Anker
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ZDNET's takeaways
Anker's new AI voice recorder is about the size of a quarter.
The device can summarize and transcribe meetings automatically.
It will cost $100 plus an optional monthly subscription.
Anker wants to make recording your meetings simpler than ever.
The company announced its newest device today, the Soundcore Work. A small AI-powered voice recorder that's designed to be worn at meetings, the device can summarize and transcribe meetings and even highlight important parts.
That alone isn't exactly unique, as other devices can do the same thing. What's special about the Work is its size. As reported by The Verge, the Work is 0.91 inches across, or about the size of a quarter. You can wear it on a lanyard or attach it to your clothing with a clip, and it has a battery life of about eight hours (32 hours if attached to its charger).
Anker says the built-in speech recognition model is capable of transcribing more than 100 languages, and that the Work will automatically remove unwanted words and distinguish between speakers.
It comes with a price tag of $100, The Verge said (a leak from AnkerInsider reflected a similar price point), and you can add a $16 per month subscription for additional features. It's not clear what those extra features are, but basic functionality is no extra charge.
Anker hasn't said much about features (I've reached out for details), but the device is expected to have AI transcription and summarization, the ability to aggregate multiple meetings into a higher summary, and the ability to double-click the device to note key points. A French Amazon listing for the Work mentions that the Pro plan "offers 1,000 minutes of transcription per month," so the amount of time the device transcribes is at least one paid feature. The Amazon listing adds that the Starter plan includes 100 free minutes per month.
There's no cable to worry about losing, as your meeting files are temporarily stored in the cloud and then automatically deleted after you download them.
Anker added that the Work will use GPT-4.1 to transcribe audio recordings. Both the transcript and the original audio recording will be available in the Soundcore mobile app, and you can search to find information you need or export them to other formats.
Similar devices already exist, like the Plaud Note and the TicNote from Mobvoi, but Anker's new device is significantly smaller (the Plaud and Mobvoi devices are each about the size of a credit card) and a little more affordable than other options (the Plaud and Mobvoi cost about $150). Those devices also have paid subscriptions.