What happened
Hardware startup Aina has unveiled a smart ring built around a small screen, a joystick, a microphone and a speaker, letting wearers send prompts to AI agents, capture notes and take phone calls, TechCrunch reported. The device opens for pre-order on Thursday at an early-bird price of $399, rising to $499 once that period ends, and the company expects to begin shipping in January 2027.
With the microphone, owners can set reminders, record notes and dictate text on a Mac through Wispr Flow or Aina's in-house dictation engine. The display shows phone notifications and indicates which app is being controlled, while the joystick and gesture support trigger actions tied to whatever is open on a Mac or phone. The ring can also manage music playback and smart home devices such as Apple TV.
Founder Apoorv Shankar said phones and laptop screens were made for a browsing era built around opening apps, and argued that working with proactive agents requires a different kind of interface, an idea that shaped the ring's design. In hands-on testing, the publication's reviewer found that much of the device's software and feature set is still being developed.
Context
Aina previously built Mirage, a three-key Mac controller whose buttons changed with the app on screen, such as muting a mic or leaving a Google Meet call, and lessons from that device informed the ring. Other rings with overlapping features include Oasis, Natura, Sandbar Stream and Pebble Index 01, while OpenAI's experimental keyboard and Rabbit's push to position itself as a controller point to wider interest in agent-focused hardware.
The briefing
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