Ultrahuman has opened US pre-orders for Ring Pro

0:00Every Sunday, we cover the week's tech news on this week in tech. Hi, this is Leo Laporte inviting you to join us for this Sunday's episode with Ian Thompson, Abraar Alheedy, and Patrick Beijah. We talk about outlook crashing in space, open AI, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a podcast, and the return, or maybe not, of Zombo.com. Join us every week for this week in tech. You'll find it at twit.tv and wherever you get your podcasts. Ultrahuman has opened US pre-orders for Ring Pro. We'll talk all about it in moments, but first. Samsung has unveiled the budget M70H and M80H Mini LED TVs, promising a bright picture and accurate colors starting at just $400 for the 50-inch and $1200 for the 85-inch models. The company also revealed a pair of new higher-end TVs with the company's quantum Mini LED tech, the QN70H and QN80H, that offer precise backlighting and 100% color volume.

1:04Mini LED TVs have been dropping rapidly in price over the past couple of years, while also improving in quality. The M70H and M80H are among the cheapest we've seen so far, with most 50-inch Mini LEDs currently on sale costing $400 or more. Samsung is promising pretty decent specs as well, like 10-bit panels that can display a billion colors. Samsung's HDR Plus and a 144Hz refresh rate, with FreeSync Premium or 240Hz, with DLG at 1080p. Akaijus revealed specs and other details about the MPC sample after teasing the gadget earlier this month. This is a portable sampler and groove box that looks eerily similar to Teenage Engineering's EP series. It also resembled some legendary Akai gadgets from decades past, including the MPC 3000 and MPC 60. In other words, it's easy on the eyes and sort of looks like a super famicum. It seems pretty capable. The sample has 16 velocity-sensitive MPC pads with poly after touch,

2:07which should please finger drummers. It can handle 32 stereo voices of polyphony and there's a sequencer for making actual beats. Perhaps the biggest news here is the price. The MPC sample costs just $400, which seems reasonable given the form factor in features. It's available right now. And iOS and iPadOS 26.4 are here, with a surprising number of new features for a point release. Chief among them is a new AI playlist generator, similar to one Spotify launched in 2024. Playlist Playground is Apple's branding for the songlist generator. It works as you'd expect, type a prompt, and it spits out tracks that match it. As Mac rumors noted, your prompts can relate to mood, feelings, activities, and more. Also new in iOS 26.4 and ambient music widget puts background sounds on your home screen. Like the corresponding control center tool, it brings up Apple curated sounds for sleep, chill, productivity, or well-being.

3:08Yet another music feature is Vans and Town integration. Upcoming concert dates in your area will appear in the Apple Music app. Unicode's latest emoji characters arrive in the update too. And this includes Harry Creature, also known as Bigfoot. Another fun one is Fight Cloud. Think all-timey cartoons beating each other up inside a puff of vapor. Also on board are a trombone, a treasure chest, a distorted face, an Apple Core and Orca, ballet dancers, and a landslide. The update also has fixes for some of iOS 26's, a frustrating bugs. Remember, you can find the latest gadget news, reviews, price drops, and more right now at Engadget.com. If you love Microsoft and Windows, you will love Windows Weekly with Paul Thorot and Richard Campbell. Hi, this is Leo Laporte inviting you to join us this week as we talk about Microsoft's plan to revamp Windows. They're sorry, they want to make it better. I think we can all agree, that's a good idea.

4:08We'll also talk about how you can get Paul's books for free. And a whole lot more Windows Weekly every Wednesday you'll find it at twit.tv, slash www, or wherever you get your podcasts. At the end of February, Ultrahuman announced its latest smart rang, which promises up to 15 days of battery life on a single charge. Sadly, if you were based in the U.S., you weren't able to pre-order the Ring Pro, as the company has been locked in a longstanding legal tussle with a Ring rival Aura. Now, however, it appears the situation has been resolved with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection giving its blessing. Consequently, pre-orders where the Ring Pro are starting today, with the first 1000 customers to sign up getting a hefty bonus. This smart ring market is still in its infancy, which means it's fiercely competitive as companies try to keep their rivals at bay. Market leader Aura has been willing to protect its IP and court,

5:08issuing patent lawsuits against Ultrahuman, Samsung, RingCon, Reebok, Circular, Zap, NexBase, and Omaid. In October 2025, Aura secured what it called a decisive legal victory over Ultrahuman, banning the import and sale of its rings in the United States. Its website, Ultrahuman stated the lawsuit was lacking in merit, and that it was an attempt by a rival to hold down a new player with a superior product. Even so, the company's Bovon Strinivasin told me in January that the Ring Pro has been designed to avoid any such legal drama going forward. The standard price for the Ring Pro is $399, but you need to fork out another $100 for the fancy, schmancy charging case that adds so much more to the Ring's arsenal. But for those 1,000 early birds, you'll be able to pick up both the Pro and its case for $349, which is quite a hefty discount all told. If your customer 1,000 won, don't feel too despondent, however, as Ultrahuman will still offer you some sort of discount if you're quick.

6:20Thanks for listening to the show. Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Today's show Future Journalism by Engagid Contributor Daniel Cooper and was produced by SpokenLayer. My name is Imran Shaken, we'll talk more tomorrow. SpokenLayer Hey, it's Mike Assargent from Tech News Weekly. The great show this week of the bar, Alhidi, we talk about meta coming to an agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America on using ratings for movies as part of its platform. I'll also talk about that Claude Code leak and the plans andthropic has for the future. Darksword and the scary way, it can hack your phone and meta and YouTube paying a bunch of money for the social media addiction trial. If you'd like to check out this week's episode, twit.tv slash TNW or just look for Tech News Weekly,

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