Apple Watch Series 4 Reviews: Larger Screen is ‘Incredibly Good’, Upgrading From Series 0 or 1 a ‘No Brainer’

The first reviews of the Apple Watch Series 4 have been published online today, just a couple of days before the new smartwatch is available in stores.

The Apple Watch Series 4 features a new design with a slimmer body, a 30 percent larger display, and electric sensors for taking ECG readings. Despite the larger displays, the Series 4 has a thinner, smaller case.

All Apple Watch Series 4 models feature a black ceramic and sapphire crystal backing, and the Digital Crown includes haptic feedback for what Apple says is a more mechanical, responsive feel. Inside, the Apple Watch features a faster, more efficient S4 chip that offers twice the speed.

With all that in mind, several reviewers have been trying out Apple’s new smartwatch for five days, and most of them agree that while the Series 4 model is a great smartwatch, it “isn’t the kind of refresh that justifies upgrading from the last generation,” as TechCrunch’s Brian Heater puts it.

Likewise, iMore’s Rene Ritchie thinks Series 3 owners looking to vindicate the purchase will “have to really want the new capabilities, never mind the new design,” although he thinks that upgrading from a Series 0 or Series 1 is a “no brainer” and Series 2 owners will also find the new model “compelling”.

In terms of design and wearability, Heater found that the Series 4’s larger, wider case was “not really noticeable unless you happen to have two side-by-side,” although for those who have used an earlier model with any regularity, “the increase in surface area is pretty readily apparent.”

The Verge’s Dieter Bohn found that the difference between a 42mm Series 3 and the Series 4’s 44mm size is “only subtly bigger” and “feels about the same.” However, Wired’s Scott Rosenfield found more of a difference when actually interacting with the device:

The watch still looks like a watch. But in practice, the larger screen feels as significant as going from the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6. The rounded edges and thinner bezel give you substantially more screen space, which make it easier to read and tap.

That changed how I used the watch: I crammed in more complications on each watch face, and I found myself scrolling through texts, looking at heart rate and workout data, and even playing with the News and Photos apps in a way that I hadn’t since the watch first launched.

TechCrunch’s Heater took particular liking to the watch’s new haptic Digital Crown, which “feels like turning a mechanical dial… And when there’s nothing on screen to move by spinning it, the feedback simply shuts off.” iMore’s Ritchie concurred, noting that the “the new clicking absolutely feels more precise and more fun to use.”

The new watch faces were also a hit with Ritchie, who called the new Infographic (analog) and Infographic Modular faces “informational escalations that manage to be denser without sacrificing legibility.”

You can fill them with communications apps and contacts, if you’re running around playing secret agent. You can fill them with world clocks and trackers if you’re traveling. You can fill them with fitness features if you’re off to a workout. Or you can mix and match to best suit your average activities.

Elsewhere, Wired’s Rosenfield came away impressed by the accuracy of the watch’s new optical heart-rate sensor as well as the automatic workout detection, while noting that “runners will love the new rolling mile measurement, cadence, and target pace notifications.”

The improvement in the Series 4’s speaker was also particularly noticeable. The Verge’s Bohn called it “way louder,” while iMore’s Ritchie said “everything from Siri to calls now boom… I can make out conversation from a good dozen feet away.”

Speed-wise, Wired’s Rosenfield felt the Series 4 was generally faster than previous models, although not as big a jump as previous iterations:

In everyday life, the Series 4 does feel snappier, but it doesn’t feel to me to be as significant as the jump from the Series 2 to Series 3. The exception: I found the initial watch pairing process to be much faster with the Series 4 than with prior models.

Despite the speed improvements, most reviewers agreed that general battery life is largely unchanged from the Series 3 – TechCrunch’s Heater felt that most users would be able to get through a day’s use without worrying about finding a charger.

