The Wall Street Journal reports that major AI companies are investing in smaller startups that use the same funds to buy services back from those large firms, creating interlinked financial dependencies. The report notes Alphabet recently suffered its largest-ever single drop in market value, wiping out more than half a trillion dollars, while data-center operator CoreWeave has also seen declining shares over recent months.
futurism.com
· 2026-11-02
MIT engineers led by research scientist Svetlana Boriskina created a stretchy thermoplastic yarn using two polyethylene variants instead of blending spandex with polyester or nylon. Because both components share the same chemical base, the yarn can be melted down and respun without separating fibers, retaining its strength and flexibility even after 10 melt-respin cycles. The team now aims to knit and weave the material into actual fabric.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-10-20
Circular has released two new smart rings, the Ring 3 Pro and Ring 3 Slim, combining health tracking features with NFC-based contactless payment support and haptic feedback. The move puts Circular ahead of rival Oura in offering payment functionality directly on a smart ring.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-08
Oura officially filed for an IPO on September 3, reporting revenue nearly doubling to $1.21 billion over nine months and 3.6 million rings sold to about 5 million paid members. The filing comes just after the launch of its slimmer Oura Ring 5, even as competitors like Circular, RingConn, and Ultrahuman roll out rings with tap-to-pay, haptics, and onboard software.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-05
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.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-03
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.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-03
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.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-03
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.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-03
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.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
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