Technologies

Aivela Takes a Different Spin on the Health-Tracking Smart Ring

The Aivela Ring Pro promises phone-controlling superpowers and a built-in health guru.

Smart rings are no longer novel. A few hidden superpowers, however, might make them interesting again.

Most devices are increasingly focused on biometric tracking. The Aivela Ring Pro aims to stand out with stealth gesture and touch controls. With a stealth flick, swipe or slide of the finger, you can control music playback, adjust volume, trigger the camera, advance slide decks, scroll and more on your phone.

Launched at CES 2026, the Ring Pro resembles many of its competitors, including the Oura Ring and Samsung’s Galaxy Ring. There’s only so much you can do with ring design after all. It has the familiar metallic (scratch-resistant) finish, a slightly thicker top profile and sensors lining the interior. The primary visual cue indicating something different is a small diamond-shaped engraving at the center, which signals the location of the touchpad.

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According to the company, the Ring Pro supports eight touch commands and six gesture controls, designed to reduce the frequency of users needing to reach for their phone or smartwatch.

Health tracking, however, is still a core part of the experience. The Ring Pro focuses on long-term trend tracking, including sleep analysis, workout insights, menstrual cycle tracking and more than 13 core health metrics. The app also has a built-in AI advisor that allows you to discuss trends and metrics with a live AI expert. The ring is waterproof up to 100 meters with an IP68 rating, and rated for up to seven days of battery life.

The Ring Pro is launching on Kickstarter for $299, but is currently on sale for $179 for late pledge backers and already has more than 5,000 backers as of publish time. The company says there are currently no additional monthly costs tied to the app services, which is another advantage over competitors.

While we saw the ring on display on the CES show floor, we have yet to test its features, and it remains to be seen whether its gesture controls prove useful in everyday use.

On paper, at least, Aivela is giving the smart ring category a different spin, shifting it from passive health tracking toward more active control.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 10, #474

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 10, No. 474.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. All of those initials were difficult to sort through. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Hockey players.

Green group hint: Not the whole name.

Blue group hint: Colleges.

Purple group hint: Gridiron groups.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: A Western conference NHL player.

Green group: NBA player nicknames that are initialisms.

Blue group: ACC teams, abbreviated.

Purple group: Starts of NFL team names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is a Western conference NHL player. The four answers are Canuck, Duck, King and Shark.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA player nicknames that are initialisms. The four answers are AD, KD, LBJ and SGA.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ACC teams, abbreviated. The four answers are FSU, ND, UNC and UVA.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts of NFL team names. The four answers are Bron (Broncos), Char (Chargers), Pack (Packers) and Pant (Panthers).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 10 #678

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 10, No. 678.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle could be tough. The topic is a bit unusual, and some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: If not now, when?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: When I get around to it!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RUNT, RURAL, TEAR, TEAL, TURN, HOLE, HOLY, HONE, PROM, PROMS, LATE, SHORT, LEAN, LANE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

SOON, LATER, SHORTLY, TOMORROW, EVENTUALLY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is PROCRASTINATOR. To find it, start with the P that’s the bottom letter on the farthest right vertical row, and wind backwards and then up.

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Technologies

This Extremely Rare GameCube Game Is Now on Nintendo Switch 2

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is considered to be one of the best games in the series.

Nintendo Switch Online lets you play online multiplayer with a Switch or Switch 2, and it also offers a slew of free games, including one of the most valuable games for the Nintendo GameCube.

That is if you have the right membership.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is the newest game added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack tier, according to a post from Nintendo on Thursday. Originally released in 2005, Path of Radiance was the only Fire Emblem game to be released on the GameCube. Fans of the series consider it to be one of the best games in the franchise, and it’s also one of the hardest to find since it was released late in the GameCube’s run.

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Copies of Path of Radiance fetch a sizable amount on eBay, with opened games going for $150 and sealed copies going for more than $400. It’s one of the few GameCube games published by Nintendo that sells for a high price in any condition, according to PriceCharting.com.

How much does Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription cost?

The annual subscription price for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack is $50. The family membership, which can be used for up to eight Nintendo accounts, costs $80 a year.

What’s the difference between the Nintendo Switch Online tiers?

The standard Nintendo Switch Online subscription costs $20 a year, and along with online multiplayer, it also allows access to a library of NES, SNES and Game Boy titles. For the higher price of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, members get access to Nintendo GameCube games, Nintendo 64 games, Game Boy Advance games and Sega Genesis games.

Subscribing to either tier grants online multiplayer on both the Switch and Switch 2 consoles, in addition to access to GameChat, Nintendo Music, cloud saves and special offers in the Nintendo eShop. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack has the additional features of free select DLC and access to upgrade packs for certain Switch games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which will upgrade the Switch version of the games to the Switch 2 versions.