IN THIS WEEKEND UPGRADE:

• 1mm-Thick Speakers |Fitness Trackers |Smart Lock |Oura diabetes |Kia EV

• Stress-Free Holiday Travel with ‘AirTags’ Real-Time Tracking and Airline Sharing

• Chile’s Carménère |Grand Brasserie |Weller Bourbon |Michael’s in CA and NY

• Stevie Wonder | Directional Living |19th-Century A.I. |Art Auction Week | Netflix

• [NEW] Futurism: Multiverse, Eye Color Surgery, ‘Generation Ship’ competition

TOP CONSUMER TECH

AI Shopping — AI search engine startup Perplexity rolled out a new AI shopping recommendations feature. Google also revealed new AI-driven shopping features.

1mm-Thick Speakers — XMEMS to release a tiny flat speaker that could drastically change the size and shape of wearables like glasses, smartwatches, and earbuds.

Best Fitness Trackers — After testing 46 trackers since 2015, The Wirecutter recommends the Fitbit Inspire 3 for its simple design and comprehensive activity tracking features for workouts and stress monitoring.

Matter-Enabled Smart Lock — The Kwikset Halo Select Smart Lock packs in tons of security features, like alerts on wrong codes being entered or lock tampering.

Oura for Diabetes — Oura secured a $75M investment from Dexcom, valuing it at over $5B, and plans to integrate the glucose device maker’s blood sugar monitoring.

2024 Kia Sportage PHEV Review — The plug-in hybrid is a practical car with usable electric range, decent interior space and an Intuitive interface.

Hilton Honors members get a guarantee of the lowest price when you book, as well as access to special offers, and perks like Free wi-fi, and exclusive app features. You can also earn and use points by staying at over 600 hotels and resorts across six continents, as well as through partner offers from gourmet dinners to concert tickets.

LUXURY TRAVEL

Stress-Free Holiday Travel with ‘AirTags’ Real-Time Tracking

The holiday season is a time for joy, family, and often, travel. But the chaos of so many people moving simultaneously can quickly lead to luggage going astray.

Apple's new AirTag feature aims to alleviate this worry by allowing travelers to track their checked bags in real-time, providing peace of mind during those busy holiday travels. For Android users, Google’s network is still a work in progress, but it recently added the foundation for a compass feature like Apple’s Precision Finding tool. The Motorola moto tag is the most AirTag-like Bluetooth tracker on the Find My Device network, using the same UWB tech to offer precision tracking.

Another option is the Twelve South PlugBug Travel which is an international-travel compatible charging adaptor with an inbuilt AirTag-tracker so you can locate your charger from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. However, you can just throw it in your luggage to track the whole case and skip the need for an AirTag.

An Essential Travel Item

Here's why Bluetooth Trackers are becoming an essential for holiday travel:

• Lost Luggage Prevention: They utilize the Apple and Android networks to pinpoint the location of your luggage so you know where it is at all times.

• Real-Time Updates: The new "Share Item Location" feature in iOS 18.2 lets you securely share your luggage location and real-time visibility with airlines.

• Faster Reunion: Airlines can use the shared location information to quickly locate your bag and drastically speed up the reunion process.

• Increased Transparency: Trackers offer increased transparency and accountability for both travelers and airlines.

All these features can help to reduce the stress and uncertainty associated with lost luggage, particularly during the hectic holiday season. Apple's partnership with major airlines like Delta signals a shift towards a more efficient and customer-centric approach to baggage handling. The wide adoption of AirTags could significantly improve the travel experience, making those holiday trips stress-free and enjoyable.

The "Share Item Location" feature is currently available as part of the iOS 18.2 public beta and is set to launch in select airports in early 2025 before a wider global rollout. Google will be continuously updating its network in an effort to keep pace with Apple. Keep an eye out for these updates and do consider making Bluetooth Trackers an essential travel companion for stress-free holiday journeys.

FOOD AND DRINK

Inside Chile’s Carménère Renaissance — The story of the shock 1984 discovery of once-thought-to-be-extinct Carménère grapes in Chile gave the varietal a second chance as one of the country’s most iconic wines.

Grand Brasserie — Vanderbilt Hall in the 1913 Beaux Arts Grand Central Station in NYC now houses the Grand Brasserie, a classically French restaurant open 5:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. The food is as much of a surprise as it is a delight.

William Larue Weller Bourbon — This Weller offering stands above everything else in its legendary family. Part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, it’s bottled at 133.6 proof after aging for 12 and a half years.

Michael’s: Santa Monica in NY — The pioneer of California Cuisine marks 35 years for its New York outpost. The original in Santa Monica is going on 45 years now.

Lab-Grown Foie Gras — You can now buy a lab-grown alternative to fattened duck liver pate.

ARTS & CULTURE

Stevie Wonder ‘Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart’ — Following a sold-out run of shows, Stevie will play Los Angeles on Dec. 14. at Crypto.com Arena marking his 25th House Full of Toys holiday benefit.

For the Overachieving and Underfulfilled — Directional Living: A Transformational Guide to Fulfillment in Work and Life by Megan Hellerer is targeted at her fellow “Underfulfilled Overachievers (UFOA).

Tales of 19th-Century A.I. — Two performances resonate with current concerns about art, sex and technology. An 1881 Offenbach opera including an android musician, and an 1870 ballet featuring dancing machines and humans pretending to dance like machines.

Auction Week in New York — Mica’s Magritte, a Train Full of Harings, and Cattelan’s Banana are part of an estimated $1.6B worth of art under the gavel this week, can the art market start to shake off its recent slump?

The “Most Streamed Sports Event Ever.”— Netflix’s Paul-Tyson fight was watched by 60M+ households globally (108M people), a major win, despite tech disruptions. Next, Beyoncé will play the halftime show during its Christmas NFL broadcast.

FUTURISM

Aliens May Be Hiding in the Multiverse — Scientists suggest that the reason why we have yet to find aliens could be that they're hiding in a parallel universe.

Robot Artist — Humanoid robot Ai-Da's portrait shattered auction records selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s.

Project Hyperion — Researchers launched a design competition to build a giant ‘generation ship’ spacecraft that could carry generations of humans to the stars.

Eye Color Surgery — A new $12,000 cosmetic procedure can permanently change eye color in 30 minutes by cutting corneal tunnels and filling them with dye, but doctors warn of potential risks.