Latest news with #AppleWatch
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Business
- Daily Record
The 'easy to use' £24 Amazon smartwatch that is 'much better than Apple'
The Cillso Smart Watch boasts a near-perfect 4.9-star rating on Amazon. Keeping track of steps, workouts, and sleep has become increasingly important for many of us. With that in mind, having an accurate smart watch is crucial. Those considering big name brands, like the Apple Watch, can expect to pay a hefty price tag. But there are more budget-friendly options out there to rival these expensive options. One such product is the Cillso Smart Watch, which is available at a huge knockdown price on Amazon. Normally £129.99, it is enjoying an 82 per cent discount which means it's only £23.99. At the time of writing, there are five different colourways, with the rose gold and blue options available at an even better discount, coming in at £22.99 and £21.99, respectively. The Cillso Smart Watch has built in Bluetooth 5.4 for calls, messages, and app notifications, as well as a 1.95-inch touchscreen display, which "offers excellent image quality". According to Amazon, the battery can last for seven days on just 1.5 hours of charge. And for fitness fans, the tracker has 112 different sports modes and 24/7 health monitoring. For those considering other options, the Fitpolo Smart Watch is currently £49.99 on Amazon, down a tenner from its RRP. And the retailer is offering a 20 per cent voucher, which would bring the price down to £39.99. In terms of bigger brands, the Apple Watch SE 2 can be snapped up for £219 on Amazon, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 is currently £279 at Argos, its lowest ever price. The Cillso Smart Watch itself boasts a near-perfect 4.9 rating on Amazon from 135 reviews, with an incredible 96 per cent of them giving five stars. One person said: "Absolutely great watch, it feels like an Apple Watch. The software is very smooth. It pairs very easily with your phone. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a good smart watch with all the features that you would expect." Someone else agreed, saying: "It is much better than Apple Watch, which runs out of power after two days at most. This watch has 65 per cent power left after two days of use. It is easy to use and has different languages that can be changed. It is a good choice for a sports watch." There were very few negative reviews for the watch on Amazon, but some otherwise positive comments did mention the size as potentially being a problem. One person said: "Quite a large watch so probably not for anyone with a tiny wrist." But the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Someone else wrote: "Love this smart watch, it's really easy to set up and use. Great value for money does everything an Apple Watch does for a fraction of the price. "Charges quickly and the battery lasts a long time. It has good quality audio which is really clear and is convenient to get notifications from social media." And another five-star reviewer added: "Really pleased with this watch. Lovely clear display and many useful features. Easy to use app. Watch is also very good at keeping it's charge. Will be ordering two more for my daughters. Step count is also very accurate and to top it off the watch looks very nice on the arm." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
CNBC
16 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Apple is facing pressure from Wall Street to figure out its AI strategy
While its megacap tech peers are bragging about building island-sized data centers filled with Nvidia chips to power artificial intelligence devices of the future, Apple remains largely on the sidelines. Wall Street is getting concerned. The iPhone maker is the second-worst performer this year among the so-called Magnificent Seven, with its stock down over 15% as of Tuesday's close. Tesla, down 20%, is the only other member of the group that's lost value in 2025. Apple has disappointed its users and investors by declining to share more about its AI strategy, despite delaying the next generation of Siri until at least next year. Making matters worse, longtime Apple design chief Jony Ive in May sold his nascent startup IO for $6.5 billion to OpenAI. In the announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company is currently working on new hardware devices. OpenAI's aggressive move underscores Apple's unclear role in the future of AI and its lack of a clear strategy when it comes to competing. Analysts worry that Apple's position could start to hurt iPhone sales, which are still happening in historic volumes. "The incomplete AI strategy is still the biggest overhang, but we think Apple still has approximately 1.5 years to effect a compelling solution," TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar wrote in a note on Monday. He recommends buying the shares. Don't expect Apple to dwell on its AI problem when it reports fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday. The company will likely be too busy talking about the $40 billion in iPhones it's expected to sell, per a FactSet estimate, and its profitable services business. Revenue in the services