New 'Friend' Necklace Offers AI Companionship
AI wearables like the Rabbit R1 and the AI Pin have attempted to capitalize on the popularity of artificial intelligence and have largely flopped, but that isn't stopping the creator of a new wearable device called Friend.
Friend is an AI necklace that is meant to serve as a personal companion, and in a video that could be the start to an episode of Black Mirror, it's shown providing support, encouragement, and companionship to the wearer.
The hardware component of Friend connects to an iPhone via Bluetooth, continually listening to all interactions around the wearer. Pressing a button on the necklace allows the user to speak to Friend, with a message sent to the iPhone in response. Friend is also able to send messages without a conversational prompt, responding to what the wearer is doing.
The Friend and its "memories" are stored on the necklace, with nothing uploaded to cloud servers. Friend creator Avi Schiffmann said in a blog post that the device is an "expression of how lonely" he's felt. In an interview with The Verge, Schiffmann said that Friend is designed to be supportive, validating, and able to encourage ideas. "It's a great brainstorming buddy," he said. "You can talk to it about relationships, things like that."
Friend is available for pre-order for $99, and it is set to launch in January 2025.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