Reviewers were unable to test the ECG feature, which won’t be available until later this year. Likewise, when it came to Fall Detection, reviewers were advised against trying to trick the Apple Watch Series 4 into thinking they have accidentally fallen, although Wired’s Rosenfield couldn’t resist: “I tried to trigger a false warning by tripping onto a yoga mat, jumping on the bed, and flailing around while attempting to powerlift. No dice.”

Summing up, The Verge’s Bohn concludes: “The Apple Watch has earned its place as the best-selling watch” and is “at least an order of magnitude better than other smartwatches and fitness trackers.”

Other publications have shared Apple Watch Series 4 reviews that are worth a read. We’ve rounded up some links below and will add more when we find them.

• TechRadar
• The New York Times
• The Independent
• USA Today
• CNBC

Apple Watch Series 4 will go on sale, and begin arriving to customers, this Friday.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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iPhone XS and XS Max Have 4GB of RAM, XR Has 3GB; XS Max and XR Have Larger 3,174 and 2,942 mAH Batteries

The battery capacities and RAM inside the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR have surfaced in regulatory filings Apple is required to submit to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, often shortened to TENAA, is sort of like the FCC of China. Apple has filed many products with the regulatory body over the years, as required, and there is a track record of them being factually accurate, so there’s no reason to doubt these latest ones.

Chinese website MyDrivers was first to share the filings, but only provided screenshots. MacRumors uncovered direct links to the filings below.

The filings reveal that the iPhone XS has a 2,658 mAh battery, around 2.2 percent less capacity than the 2,716 mAh battery in the iPhone X that it replaces, despite both being 5.8-inch devices. Nevertheless, with continued performance and power optimizations, Apple’s tech specs indicate that the iPhone XS gets up to 30 minutes longer battery life than the iPhone X per charge cycle.

As the largest iPhone ever, the iPhone XS Max naturally has the largest battery capacity of any iPhone ever at 3,174 mAh, according to the filings. That’s roughly 16.8 percent larger than the battery in the iPhone X, and 19.4 percent larger than the battery in the iPhone XS. Apple’s tech specs indicate that the iPhone XS Max lasts up to 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone X per charge cycle.

iPhone XS Max regulatory filing in China
Last, the iPhone XR is listed with a battery capacity of 2,942 mAh, roughly 8.3 percent larger than in the iPhone X, 10.6 percent larger than in the iPhone XS, and 7.3 percent smaller than in the iPhone XS Max.

Despite having a smaller battery than the iPhone XS Max, the iPhone XR has the longest battery life of any iPhone ever, according to Apple’s tech specs. A big reason may be that the iPhone XR has a 6.1-inch LCD instead of a 6.5-inch OLED display like the iPhone XS Max, likely requiring less power consumption.

The filings also appear to confirm that the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max each have 4GB of RAM, while the iPhone XR has 3GB. That’s exactly in line with information shared by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Taiwanese research firm TrendForce earlier this year, so the filings are very likely accurate. By comparison, the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus have 3GB of RAM, and the iPhone 8 has 2GB.

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max launch this Friday, so it won’t take long before iFixit teardowns and Geekbench benchmarks confirm these battery capacities and RAM for good measure. iPhone XR launches October 26.

Related Roundups: iPhone XS, iPhone XRTag: TENAABuyer’s Guide: iPhone XR (Buy Now)
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Apple Finishes Paying $15.3B in Back Taxes to Ireland, Prompting EU Regulators to Drop Lawsuit

Just over two years after the European Commission ruled that Apple was receiving illegal state aid from Ireland — where it had reportedly paid less than 2 percent in taxes compared to the country’s headline 12.5 percent corporate tax rate — Apple has now paid back the entire 13.1 billion euros ($15.3 billion) it owed in back taxes (via Reuters).

The European Commission confirmed the payment this week, and furthermore said that EU antitrust regulators now plan to drop all legal action against Ireland. The EU had originally taken Ireland to court for failing to recover the $15.3 billion in tax due from Apple.