division is expected to show growth of about 11% to $26.8 billion, more than double the growth rate for the whole company. Fortunately for Apple, it's built quite the moat against the threat of AI due to high user satisfaction with its products and its ability to lock in customers who own multiple Apple devices. So while AI could threaten Apple's spot as the most important computer hardware maker, the company has still got some time on its side. Deepwater Asset Management founder Gene Munster says pressure for Apple in AI over the next year is minimized due to the ongoing strength of iPhones, Macs and the Apple Watch. And competitors like Google's Android haven't yet found a killer AI feature, Munster wrote in a recent report. "With AI, the substance will exceed the hype, and this will be kind of a re-positioning, or a re-ranking of tech leadership," Munster said in June. "It's going to happen, but it's not going to happen this next year." Apple has already lost an opportunity to capitalize on AI in the eyes of investors. In the summer of 2024, Apple released features that summarized emails and texts, generated images like emoji, and gave voice assistant Siri a visual redesign. It was collectively branded as Apple Intelligence. However, the defining feature, a more versatile Siri, was delayed earlier this year until 2026. Analysts initially hoped that the addition of Apple Intelligence might drive a "super cycle," or prompt people who would have typically held off on upgrading their iPhones to purchase new devices for the AI features. But the increased sales never came. "We haven't seen that materialize in the way that the market had initially expected," said Visible Alpha Research analyst Melissa Otto. Apple declined to comment. The vast majority of people who got a new iPhone last year did so because their current device was no longer working, according to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners poll. Only 13% of people polled this year said they made the purchase for new features, including AI. When polling those who got new phones earlier this year, about 89% of U.S. iPhone owners choose to upgrade to another Apple device, the firm found. Apple is keenly aware of the future risks. Eddy Cue, head of the company's services business, said as much in a court case earlier this year. "You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now, as crazy as it sounds," Cue said. Apple's AI competition will likely come from two main sources. There's Google, which offers Android devices, and AI-powered gadgets that might not even include screens, relying instead on different kinds of input, such as voice assistants. OpenAI has announced plans to release the latter, and startups have played with new kinds of form factors, such as pins, pendants and smart glasses like the Ray-Ban Meta device. Google has been aggressively integrating its Gemini assistant into Android. Users of Android 16, the latest version of the operating system that powers Samsung and other phones, can use Gemini to control apps, including Google Maps and YouTube. Users can ask Gemini to create to-do lists based on YouTube app tutorials — capabilities that are currently far beyond what Siri can do. Still, even Google CEO Sundar Pichai is saying that it may be a few years before any AI-oriented device would challenge the smartphone. "I still expect phones to be at the center of the experience for the next two to three years at least," Pichai said during Alphabet's earnings call last week. Apple has to get more aggressive in the AI race, said Needham analyst Laura Martin, on CNBC last week. Martin said Apple is one to two years behind competitors, including Google, in artificial intelligence. "If Android is going to integrate all the latest Gemini and generative AI, the next time you replace your iPhone — a year from now, two years from now — that Android ecosystem is going to have more and more cool stuff in it, and then Apple starts losing its installed base," Martin said. Perhaps Apple's biggest challenger in AI hardware will be OpenAI with the addition of Ive, who is credited with helping to design and launch the iPhone, Apple Watch and other key products. But OpenAI hasn't given any timeline about its hardware launch, or even what it will be rolling out. It will likely take years before a product hits the market, and then the company has to figure out how to manufacture and ship hardware at scale. When the iPhone was first announced in January 2007, it was a low-volume product for early adopters. Apple only sold 1.4 million iPhones in the first year, most of them in the fourth quarter, a tiny fraction of the more than 1.15 billion mobile phones sold that year, of which over 435 million were Nokia devices. Apple didn't introduce the App Store until 2008. Four years later, Apple's unit sales had passed Blackberry maker RIM, as well as HTC, an early Android phone maker, and Motorola. By 2011, Nokia's sales had nosedived, and Apple had grown its business to sell more than 80 million iPhones per year. Munster predicts that OpenAI's device will likely be unveiled next year and would start shipping to customers in 2026. Apple has some time, but the clock is ticking.
