——
These Earbuds Can Dictate Whispers
AI-based noise suppression is already baked into just about every piece of tech you already own, often times in multiple layers, but I've never seen anything this precise.
They're called the Voicebuds, and on their own, they're nothing special, but I was left intrigued by one simple demo. Standing just a couple of feet away in the bustling CES expo room, the representative (one of the founding team members) began talking quietly while wearing the earbuds—at a volume so low, I couldn’t make out the words. He then showed me how his speech had been fully dictated on his phone, the earbuds picking out only his voice in the loud room. One of the other engineers at Subtle Computing, the startup responsible for the Voicebuds, also mentioned that it’s equally impressive in a dead silent room, such as an office, where the earbuds would be able to dictate even a whisper. What makes it possible? They claim to have nailed its machine learning algorithm in a way that companies like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google haven’t been able to do.
The idea of us all walking around whispering to our computers might sound dystopian, but I do think privacy is one of the main reasons people don’t use voice control more often. Of course, the more practical use case is for those who depend entirely on voice for using their phones or PCs. The Voicebuds plan to launch this month and ship soon after, with pre-orders currently going for $199.
This Flashlight Has a Camera and Can Contact Emergency Services
Most personal safety devices are discreet little devices, usually some kind of wearable jewelry or keychain. Not the Timeli. There's a camera right in the center of the flashlight, so you can point it in the direction of trouble to hopefully ward sketchy people away while also capturing live HD video. When you press the red emergency button, you'll hear a loud alarm until you're connected with a dispatcher from RapidSOS, who will analyze your real-time video footage to assess the threat and whether medical, fire, or police need to be dispatched. They'll also receive your live GPS coordinates. There's two-way communication, so you can provide specifics about the situation.
It's not just for emergencies. Timeli says you can push the red button whenever you feel unsafe and want a companion as you walk to your car in the parking lot. It supports cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, and you can use it with the companion app to fine-tune the flashlight's settings, from brightness to the alarm's volume. It can last up to 2 years on battery in standby mode, but it's USB-C rechargeable, and you can use it as a power bank to give it a dual purpose (the Timeli stops charging your phone when the battery is at 50 percent to make sure the flashlight isn't dead when there's a real emergency).
Naturally, it requires a subscription for the cellular and GPS features. You'll pay $300 for the Timeli, but at launch, you'll get a year bundled for free, after which you'll have to pay $10 per month. It ships in early February.
Listen to Enigma and Return to Innocence With Naox's EEG Earbuds
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is an important tool for treating neurological disorders, as well as mental health and sleep challenges. Unfortunately, they're pretty hard to administer—you have to lie down in a room with a person putting little electrodes over your head and then looking at real-time readouts (I made my aunt do one on me when she worked in a neurologist's office).
This week, Naox Technologies made two announcements. The first is that its wired in-ear EEG earbuds, the Naox Link, just received FDA clearance.
These are not direct-to-consumer buds, but are intended to be used with medical professionals in settings like sleep labs or clinics. Still, this is a huge upgrade to the laborious sticking-sensors-on-your-head thing.
The company also announced the Naox Wave, pictured at the top of the post. These are the consumer buds that are not FDA-cleared and are not intended for medical use, but also track brain activity. They come with a connected app, so whenever you're wearing your earbuds throughout the day, you can check if your meditation or workout session actually calmed you down. And these are actually real wireless earbuds, so you don't have to put them in and listen to nothing. You can actually take your calls and listen to music while monitoring your brain activity.
Hugo Dinh, the CEO and cofounder of Naox, noted that you can actually see noticeable differences in your brain health once you do things like pick up a meditation practice. If my AirPods Pro 3 could pick up anything from my brainwaves right now, the app would be bright red alarms and indicating nothing but PURE PANIC, I'm sure. Maybe I will find a meditation device on the show floor to calm me down.
https://www.wired.com/live/ces-2026-live-blog/
