Rollme Matrix is $89 4G smartwatch with a crown-mounted pop-up camera

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There are only a handful of names developing affordable rugged GPS smartwatches, and Rollme – don’t confuse with Realme – is one of them. After recently launching the Hero D6 rugged outdoor smartwatch with offline maps, compass, dual-band GPS, 24/7 health monitoring, and an 850mAh battery promising up to a fortnight of battery life, Rollme is now selling its first standalone 4G smartwatch with a camera to impress.

The watch is called the Matrix, and it comes with a side-mounted camera, which is easily its best-selling proposition. Being the most unusual aspect of the Matrix, the pop-up camera sits on the rotating crown on the right side and can pop out when you need it for a video call or to click a picture from the watch itself.

Designer: Rollme

The side-mounted position gives the camera a natural angle to facilitate your calls or clicks. Rollme has not mentioned how the camera pops up (whether on a click or on a voice command), or has shared anything about its specifications. In fact, there is just one graphic on the smartwatch’s listing page on the Rollme website, where you can see the camera showing up from the watch crown.

Besides the resolution details of the Matrix, pretty much all the other details of the watch are out. The watch comes with its own 4G SIM card slot and functions both without the phone and over Bluetooth to take calls when paired with a phone. Working independently of the smartphone, the 4G-enabled smartwatch can be used to make calls, send messages, and access all the installed applications.

Besides, the Matrix comes with built-in GPS and features a large 2.06-inch AMOLED display. The display touts a 410 x 502 resolution. The watch is powered by the SL8541E processor paired with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM. What is more fascinating about the Matrix is its ability to function as a health and fitness tracker. To that end, the Rollme smartwatch comes with 24/7 heart rate monitoring so that the wearer can keep tabs on heart rate, blood oxygen (SpO2) measurements, and sleep tracking. In sleep monitoring, the watch can break down REM, deep, and light sleep patterns to help you know your sleep better.

According to released information, the Rollme Matrix is equipped with a 1,100 mAh battery, which should run for over 20 days without much of a hiccup. And when the battery does die on you, it can be juiced back up in fully in 80 minutes using an accompanying magnetic cable.

The Matrix is not just designed for the street walkers; for the more outdoorsy, the watch has GPS and a compass, and the sporty can use the multiple workout modes on it. Offered with a rugged-worthy IP67 rating against dust and water, the Matrix is selling through the company’s online website in Midnight Black and Dawn Gold colors for $89.99.

 

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5 Things Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 Does Better Than Apple’s iPhone Duo

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 vs. Apple iPhone Duo

Apple’s first foldable was always going to be a spectacle, and the iPhone Duo delivered. Titanium frame, a hinge built from over 100 components, a 7.6-inch inner display Apple calls the largest and sharpest they’ve ever shipped, and an IP68 rating that no current Samsung foldable can match. The debut made a strong case, and we laid out five specific things it got right in our companion piece last week, which predictably sent a portion of the comments section into a very productive Saturday. Every honest design audit has a flip side, though. The iPhone Duo, for all its first-generation confidence, left a meaningful number of things unresolved, and some of those gaps are more significant than launch-week coverage has made them seem.

Samsung has been folding phones since 2019, and the Galaxy Z Fold8 is what that long runway looks like after years of hinge tweaks, crease complaints, software refinements, and repeated attempts to make a folding phone feel normal. It does not win every category, and Apple absolutely deserves credit for solving a few long-standing foldable annoyances on its first try. Even so, there are still several places where Samsung’s latest Fold feels more complete, more practical, or simply better thought through as an everyday device. Some are obvious the moment you compare the two side by side. Others only start to matter after the honeymoon phase wears off.

Keeps the SIM Tray, Despite What Anyone Says

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 SIM Tray

When we covered the iPhone Duo’s announcement, one of the hardware elements Apple dropped was the physical SIM tray, a decision the company framed as part of a broader design simplification agenda. Apple went full eSIM, keeping the chassis cleaner, eliminating a cut line in the frame, and folding the decision into the same purity narrative behind the iPhone Air’s extreme thinness. For users in markets where eSIM support is solid and carrier switching is painless, this is genuinely fine and probably the right long-term direction. The problem is that a $1,999 foldable probably should not be making hardware convenience trade-offs that actively complicate life for international travelers, anyone running two numbers, or users whose carriers still make eSIM provisioning feel like homework.

Traveling internationally and swapping to a local carrier SIM is a very different experience when you are not navigating eSIM setup through a foreign carrier’s app on spotty airport WiFi. The Z Fold8 keeps the physical SIM tray, and that decision is more forgiving than it is glamorous. Moving a number between devices is faster with a tray, carrier flexibility requires fewer account management steps, and the hardware workaround for eSIM friction simply does not exist. Samsung is not winning any design philosophy debates by pointing at a metal drawer. But the Fold 8’s willingness to keep that hardware in place reflects a different set of priorities than Apple’s, one that bets user convenience should edge out aesthetic reduction, and across a wider range of real-world situations, that bet holds up.