Stuff.tv
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
Roku is rolling out a free upgrade to make movie nights easier
Roku is giving your summer screen time a boost, with a free update that adds new features designed to make finding something to watch easier and a bit more fun. Rolling out automatically to users over the coming weeks (inlcude Roku TV users and streaming sticks), the upgrade introduces handy new rows that put trending content and theatrical releases front and centre. The 'Top 10 Movies' and 'Top 10 TV Shows' sections now show what's being searched for most across the platform, refreshed daily and visible in Roku's 'New & Popular, Movies, and TV' menus. So if you're stuck for something to watch, you can just follow the crowd. Planning your next film night just got simpler, too. A new 'In Theaters Now' row shows the latest big-screen releases, complete with trailers and the option to save titles for later. Roku's existing 'Coming Soon' section has also been improved, giving film fans a clear view of what's hitting cinemas next. If you're just looking to kill a few minutes, 'Surf Mode' offers snackable video previews from The Roku Channel, powered by machine learning. These short clips let you quickly browse what's on offer, and if something grabs you, you can start watching instantly. The more you use it, the better it gets at knowing what you'll enjoy. Live TV hasn't been left out either. Roku's guide now highlights newly added channels in a dedicated section, while premium subscription content is featured more prominently in the recommendations row. Plus, the 'Live TV' and 'Roku Sports' sections have been given a fresh, more dynamic interface. None of this will cost you a penny, and the update will arrive without you lifting a finger. Whether you're after a cinematic hit, a trending show, or just flicking through clips to see what sticks, Roku's summer refresh is all about making your next watch a good one. Liked this? You can now download all of Apple's 2026 iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch software updates
Buzz Feed
19 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
34 Travel Products With Some Real 'Yeah, I'm The Eldest Daughter' Energy
A 2-in-1 nausea relief inhaler designed to work FAST on spontaneous nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, and general queasiness (having a human body is hard). You can either use it as a scent inhaler or rub it directly on the tip of your nose for relief. A vacuum-free space-saving compression bag so easy to use that all you have to do is stick your clothes inside, zip up the bag, roll the bag, and watch all the excess air get squished out of them until your clothes magically shrink. Yes, maybe it's only a weekend trip, but some of us need OPTIONS!! A hands-free (rotating!) phone mount designed for use on all airlines — not only can you mount it to the tray table of an airplane seat, but to the arm of a chair or any flat surface, so you'll be able to stream content easy as pie wherever you roam. Reviewers have used it on everything from their car dashboards to carry-on handles to office desks to bedside tables. A set of luxurious Fomin antibacterial paper soap sheets that come in tea tree oil, sweet orange, and refreshing lavender scents, so even when you're washing up on the side of the road, you can feel like the belle of the ball. Reviewers are especially obsessed with how well these lather with just a little water, giving them an effective, delectable-smelling clean! A 3-in-1 charging cord to juice up your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at the same time. (It's giving witchcraft??) This just solved all your "welp, everything's dying and there's only one outlet in this car/on this flight/in this teensy hotel room" problems for good. An Airplane Pocket tray cover that slides seamlessly over an airplane tray to create an instant, deeply convenient hub — this comes with a number of pockets so you can keep track of all your devices, snacks, and other odds and ends without rooting around for them in the gross back pocket or your carry-on the whole flight. Bonus: This bb is an excellent way to prevent touching a germ-y tray, and it's fully machine washable. A travel "flossing" toothbrush with two layers of bristles — regular firm bristles, and longer ones that are ten times thinner to clean deep in between your teeth and gums to mimic flossing. Reviewers love how deep the clean feels, and also how soft it is on sensitive teeth! A weighted eye mask that's basically like a weighted blanket for your human eyes, designed to decrease stress and encourage ~deep sleep~. They also feature a 3D contour, so they're hollowed out in the middle and won't rest right on top of your eyes. And a delightfully