and sleep. This will start rolling out today for all users, regardless of which generation of ring they own.

When I reviewed the third-generation Ring, I griped about the company’s decision to paywall features behind a monthly subscription. Look, I get you can’t build a sustainable hardware business on device sales alone and this sort of recurring revenue helps keep the lights on. But that only works if what you’re offering is compelling enough to justify the $5.99 a month, or $70 per year, which is why the Ring 4 is getting some new membership-only features.

That includes automatic heart-rate and activity detection for up to 40 different activities, removing the need for users to manually log their stats after a workout. When the app detects symptoms of high stress, it’ll now place that data in context with your movement, activities and tags. There’s also a better-developed suite of features for people who menstruate, with new insights for fertility windows — the company adding that this is designed to aid pregnancy, not prevent it.

Of course, while Oura’s never been the only game in town, it’s now got competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Ring. You can see that Samsung got to the integrated sensors ahead of the company it’s drawing inspiration from, but the Galaxy Ring is fairly basic, features-wise. Oura CEO Tom Hale told Bloomberg he feels the Korean giants are two years behind his company as things stand. 

Oura Ring 4 is available to pre-order today, with shipping expected to begin on October 15, 2024, with prices starting at $349. The first month of membership is free, with users asked to cough up $5.99 a month or $69.99 for the year. Even if you already have an Oura Ring sizing kit, the company urges you to get the new updated sizing kit before ordering your ring, which is available in sizes 4-15. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/ouras-fourth-generation-smart-ring-gets-smaller-and-smarter-070005477.html?src=rss