Weighs Noticeably Less Over a Full Day (53 Grams Less, to be precise)

The Galaxy Z Fold8 weighs 201 grams, which is the figure Samsung’s product page leads with, and it earns the emphasis because it makes the Fold 8 the lightest book-style foldable currently on the market. The iPhone Duo comes in at 254 grams. At a 53-gram gap, the difference sits closer to a full AA battery than a rounding error, and the foldable category is already asking more of you than a standard slab phone before the weight conversation even starts. Foldables are physically larger, structurally more complex, and thicker in the pocket by default. Stacking substantial extra mass on top of all that is a real ask, and the Duo makes it.

Apple’s grade 5 titanium frame and hinge housing are premium materials decisions that contribute directly to the device’s rigidity and structural confidence, and directly to its number on the scale as well. Samsung came in lighter, and that shows up in the most boring and most honest way possible, in how aware you are of the phone in your pocket across a full day. A lighter foldable is a foldable that has had more generations of mass reduction applied to it, and the Fold 8’s 201 grams is the current best result of that sustained process. The Duo’s weight is a first-generation structural reality, and Samsung simply has more iterations of solving those demands behind it.

Folds Thinner for Better Pocket-ability

The Galaxy Z Fold8 closes to 9.7mm. The iPhone Duo closes to 11.3mm. The 1.6mm gap sounds mild, and it lands less mildly in a pocket, because the book-style form factor makes closed thickness something you register physically every time the phone goes in or out of a pocket, gets set on a desk, or is gripped shut in one hand. Small dimensional differences accumulate across hundreds of daily interactions in a way that flat spec comparisons do not fully communicate. 9.7mm versus 11.3mm is a material gap in this context, not a footnote.

Opened flat, the Fold 8 measures 4.5mm against the Duo’s 5.2mm. Apple tried hard on the thinness front, and for a first-generation foldable carrying a dual-battery system and a 100-plus component hinge, 5.2mm open is legitimately impressive engineering. Samsung just has more attempts behind it. Years of shaving fractions of a millimeter off the Fold form factor across successive generations produce gains that compound, and the Fold 8’s dimensional figures are the accumulated result of that process. The Duo is not there yet, and that is a first-generation reality rather than a permanent condition.

A More Refined, Battle-tested Multitasking Software

The Taskbar on the Z Fold8 holds eight app slots, and dragging any one of them into a running screen split takes a single gesture rather than a full trip back to the home screen. App Pairs let users save specific two-app workflows and relaunch them together in a single tap. Three-way split-screen and floating pop-up windows give the inner display real workspace flexibility, while AI Results View places AI output in a separate panel so source content stays visible alongside it rather than disappearing behind the response. These features are specific because the problems they solve are specific, and that specificity usually means someone already ran into that friction point on an earlier Fold and the feedback made it into the next build.

Apple’s Duo software looks like a genuinely strong first draft, and side-by-side multitasking on a 7.6-inch inner display is a compelling foundation for what iOS on a foldable can eventually become. What it does not yet carry is the institutional knowledge that comes from shipping foldable hardware in volume for years and learning where real users find the edges of the experience. Samsung knows, from behavioral patterns observed across the Fold 3 through Fold 7, that people using a foldable for actual work want to move windows around without returning to the launcher constantly. Apple will develop that understanding across future software generations. Samsung already developed it, and the current One UI reflects that directly.

The Hinge Comes From Eight Generations of Experimenting

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Hinge Close-up

The Z Fold8 moves to a dual-rail hinge design, where two parallel contact rails distribute fold stress more evenly across the display than the single-rail approach used through the Fold 7. The practical payoffs are reduced delamination risk over long-term use and a 0.6mm reduction in folded thickness compared to last year’s model. The dual-rail architecture exists because the single-rail design produced failure patterns in field data, and Samsung engineered the fix after watching those problems accumulate at scale. Samsung rates the updated hinge at 200,000 fold cycles, which works out to roughly 7 to 10 years of daily use at realistic fold rates, a number that carries credibility specifically because Samsung has the service history to know what foldable hinge failure actually looks like.

Apple’s hinge uses over 100 components including carbon fiber support plates, a grade 5 titanium housing, and an integrated magnet array for closure, and for a first-generation attempt from a company with no prior foldable track record, it is a serious piece of engineering. What it does not have is field history, and in a category where the hinge is the single most consequential mechanical component, field history is what separates a confident launch spec from a genuinely proven design. Samsung’s dual-rail approach did not emerge from a thought experiment. It came from hinge failures, teardown data, warranty claims, and years of iterative engineering against failure modes that only reveal themselves after real-world shipping at volume. Apple’s Duo hinge may age beautifully. Samsung’s already has.

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Apple’s Hidden Concert Hall Fits Only 600 Fans in London

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Watching live concerts is one of the greatest joys of my life. There’s something really special about seeing artists you love perform their hearts out and hearing the whole crowd sing along with them. But as I’ve grown older, and as tickets have gotten more expensive, I sometimes wish I could enjoy live music in smaller, more intimate venues instead.

Apple Music seems to have felt that same tension, and it’s one of the reasons behind its newest venture: Apple Music Hall. It’s the brand’s first dedicated live-music venue, and it’s tucked inside the iconic Battersea Power Station in London, right underneath its UK headquarters.