The confirmation of the withdrawal of litigation came from an email sent by European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso:

“In light of the full payment by Apple of the illegal State aid it had received from Ireland, Commissioner Vestager will be proposing to the College of Commissioners the withdrawal of this court action,” Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email.

Although the EU gave its final ruling in August 2016 regarding Apple’s tax loophole in Ireland, the regulatory body had first kicked off an investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements back in 2014. The ruling eventually found that Apple was allowed to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 percent on its European profits in 2003, down to 0.005 percent in 2014. Specifically in 2014, Apple paid 0.005 percent tax on EU profits, which means that “For every million euros in profits, it (Apple) paid just €500 in taxes,” said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager at the time.

Apple and CEO Tim Cook were adamant that the ruling was based on “fundamental errors” and Cook referred to the tax avoidance accusations as “total political crap.” He elaborated, stating that Apple pays all of the taxes it owes based on the laws of each country in which it operates. Likewise, the Irish government said it did not give favorable tax treatment to Apple and added that it “does not do deals with taxpayers.”

Apple and Ireland eventually moved to appeal the ruling, but as things escalated the European Commission decided to open litigation against Ireland in October 2017 for its failure to procure Apple’s back taxes. Eventually, Apple began paying the back taxes it owed around March 2018, and in a report from earlier in the year sources stated that payments were expected to finish around September.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: lawsuit, Ireland, tax, Apple-Ireland tax case
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Moxi the ‘friendly’ hospital robot wants to help nurses, not replace them

With so many countries around the world struggling to recruit people for the healthcare sector, robots could one day provide a realistic solution to help ease the growing strain placed on existing workers.

While robotic technology is already helping some surgeons perform precision surgery, robots that can assist nurses and other personnel in their daily tasks are yet to make an impact.

In an effort to improve the situation for overburdened healthcare workers, Diligent Robotics has created Moxi, described as a socially intelligent robot capable of supporting clinical staff to become a vital and trusted member of the team.

Unlike, say, Robear — a Japanese-made healthcare robot capable of lifting people in and out of a bed — Moxi isn’t built for patient interaction. Instead, it’s designed to carry out a range of logistical tasks for nurses, giving them more time for interaction with patients.

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Diligent Robotics

Diligent Robotics

Diligent Robotics

Moxi, which was unveiled this week by the Austin, Texas-based tech company, incorporates artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology that helps it map and learn about its environment. It moves along on a set of wheels, and uses sensors to help it avoid obstacles, whether moving or stationary. An arm and a sophisticated gripper allow it to perform tasks such as selecting medical items from storage that can be placed in an attached tray and then delivered to locations throughout the facility. Moxi also includes a screen that can display information related to the tasks that it’s carrying out.

Given that Moxi is designed to work in a potentially high-stress environment, its creators were keen to give the autonomous robot a congenial and cooperative personality. Diligent Robotics describes Moxi as “approachable and friendly,” and it certainly seems that way with its cute LED-lit face and soft voice.

“Clinical staff balance patient care with massive loads of manual logistical responsibilities, such as fetching and restocking supplies or setting up patient rooms for new admissions,” Diligent Robotics says on its website. “With an extra hand from Moxi, who autonomously completes those manual logistical tasks end-to-end without assistance, clinical staff focus on what they want to do and what they, as caring human beings, are best at — direct patient care.”

Indeed, with much talk these days about how robots are taking the place of human workers, Diligent Robotics is keen to point out that Moxi is designed to support staff rather than replace them.

Moxi will be put to work in a number of trials beginning this week at Texas Health Dallas, The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health), and Houston Methodist Hospital. The tests will give the team the chance to see Moxi in a real-world environment, enabling it to pinpoint ways to improve the design. Possible challenges could include Moxi’s ability to perform tasks in a timely manner compared to humans, and the degree to which having only wheels to move around prevent it from reaching various parts of a facility.

