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The potential of AI-driven visual interactions: Cameras on smartphones and wearable devices can make AI more context- and location-aware and can drive interactions, user engagement, and subscriptions. Apple is reportedly considering adding cameras and visual intelligence features to its wearables, per Bloomberg. But given Apple鈥檚 recent AI shortcomings, these features could be at least a year away.

A voice assistant is intelligent software that responds to voice command and runs on various devices, including smartphones, speakers, desktop/laptop computers, tablets, smart wearables, game consoles, TV consoles, VR headsets, cars, and internet of things (IoT) devices. Examples include Amazon's Alexa, Apple鈥檚 Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft鈥檚 Cortana, and Samsung鈥檚 Bixby.

But younger consumers spend more on discretionary wellness items, such as health-tracking devices like wearables, mindfulness apps, and self-massage tools. And older generations are more likely to focus on the basics, including vitamins and eye care products, but spend less on most discretionary wellness categories.

Gemini is replacing Google Assistant on Wear OS smartwatches, with support for tasks like setting reminders and sending emails. The Gemini Live voice assistant is also coming to Android Auto and Google TV, offering hands-free access to generative AI (genAI) tools such as summarizing the day鈥檚 news or asking it to play a movie.

A focus on longer battery life and lighter design could secure a lead over Samsung in the high-growth wearables market.

Meta鈥檚 Orion glasses could redefine wearables: Zuckerberg鈥檚 vision for a smartphone-free future is clear, but Orion鈥檚 massive $10,000 production cost stands in the way of mainstream success.

Insecure smart devices fuel massive botnets like Mirai, enabling larger, more frequent attacks. Geopolitical tensions. State-sponsored actors and hacktivists increasingly weaponize DDoS in cyber conflicts. Ransom and extortion. Attackers use short, hyper-volumetric strikes to cripple businesses for quick payouts. Cheaper attack tools.

From voice-activated AI to cutting-edge wearables, Meta's latest updates signal a push to dominate emerging tech markets.

The Android Show will highlight the expansion from smartphones to wearables, cars, and TVs and as a conduit for Gemini鈥檚 AI features. The timing is critical given Samsung, OnePlus, and Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor are pushing aggressive new designs, AI features, and custom ecosystems. What鈥檚 Google trying to fix?

The topline findings across all age groups:. 66% are willing to share medical data with a clinician. 58% have used virtual care in the past year. 54% track at least one health metric digitally. 53% own a wearable or connected health device.

Only 28% of consumers have bought or plan to buy a wearable, and just 27% are considering video game consoles. The interest in buying phones and computers now is unsurprising, considering that major companies like Apple, Google, Huawei, and Xiaomi manufacture or source those items from China.

Privacy and trust: Microsoft faced trust issues last year, notably with its ill-received Recall activity tracker. With these advanced abilities, the company is trying to emphasize user control. Microsoft said that users can decide which types of information Copilot remembers or opt out of the memory feature entirely. Copilot doesn鈥檛 use chat data or prompts for AI training.

Future consumer use cases: If the technology makes its way into a mainstream Meta product, it could be used as a health-focused wearable or offer remote assistance with tasks. The glasses鈥� real-time health metrics could facilitate an AI fitness coach that measures metrics like calories burned or speed, similar to an Apple Watch.

Ownership of wearable technology lagged in Indonesia. For both smart wristbands (5.3%) and smartwatches (16.0%), the country ranked last in the region. Malaysia. Malaysia鈥檚 desktop/laptop/tablet usage (3:39 daily) led the region. Mobile device usage was higher at 4:40. This places Malaysia at No. 3 in the region, 27 minutes above the regional average.

The largest YoY change was a 3.6-percentage-point increase in smartwatch ownership. This growth brought smartwatch adoption to 31.1%, surpassing the regional average of 28.1% and indicating increasing interest in wearable technology. Portugal demonstrated the second-highest social media usage rate in Western Europe, with 99.2% of respondents on social media platforms.

Smartwatches, another wearable technology, had a 26.1% penetration rate, up 2.8 percentage points YoY. VR headset ownership was still niche at 4.7%, a decline of 0.9 percentage points YoY. This put China at No. 21 out of 49 countries globally for VR adoption. Smartphone ownership in China was nearly universal at 97.4% (ranking No. 23 among GMI countries).

The bigger picture: Google Wallet previously added tap to pay support for its kid-focused Fitbit Ace LTE through partnerships with Greenlight and Acorns. And it鈥檚 not the only mobile wallet to launch kid- and teen-oriented payment features. Apple Cash Family lets parents load money into their children鈥檚 accounts and limit who they can send money to. Apple Card also has a family feature.

Ownership of wearable technology in Japan ranked last globally. This was the case for smart wristbands (2.9%) and smartwatches (11.9%). Game console ownership in Japan ranked in the middle of the pack (No. 23) globally. The country鈥檚 unusually high ranking is likely due to the presence of powerhouse domestic manufacturers, including Nintendo and Sony. South Korea. Time Spent With Media.

Most smart wearable users in the US are between ages 18 and 44, but the fastest-growing audience is older.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what to make of the deal between the writers and studios, whether we'll soon be interacting with synthetic social networks, if AI can really improve customer service, wearable AI technology potentially replacing the smartphone, how much people have saved for retirement, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco and analyst Max Willens.

The news: Apple delaying its AI-enhanced Siri voice assistant could push back plans to release smart home and wearable services and devices. The change affects a wider Apple Intelligence rollout and raises doubts about Apple鈥檚 ability to compete with Google and Amazon in AI products. The reason for the delay? Apple鈥檚 executives found the features didn鈥檛 work as advertised in their internal testing.