The promises and pitfalls of personalized health
The promises and pitfalls of personalized health

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. A few days ago, my esthetician was smearing hot wax on my face. The two caterpillars I call […]

Google’s taking a big swing at AI health with the Fitbit Air
Google’s taking a big swing at AI health with the Fitbit Air

It’s a Whoop dupe. That was my first thought when I saw the new $99 Google Fitbit Air. You can hardly blame me. The band is screenless with a metallic fabric clasp. My eyes flickered between the Fitbit Air and my wrist, where I’m wearing a Whoop MG. Was I not seeing double? But as […]

My $5K smart bed needs to shut the hell up
My $5K smart bed needs to shut the hell up

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. I take my beauty rest seriously. So seriously that, after months of testing, I bought my ludicrously expensive […]

Oura adds birth control support to its period tracker
Oura adds birth control support to its period tracker

Oura is launching a new reproductive health feature that takes hormonal contraception into consideration when tracking period cycles. The smart ring maker describes the Hormonal Birth Control update as a “first-of-its-kind experience” inside Oura’s existing Cycle Insights feature, allowing users to see how over 20 combinations of hormonal birth control methods – including pills, patches, […]

Engineering Collisions: How NYU Is Remaking Health Research
Engineering Collisions: How NYU Is Remaking Health Research

This sponsored article is brought to you by NYU Tandon School of Engineering.The traditional approach to academic research goes something like this: Assemble experts from a discipline, put them in a building, and hope something useful emerges. Biology…

Spotify is partnering with Peloton for guided workouts
Spotify is partnering with Peloton for guided workouts

Spotify has dabbled in customized running playlists, but now it’s diving more firmly into the fitness space with curated playlists and content from creators like Yoga with Kassandra, Sweaty Studio, Chloe Ting, and Pilates Body by Raven. Not only that, but Premium subscribers will have access to over 1,400 classes from Peloton. Spotify has already […]

I don’t think Gwyneth Paltrow knows what a peptide is
I don’t think Gwyneth Paltrow knows what a peptide is

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. These days, it seems I cannot escape peptides. Online, I’ve been assaulted by videos of shirtless Chads injecting […]

Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy 
Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Granted, 19th-century proverb writers were talking about the fruit, but Tim Cook helped give new meaning to the adage with the release of the very first Apple Watch. In fact, I’d argue that when he hands the reins to John Ternus in September, it won’t be iPhones, […]

Millions of Americans are talking to AI about health, and some are dangerously skipping real doctors

Turns out a lot of people would rather ask an AI about their symptoms than pay for a doctor’s visit. A new survey puts some striking numbers behind that trend.

Continuous glucose monitoring made me continuously crazy
Continuous glucose monitoring made me continuously crazy

Daily life is different when you’re tracking glucose. A little over a year ago, I was on my way to a conference. My bags were packed, the Uber was on its way, but there was one last thing to do before I could head to the airport. Tearing open a small isopropyl alcohol wipe, I […]