Still, it’s fascinating to see the first iteration of Moxi, a robot that could be helping out at a hospital near you in the not-too-distant future.

Editors’ Recommendations

• This myth-inspired, karate-chopping centaur robot could save your life one day
• It’s curtains for Kuri: Work ceased on robot companion project
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How to sync your fitness band to Google Fit

Google Fit is perfect for staying on top of your fitness goals, but it can be cumbersome to always have your phone with you while on a run. Thankfully, it’s easy to get Google Fit data straight from your fitness band. Here’s how to sync your fitness band to Google Fit!

Products used in this guide

• Any Android smartphone
• Google Play Store: Google Fit (Free)
• Amazon: TicWatch Pro ($250)
• Google Play Store: Mi Fit (Free)
• Amazon: Xiaomi Mi Band 3 ($40)

How to sync your Wear OS watch to Google Fit

If you’re already using a Wear OS watch, it’s super easy to get Google Fit on your watch.

Download Google Fit from the Google Play Store to the watch.
Open Google Fit on your watch.
Complete the initial setup.

That’s it! Now your watch can be used to collect your fitness data, and it will be automatically synced to Google Fit.

How to sync your Xiaomi Mi Band to Google Fit

Xiaomi makes some pretty great fitness bands, and they work perfectly with Google Fit. Getting things set up is a breeze.

Open the Mi Fit application.
Go to the Profile tab.

Scroll down and select Add accounts.

Select Google Fit from the list.
Tap the Add Google Fit button.

Sign into the appropriate Google account.

Tap Allow.

That’s it! Now Google Fit can get your heart rate and other data from your Mi Band.

Our top equipment picks

If you’re all in on Google Fit, it’s worth getting a Wear OS watch to track your workouts right from your wrist.

The best watch for Google Fit

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro

$250 at Amazon

The best Wear OS watch is also the best for tracking your workouts.

The Ticwatch Pro features a GPS tracker, heart-rate monitor, and NFC payments.

The Ticwatch Pro is a genuinely good watch even if you don’t care about fitness tracking. If you do, it’s even better. There’s a GPS chip to better track your jogs, a heart-rate monitor for keeping your beats in check, and an NFC chip so you can leave your phone at home and still use Google Pay.

UK Deal: Save £30 on AncestyDNA’s genetic testing kit today only

For under £60, you can pick up this test kit and uncover a wealth of information regarding your ancestry.

AncestryDNA’s genetic testing kit is a fantastic way to learn more about your family and where you come from, and it’s currently on sale with a £30 discount at Amazon today only. The kit regularly sells for £89 when it’s not discounted, which is still really a worthwhile fee when you consider what the service is offering, and today’s deal represents a new all-time low price.

This genetic testing kit uses your saliva to collect and analyze your DNA. After you send in your sample, the AncestryDNA lab will analyse it and uncover your ethnic mix. It’s based on a DNA network that is six million strong and growing and covers more than 165 regions worldwide. This is one of the more popular testing kits out there and has an average review rating of 4 stars.

For more UK deals coverage, be sure to keep an eye on Thrifter UK and follow the team on Twitter.

See at Amazon UK

Don’t be fooled — this automated system sneakily manipulates video content

A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an artificial intelligence system that automatically transfers content from one film into the style of another. In the vein of “deep fakes”, the A.I.-augmented videos infamous for superimposing one person’s face onto another’s body, the CMU system presents another case for how difficult it could be to distinguish fiction from reality in the future.

The CMU researches have named their system Recycle-GAN, after a class of algorithms that help make deep fakes possible by applying the style of one image or video to another.

In a video released early this month, the researchers demonstrated how a source video of Barack Obama speaking can be processed to make it seem as though Donald Trump is mouthing the word. Or a monologue from John Oliver can be transformed into one from Stephen Colbert. Recycle-GAN isn’t limited to human faces either. The researchers also show how the system can make a daffodil bloom with the same mechanics as a hibiscus.

