Qualcomm imagines a future packed with AI wearables. We still have to find a gadget that makes AI worth the hassle.
Qualcomm imagines a future packed with AI wearables. We still have to find a gadget that makes AI worth the hassle.The Looki AI Pin promises to be a companion device that's able to shoot pics and video with the built-in camera.
It's also one of the few AI wearables with a Qualcomm chip.a “wearable”? What about the oft-derided AI pin? Qualcomm seems to think it counts, so much so that its latest chipset is built not just for smartwatches but for whatever future AI-centric doohickey big tech plans to stick on our lapels or around our necks. Previous Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear chips were mostly geared toward smartwatches. The new Snapdragon Wear Elite, first announced in time for MWC 2026 in Barcelona, is supposed to offer more platforms than that. The chip is built on a 3nm process node and encompasses Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU. That neural processing unit is built for handling low-end AI tasks, though Qualcomm also included an extra eNPU AI accelerator for low-power AI use cases. The chipmaker further claims it has boosted the CPU by five times in single-thread performance compared to the previous W5 Gen 2 chip. The chipmaker also improved the max frame rate you can get from the Wear Elite’s GPU. These upgrades could make next-gen smartwatches a little more snappy when loading apps. However, Qualcomm’s main goal is to introduce new use cases for its platform, whether through pins, pendants, or AI-centric hubs.This new chip promises to be able to handle a 2 billion parameter AI model on device. To put that into perspective, Google’s smallest AI model, Gemma, is a 270 million parameter model. That means the chip is technically capable of handling a very small conversational model. How that shakes out in reality is still to be determined. In addition, Qualcomm claims it enhanced image stabilization for tiny cameras. It supports cameras capturing images and video at 1080p and 60 fps. These could be useful for AI vision models. At the same time, any kind of AI vision model will likely need to run on the cloud, requiring an ever-present internet connection. The need for constant 5G or Wi-Fi connection is what has held back previous attempts at AI wearables—even if you ignore the AI’s tendency to offer inconsistent answers or outright lie about what it sees.Qualcomm’s senior director of project management, John Kehrli, told Gizmodo that the chipmaker is already in talks with multiple companies, all of whom are trying to craft some variety of AI wearable that finally makes sense. Kehrli mentioned how there are a variety of form factors being worked on beyond AI glasses, such asGizmodo Staff Writer Kyle Barr’s expression says it all. © James Pero / Gizmodo, a self-described “personal AI wearable.” It may look like a Nickelodeon splat logo, though it’s made to hang around your neck and provide commentary or simply record your life with the help of the built-in camera that can capture 1080p video or photos. That device is currently running on Qualcomm’s W5 Gen 2 chip.So far, the highest-profile examples we’ve had of AI wearables have been travesties and utter failures. Humane famously raised $240 million in investments to produce an AI-centric pin that. Other devices, like the Plaud AI Pin, are merely recording devices that depend on an app and cloud-based AI for transcription.that wanted to throw an AI companion around your neck. Its million-dollar New York City ad campaign ran up against skeptical graffiti artists, so the company eventuallyKehrli said that Qualcomm isn’t envisioning one singular use case for this AI-ready wearables chip. The next device may come in a form factor nobody had in mind. “What might make sense for you may not make sense for me,” he said. In the end, we may find ourselves inundated with devices with very specific use cases. Some companies are not getting that memo.that’s equivalent to the Humane Ai Pin, just with an AI-enhanced Siri built in. It’s hard to judge tech merely by a description. These devices aren’t the kind to immediately spark joy, whether in a Marie Kondo sense or as a gadget nerd. Not having a clear use case from the start makes it much less likely regular users are going to be willing to stick a camera around their necks.9:00 amThe Next Generation of Modular, Repairable Laptops May Have More Than One ScreenSoundcore’s New Headphones Have an Absurd Battery Life for the PriceSurveillance With a Smile: Burger King Will Use AI to Track If Employees Say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Probe into Gilroy traffic fatality finds driver failed to yield“Visual obstructions” were also contributing factors in the Jan. 16 crash that left a mother and father dead.
Read more »
Cuba unveils new details in fatal US boat shooting and says a 2nd boat failedTop officials with Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior have unveiled for the first time the items they said were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that opened fire against troops in waters off the island’s north coast this week, with soldiers responding and killing four suspects.
Read more »
Coney Island principal failed to protect 2 elderly stray cats buried repeatedly in snow storms: activistsToday's Video Headlines: 02/27/27
Read more »
Cuba says a second boat on the mission from the U.S. failedThe Associated Press
Read more »
LAUSD Superintendent Faces Federal Investigation Linked to Failed AI ContractFederal investigation into LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is reportedly tied to a $6 million contract awarded to the now-defunct AI company AllHere. Allegations include close ties between Carvalho and a former AllHere salesperson, Debra Kerr, whose property was recently raided. The investigation, which predates the Trump administration, involves potential kickbacks and has led to raids on Carvalho's home and office.
Read more »
A charismatic educator, a connected consultant and an AI deal that failed L.A. schoolsAlberto Carvalho and Debra Kerr's roots date back to their days together in the Florida education community. Now, both find themselves as central figures in a federal probe into AllHere, the company behind L.A. Unified's failed AI chatbot project.
Read more »