Key Highlights
- Not everyone is a fan of always-watching neckwear as a fashion accessory.
- "Go make some real friends" became common graffiti on New York City subway ads for Friend brand AI pendants late last year to protest "surveillance capitalism." Nonetheless, at the CES show in Las Vegas, gadget makers have pitched AI pendants as note-takers or ways to remember beautiful or important moments of each day.
- Technical advances including improved chips have helped overcome early problems with poor battery life, buggy software, and stumbling conversations that tainted early pendant models.
- China-based laptop titan Lenovo unveiled a prototype pendant from its Motorola subsidiary that allows voice control of its AI assistant Qira.
- The device worn around the neck will capture sound and images hands-free.