The end result isn’t perfect — a slew of digital artifacts around the edges of the edited faces make it clear that things aren’t exactly as they seem. Still, it’s pretty impressive.

“Recycle-GAN encodes both spatial and temporal information,” Aayush Bansal, a CMU Ph.D. student who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “Spatial constraints enable it to learn transformation from one domain to another, and the temporal information helps in better learning stylistic information and improve the spatial transformation.”

Bansal said he was motivated to develop Recycle-GAN by an urge to, in a sense, resurrect the dead. “One of my life goals is to bring back … Charlie Chaplin in our movies,” he said. As such, Bansal sees the system as a tool for artists, such as moviemakers, and data-hungry researchers.

Bansal acknowledged that bad actors could exploit a tool like Recycle-GAN to perform troubling manipulations similar to those we’ve seen with deep fakes, including fake news videos and fake porn. However, he hopes his team’s approach could provide a solution for identifying deep fakes rather than fuel to the fire.

“Our approach enables generation of data which could be used to train a simple machine learning model that can discriminate between real and fake,” he said. “Generating this fake data was hard earlier because most deep fakes out there require human intervention or manual supervision, and as such we could never get an automatic way to detect them. However, now we have an automatic way to generate such data that we can train models that could detect fake content with some reliable accuracy.”

Bansal presented his team’s work at the European Conference on Computer Vision in Germany earlier this month.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• MIT researchers develop a robot system controlled by brainwaves
• Artificial intelligence discovers dozens of mysterious cosmic signals
• Like a vice principal in the sky, this A.I. spots fights before they happen
• The best movies on Netflix right now (September 2018)

Amazfit Bip review: A $79 smartwatch that does it all

Look no further if you’re in the market for an affordable smartwatch.

The smartwatch segment is in continual decline, and although Qualcomm announced the Wear 3100 platform, we haven’t seen mainstream brands like Motorola or LG launch devices powered by the chipset yet. Wear OS in general is looking more and more like it is about to fade away into irrelevance, but it’s not the only option available if you’re in the market for a wearable.

Fitbit makes a range of fitness trackers and smartwatches that do a decent job of mirroring notifications to your wrist, and in recent years Xiaomi has gained a lot of momentum in this segment thanks to the affordable Mi Band. The Mi Band is currently in its third generation, and it’s safe to say that the fitness tracker is one of the best value-for-money wearables you can buy today.

For $30, the Mi Band 3 offers an OLED panel, heart rate monitor, automatic activity tracking, and two-week battery life. The fitness band is manufactured by Huami, which is the same company that makes Amazfit smartwatches. That’s what makes the Amazfit Bip such an exciting product: it carries Xiaomi’s ethos while delivering a new set of experiences.

The 2018 Pebble

Amazfit Bip

$79 at Amazon

The best smartwatch you can get under $100.

The Amazfit Bip does everything you’d expect from a smartwatch but at a much lower price point. If you’ve used a Pebble in the past and were looking for a device that offers a similar set of features and weeks-long battery life, the Bip is a great alternative.

Pros:

• Great value for money
• Sunlight legibility is good
• Comfortable fit
• Excellent battery life

Cons:

• Non-actionable notifications
• Doesn’t track all workouts

Amazfit started out three years ago as Huami sought to branch out into the smartwatch segment, and is headquartered in Mountain View. Its products are available officially on Amazon in the U.S. as well as a host of other markets, and like Xiaomi’s wearables, the trait that makes Amazfit’s smartwatches stand out is affordability.

Coming to the watch itself, the Amazfit Bip is made out of polycarbonate with a 2.5D curved display backed by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3. You get a soft rubber removable strap in the box, allowing you to switch out the default band for more colorful options (it uses standard 20mm lugs). The 1.28-inch display has a resolution of 176 x 176, and you also get a heart rate sensor, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, built-in GPS, IP68 dust and water resistance, and incredible 30-day battery life.

