Ultrahuman, a rival to Oura in the smart ring market, secured $70 million from investors including Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave and Blume to fund development of next-generation AI wearables. The company plans to use the funding to advance sensing, materials, electronics and algorithms, and is exploring a future ring that could work with devices like Meta's smart glasses for gesture control, according to chief business officer Bhuvan Srinivasan.
Govee unveiled its Sky Ceiling Light, which it calls the first AI-powered mood-responsive ceiling light, alongside two new COB strip lights and an outdoor light with dual-layer illumination. The ceiling fixture uses an 'AI Lighting Bot 2.0' system along with Govee's Vitality Spectrum and NaturalTone Algorithm to adjust brightness, color temperature, and tone based on mood and daylight conditions. It supports Matter connectivity, includes a DaySync feature tied to time and weather, and carries TÜV Rheinland certification for flicker-free, low-glare output.
Indian wearable maker Ultrahuman has closed a $70 million funding round backed by Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners and Alteria Capital, valuing the company at $365 million—roughly three times its 2023 valuation. The round includes $65 million in equity and $5 million in debt, and Ultrahuman is now developing a new ring built on Qualcomm silicon instead of its current Nordic Semiconductor chip.
Circular introduced its Ring 3 lineup, split into a feature-rich Pro model and a lighter Slim version, both equipped with NFC chips for contactless payments and vibration-based alerts for alarms and reminders. The Pro adds FDA-cleared ECG for Afib detection, blood pressure trend tracking, glucose tracking and deeper sleep analysis with up to 12 days of battery, while the Slim focuses on core metrics like heart rate, HRV, SpO2 and skin temperature with up to 10 days of battery.
Circular unveiled its Series 3 smart ring at IFA, adding NFC payments compatible with Visa and MasterCard alongside a returning vibration motor for silent alerts. The lineup splits into the fully-featured Ring 3 Pro, with ECG and haptics, and the slimmer, lighter Ring 3 Slim that drops those features. Battery life nearly doubles to 12 days, and both models ship with a 700mAh charging case.
Circular debuted two new smart rings at IFA, the Ring 3 Pro and Ring 3 Slim, both featuring built-in NFC for contactless payments via supported Visa or Mastercard cards—a capability absent from Oura and Samsung's Galaxy Ring. The Pro adds FDA-cleared ECG, blood-pressure monitoring, and a bigger battery lasting up to 12 days, while the Slim is lighter and thinner but caps battery life at 10 days. Pricing and availability have not been disclosed.
Circular has launched its Ring 3 series, succeeding last year's Ring 2, in two versions: a titanium Pro model retaining ECG-based AFib detection, and a lighter Slim model using biocompatible epoxy but lacking ECG tracking. Both rings add vibrating alerts for alarms and reminders and an NFC chip enabling contactless payments directly from the ring.
A threat actor dubbed Spring Ring is running voice-phishing campaigns against Microsoft Teams users, tricking victims into granting remote access to their sessions. Once inside, attackers use that foothold to deploy malware and attempt to seize control of broader organizational infrastructure.
At IFA in Berlin, Paris-based Circular unveiled the Ring 3 Pro and Ring 3 Slim, adding contactless payment support and the return of haptic vibration alerts to its smart ring lineup. The rings retain Circular's FDA-cleared ECG and AFib detection while adding new wellness features like blood pressure trends, glucose trend estimates and expanded sleep metrics.
Oura is extending its Menopause Impact Scale, a self-reported questionnaire it launched in May that measures how menopause symptoms affect quality of life, beyond its own app. Ten partners—including Alloy Health, Gennev, Wisp, Pomelo, Maven, Tia, Xella, Oova, Mira and Hertility—will now integrate the scoring tool into their care and tracking services. The scale evaluates 22 symptoms across seven categories such as sleep, cognition, body image and hot flashes, and results can be exported as a PDF to share with providers.
Ultrahuman has introduced Pulsomics, an opt-in research program inside its app that lets Ring AIR and Ring PRO owners aged 18 and up contribute their sleep, glucose, and VO2 Max data to improve the company's wellness algorithms. The program currently covers three studies, with more planned around cardiovascular load and long-term sleep tracking, and requires only that users wear their rings as usual.
Whoop has removed the membership requirement for its Advanced Labs blood-testing screenings, letting non-subscribers access them for roughly $70 per test. However, the Whoop band itself remains functionally locked without an active subscription, requiring at least $149 a year for basic features like recovery insights, sleep tracking, and VO2 max data.
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