Forget just calling 911; if you have an Android phone, you can now share live video directly with the dispatcher. It’s a new feature Google announced this week called Android Emergency Live Video, and it’s rolling out to folks in the US, along with select regions in Germany and Mexico, for phones running Android 8 and newer with Google Play Services.
This capability becomes available during an emergency call or text, as a dispatcher can send a request to your phone to share live video. You need to tap to accept the request, and your phone’s camera will start streaming footage, whether that’s to assess a fallen tree on the road or to guide you through CPR until an ambulance arrives. Google says the feature is encrypted, and you can stop sharing the live video feed at any time. There’s nothing you need to do to set the feature up.
Gear Roundup
All the top gear news of the week in one place. Here’s more you may have missed this week:
AT&T Gives the Smart Home a Second Try With Help From Google and AbodeiFixit Put a Chatbot Repair Expert in an AppPebble Is Making a $75 Smart Ring
You Can Now Double Pinch on Your Pixel Watch
This is the bougiest thing about me, but I love being able to control my smartwatch or fitness tracker without having to poke or tap at the screen. Apple introduced Double Tap on the Apple Watch in 2023, which took learnings from Apple’s accessibility software, called AssistiveTouch. It helped Apple Watch wearers with accessibility issues use gesture-based controls. This year, Apple introduced Wrist Flick to dismiss calls or silence timers with WatchOS 26.
Now Google is introducing gesture controls on the Pixel Watch 4. These features are named (with no apparent shame whatsoever) Double Pinch and Wrist Turn. Like Double Tap, you can use Double Pinch to answer or end calls or pause timers. The Pixel Watch will give you hints as to when Double Pinch might be helpful.
These features join Raise to Talk, which is a wrist-based gesture that Pixel Watch wearers can use to talk to Gemini. The smart replies on the watch have also been improved. Back when Wear OS was called Android Wear, Google had a few gestures that let you flick your wrist away or toward your body to scroll through notifications and tiles. What goes around comes around. —Adrienne So
Apple Fitness+ Expands to New Markets
Apple’s Fitness+ is an unusual case. It’s one of the company’s weakest offerings financially, as reported by Bloomberg. Management of the division recently rolled over to Apple Health head Sumbul Desai after explosive allegations that Jay Blahnik, the vice president of fitness technologies, had created a toxic work environment. (Prior to the management shuffle, Apple had said it was launching an internal investigation into the alleged conduct.) Personally, I’m waiting for Fitness+ to get rolled into 2026’s rumored new Health+ app. I’m getting tired of being so confused about where all my health data is on my iPhone!
But it doesn’t look like Apple is shutting it down just yet, since this week Apple announced that Fitness+ has expanded to a whopping 28 new markets, including Chile, Hong Kong, and India. Hundreds of Fitness+ sessions will now be available in languages such as Spanish, German, and Japanese, and there’s a new K-pop music genre available for workouts. These new features tally with other developments we’ve seen across Apple’s lineup, like live translation and heart-rate monitoring in this year’s AirPods Pro 3.
Fitness+ might not be more popular than Peloton just yet, but as an integrated part of a revitalized software and hardware lineup, it could get there. —Adrienne So
Nocs’ Latest Speakers Sit on Heavy Metal
If you have been yearning for a pair of cubist speakers for your glamorous living room, Sweden-based Nocs Design has you covered with its new Braque speakers. The ultimate rectangles are formed from a 50-pound base of Swedish steel, which, to give you some perspective, means that each Braque plinth weighs about the same as a 9-year-old child or a bag of concrete mix.
A wooden cabinet on top that lump of metal contains a UK-based Celestion coaxial driver and an Estonian wood cabinet. The effect is strikingly sculptural despite being an otherwise standard speaker shape, with the blend of materials making these look like they belong in the next Bond villain’s lair. Dual Hypex amps power each speaker.
Don’t plan to use them with your flatscreen (the speakers lack HDMI), but they do have RCA, XLR, optical, and coaxial inputs. They’re not for the light of pocket, either—you can pick these up (or not) now a hefty $6,000. —Parker Hall
It’s Easier to Add Photos to Aura Frames
Aura is one of the biggest names in the digital photo frame game. Part of what makes it one of my favorites is how easy it is to upload photos and invite family members and friends to the frame to share pics (unlimited photo storage is no small feature, either). Now it’s even easier for your loved ones to add their shots, thanks to the new text-to-frame feature.
Frame owners will still need the Aura app, but the owner can go into the app and choose Text to Frame from the settings menu to invite whoever they want to start a text message chain with Aura. You’ll add their phone number, then they’ll get a text message inviting them to start texting back with photos, which will automatically be added to the digital frames.
If you have more than one frame on your account, as I do, it’ll show them a list of all the frames available so they can choose which one to text. The whole process can be done within a few minutes. It’s a nice, easy way to involve family members without everyone needing an app and an account. —Nena Farrell
The post Gear News of the Week: Android Gets Emergency Live Video, and the Pixel Watch 4 Supports Gestures appeared first on Wired.