The design of the Bip is very similar to that of Pebble, but where Amazfit wins out is in delivering value. Retailing for just $79, the Bip doesn’t have a whole lot of competition. The watch itself is very lightweight at 32g, and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable to wear throughout the day.

The Amazfit Bip is the spiritual successor to the Pebble.

The best part about the Bip is that it connects to Xiaomi’s Mi Fit app for notification syncing and tracking your daily activity. The Bip does a great job mirroring content to your wrist, but unlike Wear OS, the notifications aren’t actionable. The Bip doesn’t offer much in the way of third-party app support, but you do get the option to choose from various watch faces from within Mi Fit.

The built-in GPS allows the Bip to accurately map activities like walking, cycling, or running, but you have to manually enable the workout from the watch itself. There’s also no option to track swimming although it has an IP68 rating. On the plus side, you get a heart rate sensor and sleep tracking.

What sets the Bip apart from other smartwatches is the battery life. Amazfit quotes a 30-day battery life between charges, and that holds up in real-world usage. I’ve only had to charge the smartwatch once in over a month’s worth of constant use, and while the display isn’t as vibrant as what you get on Wear OS smartwatches, it is easily legible under harsh sunlight.

It’s not difficult to get your hands on the Bip as the smartwatch is officially available in the U.S., UK, and India. The Bip is available for $79 in the U.S., and you’ll have to shell out £64.99 ($85) to pick it up in the UK. The Indian version costs slightly more at ₹9,699 ($135).

4.5
out of 5

If you’re looking for an easy way to mirror notifications and calls from your phone onto your wrist, the Bip is the ideal smartwatch for the job. The amazing battery life alone justifies the cost, and you get an array of features that includes a heart rate sensor, IP68 rating, and GPS connectivity.

See at Amazon US See at Amazon UK See at Amazon India

How to turn off Snapchat’s location-based Snap Map

Snapchat’s Snap Map, which allows users to access public posts associated with specific locations, was met with understandable criticism when it first rolled out in 2017. Although the feature was originally marketed as a way to see posts uploaded to Our Story — something that proved useful in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey — the fact that the app was sharing your location whenever you opened it was kind of swept under the rug.

Further reading

How to use Snapchat

Seven hidden Snapchat features for chatting with friends

Besides the obvious dangers this feature could pose for younger users or those unfamiliar with the capabilities of location-sharing, who really wants their friends (or parents for that matter) knowing where they are at all times? Many users likely enabled the feature when posting to Our Story for the first time, without realizing exactly how much access they were giving the app. Thankfully, we’ve outlined how to disable the Snap Map below, as well as ways to limit who can see your location if you wish to keep it enabled.

How does Snap Map work exactly?

If you’ve enabled the feature, your location will be updated on the Snap Map whenever you open Snapchat. Precise location data will only be displayed for a short period of time, but general location data may be retained for longer (although it’s unclear exactly how long these periods are). If you tap on a friend’s Bitmoji on the map, you’ll see when their location was last updated. This also reflects the last time they opened the app, and they can do the same for you. Locations will remain on the map for up to eight hours, assuming you don’t open the app again during that time period. If more than eight hours have passed since you last opened the app, your location will disappear from the map until the next time you do.

You can also tap hotspots, colorful points on the map that indicate activity, to see the public posts in that area. You can zoom in and out of the map, too, like you would with any dedicated navigation app. You may also see sponsored events or newsworthy stories with a short description next to them, which you can click to access associated Snaps.

Enabling Ghost Mode

If you don’t like the idea of your friends knowing exactly where you are at all times (and who would?), you can enable Ghost mode, which will prevent your location from being updated on the map. You can still post to Our Story with Ghost Mode enabled, but it will give you the peace of mind that no one is following your every move. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open Snapchat

First, launch the Snapchat app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. If you’re not already logged in, enter your email and password before opening the camera portion of the app.

