GoKawiil
Tech News
Retailers are discounting the previous-generation Oura Ring 4 by $100, bringing it to as low as $249 depending on size and color, with Best Buy offering an exclusive 'midnight' blue version for $279. A $10 sizing kit is also available that includes store credit toward a purchase. Full use of the ring's features still requires an Oura subscription priced at $5.99 monthly or $69.99 annually.
The Verge has released its 2026 holiday gift guide, compiling a curated list of recommended products for shoppers to give this season. The selection spans categories including smart rings, Play-Doh-based craft kits, and music production gadgets, among other items.
Oura has filed a fresh patent infringement lawsuit against Ultrahuman in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging the Ultrahuman Ring Pro violates its design and utility patents. The complaint also names SVTronics, the Texas manufacturer of the Ring Pro, and seeks damages plus a permanent sales ban. One of the cited design patents was issued just two days before the filing.
Alloop unveiled a wearable system called the Trio, made up of four interchangeable pieces: a wristband, a ring, a sensor module called the Cube, and a feedback unit called Halo. Users can mix and match these components into different wearable configurations, snapping the Cube into either the wristband or ring. The Cube tracks metrics like heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen, breathing rate and temperature, feeding data into an app that includes a sleep score, a 'Bio Age' estimate, and an AI health agent.
Oura is rolling out two new cardiovascular features for its smart ring: Cardio Effort, which rates weekly exercise strain from Light to Reaching based on a personalized baseline, and automatic VO2 Max, a beta feature that estimates aerobic capacity without requiring a manual six-minute walking test. VO2 Max activates automatically after a user completes five qualifying GPS-tracked walks, runs, or hikes, with results shown in the app's Heart Hub alongside trend data and personalized insights.
Engadget has reviewed more than 130 tech products so far in 2026, scoring them on a 100-point scale ranging from 67 to 94. The outlet's editors selected Best of 2026 award winners by first narrowing the field to products scoring 90 or above, then comparing top contenders within categories, and rechecking prices and performance before finalizing picks. Some categories, including earbuds, headphones, tablets, Windows laptops, foldable phones and smart glasses, are still pending due to expected late-year product launches.
Smart ring maker Oura has postponed its US stock market listing, which would have valued the company at up to $15bn, citing uncertainty in the IPO market. The firm had filed documents just over a week earlier to raise as much as $2.2bn by selling shares priced between $40 and $44 on Nasdaq. CEO Tom Hale said the company can choose when to revisit going public.
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.
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.