Publications have spread on social networks that a well-known company has begun work on a new gadget that allows spouses to keep track of each other. We have verified the accuracy of such messages.
At the turn of January and February 2022, users of various social networks began to share the news: a new device would soon appear in the Apple product line. The company is developing smart wedding rings that will track the movements of spouses and transmit information about each other's location to them. Also, thanks to the gadget, it will be possible to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, level of sweating and other indicators. Another function of smart rings: if one of the spouses turns off the device, the other will immediately receive a corresponding notification.
Similar messages posted several public pages on VKontakte, including "Women's little things" with almost 1.5 million subscribers. Similar publications appeared and in satisfied large communities on Facebook. The news did not pass by other platforms, including Twitter And Reddit.
The fact that Apple is developing smart rings has been regularly reported by the media and industry publications in recent years. So, in 2015 the company filed a patent application for the production of such a gadget: it was proposed to put it on the index finger, tie it to the iPhone and control the phone using the thumb through a small display. Patent issued four years later. Then Apple suggested use smart rings when working in augmented and virtual reality instead of more conventional gloves and controllers.
However, the images used by Internet users have no direct relation to Apple at all. For the first time these pictures published back in 2007, designer Victor Soto. He proposed for the company the concept of a new iRing device, which can be connected via Bluetooth to an iPhone or iPod and thus control the playback of music or video. There was no mention of any surveillance of a spouse or anyone else in the project description. We were unable to find a formal connection between Soto's concept and Apple's latest developments.
So where did the news about the unusual engagement ring come from? As our colleagues from USA Today, for the first time about this device reported in September 2016. The author of that publication, citing “rumors on the Internet,” said that Apple was developing a new gadget called iDo. Probably, this name plays on the prefix to the name and the phrase I do, which is characteristic of the company’s products, which serves as an analogue of the Russian “I agree” or “I agree.”
In addition to the features mentioned in recent posts by Internet users, the news reports several more. Thanks to one of them, called Dream Date, the device reminds of important anniversaries for a couple in a few days, thanks to another, Temper Teller, tells about the mood of the partner by changing the color of the built-in LED. The author also clarifies that Apple’s eternal competitor Samsung has already announced a cheaper version of iDo for single people - analysis of the owners’ behavior will allow them to find a partner in the future.
Why, despite such an intriguing description of the device, the world has not seen iDo in the five and a half years since its announcement? The fact is that the message was published by a publication with the self-explanatory name Faking News, an entertainment subdivision Indian news portal FirstPost. At the end of each publication of this portal contained Disclaimer: “The contents of this site are fictional. We advise readers not to take Faking News 'news' as genuine and real."
Satirical news
- USA Today. Fact check: Apple has patent for smart rings, not location-tracking wedding bands
- Snopes. The Apple ‘iRing’ Smart Wedding Ring Is Concept Art Mixed with Satire
- Is it true that the iPhone 12 can affect pacemakers and other devices that regulate the heartbeat?
- Is it true that the popularity of diamond engagement rings is due to De Beers advertisers?
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