Step 2: Find the Snap Map

Using two fingers, pinch in toward the center of your screen to access the Snap Map.

Step 3: Open settings and toggle Ghost Mode on

To access your Settings, click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of your screen. Afterward, toggle the slide beside Ghost Mode, which should be the first item in the resulting list.

With Ghost Mode enabled, your friends won’t be able to see your location on the map. You will still be able to see your own avatar, but it will be holding a blue Snapchat logo in front of its face to indicate that other users can’t see it. Keep in mind that you can turn Ghost Mode off at any time by following the same steps.

Editing your privacy settings

If you’re comfortable periodically sharing your location, you can still limit the people who have access to your data. Under Ghost Mode in your Settings is a section titled Who Can See My Location. Whichever option has a blue check mark next to it, is the option you currently have selected. My Friends refers to all the users you’ve added on Snapchat who have also added you back. My Friends, Except allows you to select certain friends you wish to hide your location from, and Only These Friends lets you select the mutual friends who will have access to your location data.

Pick whichever option you’re more comfortable with, or follow the steps above to prevent your location from being shared altogether.

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• No mo’ FOMO — Here’s how to delete your Snapchat account
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Who needs Stitch Fix? Maison Me uses A.I. to custom design clothing just for you

After the dramatic success of boutique fashion boxes and personal shopping services like Stitch Fix, the fashion industry seems poised to kick things up a notch with custom-designed, sewn-on-demand clothing.

The latest company to enter the market in a big way is Maison Me, a new custom-design firm that has emerged organically from — or perhaps counterintuitively — Silicon Valley technology. It’s hard to square up high fashion with engineers and algorithms, but that’s exactly what happened for Anastasia Sartan, a serial entrepreneur who has grown her success with a personal stylist chatbot into a multi-million-dollar enterprise.

Here’s how it works: The process starts when a customer signs on and starts engaging with a form driven by Epytom Stylist, the aforementioned chatbot and personal recommendation platform developed by Sartan and her team in 2016. The chatbot processes their desires, demographics, and tastes, then crunches the data through its proprietary recommendation algorithm, and kicks recommendations over to a human designer, who creates a custom sketch of the proposed apparel for the customer.

Once the client has their custom sketch in hand, they can approve the sketch, request changes, tweak some details, or request a whole new design. All of this costs just one flat fee of $15, which is applied toward the final price of the item.

When the customer is satisfied with the design, Maison Me initiates a video call, where a professional tailor takes the customer’s measurements. The tailors go to work, the clothing is produced in Maison Me’s manufacturing facility in Arizona, and the sartorial item is promptly shipped off to the customer in about two weeks.

The price range for custom-designed clothing can vary widely depending on fabrics and the complexity of the design, but Maison Me says most unique tailored pieces cost between $150 and $250. It’s a pretty good bargain given that brand-name dresses in standard retail outlets can run north of $500. Oh, and if you don’t like it, Maison Me will do your alterations for free, including free shipping both ways.

As for the backing for this artificial intelligence (A.I.)-based operation, Maison Me just got a big boost from a $1 million seed round that included support from Founders Fund, Gagarin Capital, and the much-lauded Google Assistant Investment Program.

“A lot of people start their daily routines asking their Google Home speakers for a weather forecast, looking for some help before they pick out their outfits for the day,” Ilya Gelfenberyn, head of the Google Assistant investment program, said in a statement. “Smart Displays with the Google Assistant make it possible to build services and recommendations in such a visual industry like fashion, and we believe that personalized what-to-wear recommendations can really simplify the morning routines for people.”

These changes in how people buy and accessorize clothing could become part of a tectonic shift in the fashion industry that includes innovations like Amazon’s computer vision-enabled Echo Look device and the advent of improved technologies like smart mirrors.

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• The best Google Home tips and tricks
• ‘Can I book a table for Thursday?’ Google Duplex duped me, but I didn’t mind
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