affordable, reviewer-beloved travel neck pillow set complete with an eye mask and earplugs so the instant you hand over that dinner tray to the flight attendant you can go lights OUT on the rest of economy as comfortably as possible. Moroccanoil's Mini Must-Haves Sampler, which is so affordable that I'm not not pinching myself to make sure I'm awake. Reviewers especially love these teensy versions for traveling in ~luxury~ on the cheap, and for trying these beloved splurge-worthy products without committing to the whole price first! A magnetic folding pill organizer with conveniently visible pill windows for easy access. Each has six small compartments for little pills, plus a large compartment for capsules and vitamins, making it ideal for trips where you might need a lil' emergency pharmacy in your backpack but don't want to take up space. A set of Tide Sink Packs you can use to do laundry right in the sink when the heat has you sweating through all your clothes on your trip like a human geyser. Now the WHOLE WORLD is your laundry machine!! A chic minimalist silicone wedding band to temporarily replace the real one, so you can go on long hikes, ocean swims, and treks all over new cities without worrying about losing or dirtying your actual ring. A set of waterproof "wet bags" you will curse yourself for not buying YEARS AGO, because they are tiny little lifesavers when you're on the move. Reviewers use these to cart wet suits and towels from the beach and pool, sweaty clothes from the gym, and soiled clothes and burp cloths in diaper bags. It even has a little snap closure if you want to hook it to a stroller or bag (and the color combos are TOO CUTE). A set of delightfully ~~tingly~~ self-heating soothing foot masks made with Epsom salts, lavender, and peppermint perfect for anyone whose step count on vacation is "too many." Now instead of dealing with aching feet all night, you can get ahead of the situation with some ~self-care~. A portable hanging luggage organizer for the ultimate lazy unpacker hack — all you have to do is pack your clothes in this, fold it into your suitcase, and then magically unfurl it in a hotel closet for access to all your stuff. Guess who's going to be the first one to the hotel pool after check in??? (You. It's you.) A portable extendable power strip to save your technologically-dependent butt when you end up in a hotel with one (1) measly outlet. Even if it's an absurd distance from the bed, this will extend so your gadgets are all close by, and easily charge all of them at once. A cordless mini travel water flosser so teensy and adorable that you'll be extra surprised by its powerful, deep cleaning water pulses. Reviewers love this handy on-the-go alternative to flossing, especially those with sensitive gums, braces, or built-in retainers they need to work around! A pack of super lightweight collapsible travel hangers perfect for hotel rooms that only have two measly sad hangers or longer trips or camping excursions where you need an effective way to hang clothes up to dry. A pair of investmentworthy Loop Quiet 2 "hidden" earplugs designed with traveling in mind — this newly updated version is lightweight and flexible for a barely there fit that still manages to effectively muffle noise, whether you're trying to get some shut-eye on a flight, focus during a work trip, or relax in a noisy city hotel. Boka Travel-Size Mouthwash Tablets to quickly freshen breath and eliminate lingering odors when you're on the move. These fluoride- and alcohol-free tables are made with hydroxapatite to help strip your teeth of microbes without the whole song and dance of regular rinse-out mouthwash. An RFID-blocking crossbody phone wallet perfect for anyone who has a chronic case of ~travel bug~ — this is an easy, hands-free way to keep all your belongings safe, plus have quick and easy access to them at all times. (Listen, you never know when you're going to need to make an emergency gelato purchase!!) And a fully waterproof tricked-out travel backpack complete with *deep breath* two laptop sleeves, a shoe compartment, a secret anti-theft pocket, a USB charging port, and a "wet bag" to keep sweaty clothes or liquids away from your tech. Oh, and it's cute as a BUTTON to boot. Who gave this backpack the right to flex on other backpacks this hard??? A rechargeable itty bitty mini white noise maker with 15 non-looping sounds that is an absolute space-saving *godsend* for parents or anyone traveling somewhere noisy. Pop this baby on in the hotel room and get the good night's sleep you deserve. A super lightweight, UPF protective travel umbrella for anyone who wants a durable, no frills option for rain and sun protection that they're not going to cry about if they forget it in a random Starbucks (don't look at meeeee). A