Humane will unveil the Ai Pin later on Thursday, but we have a last-minute leak that seems to answer almost all of the remaining questions we had about the wearable device. That includes the gadget’s price, as it looks like the previously rumored $1,000 Human Ai Pin price tag was much higher than the final price. Still, $699 will be a high price for a device described as a smartphone that lacks a display.
On top of that, you’ll have to pay $24 per month to Humane, with the subscription covering cellular access to T-Mobile’s network, unlimited AI access, and cloud storage for photos and videos. The Ai Pin will deliver a personal AI experience that relies, at least in part, on Microsoft and OpenAI software. That means ChatGPT might be actually involved in the AI features available from the Ai Pin.
The last-minute revelations come from The Verge . The blog saw documents that detail “practically everything” about the device:
What they show is that Humane, the company noisily promoting a world after smartphones, is about to launch what amounts to a $699 wearable smartphone without a screen that has a $24-a-month subscription fee and runs on a Humane-branded version of T-Mobile’s network with access to AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI.
The hardware
Humane doesn’t want you to see the device as a smartphone accessory, even though it might feel like one. But you will need to access a tool online called Humane.center to set up the wearable for the first time. It’s unclear if this will be just a website or an app on the phone. But this is where you’ll go to access photos, videos, and notes.
The report notes that the Ai Pin attaches magnetically to clothes and other surfaces. That much we knew from Humane’s previous teasers. The new report indicates that the clip on the other side of a piece of clothing is more than a magnet. It’s actually an external battery pack. Or “battery booster.” The Ai Pin comes with two such boosters.
This seems like the kind of accessory that you might be able to buy separately if you need more of them. But that’s just me speculating.
The Ai Pin will feature an unspecified Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It’ll also pack a camera paired with depth and motion sensors. The device can track and record surroundings. The wearable also packs a built-in speaker, which Humane calls a “personic speaker.” Support for Bluetooth is also built-in.
The laser projector we saw in Humane’s first Ai Pin demo earlier this year lets you project information on your hand and other surfaces. But, again, there’s no screen for additional interaction with the device.
The software
The main way to talk to the Ai Pin is by voice, something we also saw in that demo. The Pin supports gestures, as it features a touchpad on the front. The Verge reports that the wearable isn’t always recording. You have to activate it in some way manually. On the front, there’s a “Trust Light” to inform others you are recording.
The Ai Pin will run an operating system called Cosmos. It’s not going to run standalone apps, per the report. Instead, Human has devised a more seamless system that calls up different AIs. That’s similar to ChatGPT and its plugins and gives credence to reports that OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model will be part of the Ai Pin experience.
The AI powering the Pin will let you write messages that sound like you. It’ll also summarize your inbox, a demo that we saw from Humane earlier this year. The Pin can translate languages, identify food items, and then provide nutritional information. Again, we saw these features in action. Furthermore, the Ai Pin will support streaming from Tidal, including an AI DJ feature.
When it comes to photography, The Verge describes an AI-centric photosystem, though it’s unclear what that means.
All of that sounds somewhat exciting. But the Ai Pin might be a tough sell, no matter how exciting ChatGPT and generative AI tech might be right now.
