The Humane AI Pin is a $699 wearable smartphone without screen and runs on the T-Mobile network with access to open AI and Microsoft
Humane has been teasing its first device, the AI Pin, for most of this year. It’s scheduled to launch the Pin on Thursday, but The Verge has obtained documents detailing practically everything about the device ahead of its official launch. 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.
There is a pin that you can attach to your clothes or other surfaces. You can change batteries throughout the day if you want, because the clip is also a battery pack. We do not know how long a single battery lasts, but the device has two battery boosters. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and uses a camera, depth, and motion sensors to track and record its surroundings. It has a built-in speaker, which Humane calls a “personic speaker,” and can connect to Bluetooth headphones.
The AI Pin is powered by a Snapdragon processor — though it’s not clear which one — and you control it with a combination of voice control, a camera, gestures, and a small built-in projector. The Pin itself weighs about 34 grams, and the “battery booster” adds another 20. A software update will give the camera a new camera that will now take photos and video.
The device, as we revealed yesterday, is a $699 wearable in two parts: a square device and a battery pack that magnetically attaches to your clothes or other surfaces. In addition to that price, there’s also the $24 monthly fee for a Humane subscription, which gets you a phone number and data coverage through T-Mobile’s network. The company told Wired the device will start shipping in early 2024 and that preorders begin November 16th.
It isn’t meant to be listening for a wake word, and it isn’t always recording. You will have to manually launch the device bytapping on the touchpad and dragging on the pin, which will blink if you do not comply with the instructions.