flat RFID-blocking fanny pack you can either wear traditionally or sneakily wear under your clothes, keeping your valuables safe both from pickpockets and from your habit of getting distracted and leaving them everywhere you go (guilty as charged). Plus a handy RFID-blocking travel wallet complete with *deep breath* a passport pocket, boarding pass compartment, three credit card slots, an ID slot, a slim card pouch, slim pocket, a ticket slot, a cellphone pouch, a coin zippered pocket, key holder, and a pen holder, all in one itty-bitty place so you're never scrambling to find anything when you're on the move. A set of hat clips for anyone out here determined to beat the "you're only allowed to have two personal items on this flight" allegations 👀. This lets you strap your big-brimmed hat right onto your carry-on or backpack without anyone asking you to stuff it inside where it'll get all bent out of shape. Alleyoop's portable travel razor, a TSA-approved travel GODSEND that comes equipped with two triple-blade razors, a moisturizing balm, and a water spray bottle all tucked into one ergonomic, compact case. Forget the whole shower routine — the world is now your quick-shaving oyster! A digital luggage scale perfect for anyone who likes to play chicken with the weight limits on various airlines. This gizmo will quickly and accurately let you know in pounds *or* kilograms how much your suitcase weighs just by attaching it to the handle and lifting — no clunky floor scales required. A pack of LeakLocks Toiletry Skins to keep things from going "kaboom!!" in your carryon as soon as you reach altitude. These extend to fit both full-size and travel-size toiletries like shampoo, sunscreen, foundation, or any other liquids you'd rather not find spilled all over your socks and underwear post-flight. A suitcase protector for anyone with an ~aesthetic~ suitcase that deserves to stay pristine even when the airport conveyer belt is playing hockey with it. This is the perfect, lightweight solution to protect from scratches, smudges, and general ick. A set of clear reusable shoe bags to keep the grime from your beloved sneakers and boots off your other clothes. This is especially handy if you've been somewhere muddy or rainy and don't have time to dry out your shoes before you head home! A reusable, *delightfully* portable gel lint roller for quick lil' touch-ups both at home and abroad, because you just plain never know when you're going to experience the full-body serotonin of a furry friend pouncing on you. Not only is this little sphere cute as a button, but all you have to do to restore its stickiness is wash the interior.
New York Times
19 hours ago
- New York Times
How to Put Your Phone in Vacation Mode
Ready to get away for that late-summer vacation and want fewer interruptions from your phone or tablet while you're gone? Consider setting up a custom Vacation mode that sends most callers to voice mail and mutes notifications from unimportant apps — but still allows calls and messages from specific people to get through, as well as alerts from designated apps. You just have to set up the Vacation mode once, and then turn it on whenever you're off. Here's how. Using Apple Devices Apple's Focus feature is meant to help limit distractions on an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, an Apple Watch or a Vision Pro headset so you can, well, focus. Along with the Do Not Disturb setting, which blocks most disruptions with a tap, Focus has other preset modes — or you can make your own. On an iPhone or iPad, tap the Settings icon, scroll down and select Focus from the menu. On the Focus screen, tap the + button in the upper-right corner and select Custom from the menu. On the next screen, you can give your custom creation a label (like Vacation) and select an icon and color for it. When you tap the Next button at the bottom of the screen, you'll see a list of options you can choose for your new mode. Tap the Customize button to continue. On the next screen, select the people who can contact you and the apps allowed to send notifications when your phone is in Vacation mode. If you want relatives, the cat-sitter and your landlord to be able to reach you, add them to the list. Likewise, select the apps that can send you notifications — perhaps your weather and sports favorites. (Tap the Options menu for the settings on how the silenced notifications are displayed.) You can choose a more muted look for your phone's display and set a schedule to automatically activate your Vacation mode — at a specific time or a location, like your rented beach house. The Vacation mode can be enabled manually in the Control Center or by telling Siri, the phone's assistant, to turn it on or off. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
