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    Amazon’s AI Shopping Guides helps you research less and shop more. Here’s how it works

    Amazon The holiday season is quickly approaching and the sweet deals will be wide-ranging and abundant.  Also: I test wearable tech for a living. These are my favorite products of 2024 Amazon released a new shopping tool that uses generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) to help customers research products and provide recommendations when they’re browsing […] More

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    ZDNET’s product of the year: Oura Ring 4 bested Samsung, Apple, and others in 2024

    Nina Raemont/ZDNETIn a year brimming with technological advancements, from Apple’s first-ever mixed reality headset to the modern-day space race that is artificial intelligence, one particular niche of products saw its mainstream aspirations realized: smart rings.According to IDC, global ring sales were estimated at 880,000 units in 2023. This year, the market research firm is forecasting a rise to 1.7 million units, with an even larger spike of 3.2 million units in 2025. As consumers continue to find ways to dial into their health and well-being, the burdenless form factors of smart rings are slowly but surely chipping away market share from fitness trackers, bands, and smartwatches. The uptick in new smart rings at CES 2024 was our first indication.Also: We’ve entered the era of the smart ring. Here’s why it will shake up the wearables marketWhile the smart ring category was validated by the arrival of its first major tech vendor with Samsung’s Galaxy Ring — as well as by exciting new entrants such as Ultrahuman, and the Movano Evie — the Oura Ring 4 More

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    7 Android widgets to make your phone or tablet more useful

    ZDNETI’m going to preface this piece by saying the choice of widgets is personal, and what might be useful to me might not be useful to you. Even so, there’s a widget for everyone, and depending on the apps you have installed on your Android device, you’ll more than likely find one or two in this article that help make your day a bit more efficient.So, what are widgets? Simply put, they are additions to your Android home screen that allow quick access to information from apps, the apps themselves, or services you depend on. With the right collection of widgets, you could create an at-a-glance home screen that keeps you up to date without opening a single app.Also: 5 hidden Android features that can simplify your lifeI’ve searched through the widgets for phones and tablets, and I’m sharing those that I think will make your devices more useful.Before we get to the list, let’s explore how to get started with widgets. More

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    Finally, a luxury soundbar that’s compact and delivers immersive audio (and it’s $500 off)

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus is available now from the official site for $999. The Ambeo Plus produces a big, rich sound but does depend on the subwoofer (sold separately) to give it enough depth. The Sennheiser app failed to connect to my wireless networks, so I couldn’t update the firmware […] More