Design: Apple

If you’re picturing something meant to rival the biggest arenas and stadiums in the world, you’d be wrong. This space was intentionally designed to be small and exclusive, built for artists to put on one-off, special shows for a limited number of fans. The music hall holds only 600 people, which gives both the artist and the audience a real chance to connect in a more intimate setting than your typical concert experience. It’s also fully reconfigurable, so a show can be set up as all-seated, all-standing, or a hybrid of the two, depending on what the artist wants that night.

What really makes the space feel special, though, is how carefully it was designed around the building it lives in. Battersea Power Station is one of London’s most beloved landmarks, a decommissioned coal-fired plant from the 1930s known for its dramatic Art Deco architecture, and Apple leaned into that history rather than covering it up. The venue’s interior features heritage brickwork and exposed structural steel joists that pay homage to the building’s industrial roots, while four illuminated, streamline-style arches sweep across the space as a nod to its original Art Deco detailing. Bronze balconies sit between those arches like box seats, echoing the look of the power station’s historic oriel windows.

Even the foyer carries that same balance of old and new, with a cozy seating area, a large screen, glass walls overlooking the Thames, and a staircase that ties the whole space together. The project was led in-house by Kristina Raspe, Apple’s vice president of Apple Places, which says a lot about how much thought Apple put into treating this building like a product in its own right, rather than handing it off to an outside design firm.

But this venue isn’t just about what happens inside its four walls. It’s also built so artists can broadcast their performances to a much bigger audience, even if that audience is only watching online. Apple Music Hall comes equipped with a 48-speaker spatial audio sound system and 16 hardwired cameras, which Apple says is more than any other venue of its size anywhere in the world. There’s also a full production facility attached to the venue, including two professional-grade recording and mix studios. That means an artist can perform a live show, record it in Spatial Audio, have it mixed to broadcast quality, and release it to the entire world, all without ever leaving the building or bringing in outside equipment.

Apple Music Hall officially opens its doors to the public on September 28, and honestly, it feels like exactly the kind of concept that’s been missing from the music world for a while. We’ve all gotten used to streaming everything from our couches, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it can start to feel a little disconnected after a while. Apple Music Hall seems built to close that gap, giving a lucky 600 people an unforgettable night in the room while still letting the rest of us tune in and feel like we’re part of something happening in real time.

For someone like me, who still dreams about the days of catching a favorite artist in a room small enough to actually see their face, this feels like a genuinely exciting step forward. It won’t replace the thrill of a packed arena show, and it’s not trying to. But it might just be the closest thing we get to bottling that up-close, once-in-a-lifetime concert feeling and sharing it with the whole world.

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This 27-Inch Japanese Shoehorn Quietly Disappears Into a Clear Acrylic Stand

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As you get older, some bones and muscles refuse to cooperate, creaking even when you’re doing something as ordinary as putting on your shoes. Using a shoehorn can be a challenge in itself, since most designs force you to bend over and strain your back just to slide your foot into a sneaker or a dress shoe. On top of that, shoehorns aren’t exactly the most attractive tools to leave lying around by your front door. You don’t need a shoehorn that’s pretty, but it sure helps to have one that either blends into your entryway or stands out as a piece of decor you’re actually proud to display.

The Invisible Shoehorn is exactly the kind of tool you’ll want to display rather than hide. It’s a long-handled, stainless steel shoehorn that “disappears” into a clear acrylic stand when it’s not in use. This clever design solves both problems at once: the bending-over issue and the aesthetic issue. The optical trick makes the metal shoehorn look like it’s floating in midair, or vanishing completely, turning a purely functional tool into a minimalist decorative object you won’t want to shove into a drawer once it’s done its job.

Click Here to Buy Now: $299

Designed by Kairi Eguchi for Takeda Design Project, the Invisible Shoehorn stands about 700 millimeters tall, or roughly 27 inches for those of us who don’t think in metric. That height is the whole point: it’s tall enough that you can slip it between your heel and the back of your shoe while standing up straight, no crouching, no wobbling, no throwing out your lower back on a random Tuesday morning. The shoehorn itself is crafted from polished stainless steel that tapers from a rounded handle down to a thin, curved tip, smooth enough that it won’t snag or run your socks the way cheaper, rougher shoehorns sometimes do.

What really sets this piece apart is the acrylic stand. It’s shaped to mirror the metal shoehorn exactly, so when you dock the two pieces together, the stainless steel appears to hover in midair against the clear background. Seen from a few feet away, or in the dim lighting of a typical entryway, the whole object reads as a sleek, abstract sculpture rather than a household tool. It’s a small bit of visual sleight of hand, but it’s the kind of detail that turns something you’d normally hide in a closet into an object you’d happily leave out on a console table or shoe bench.

Compare that to the shoehorns most of us grew up with: cheap plastic ones from the drugstore, or the metal long-handled versions from mobility brands like Vive Health, which are functional but were never going to win any design awards. Even OXO, a brand practically synonymous with smart, ergonomic housewares, makes shoehorns and shoe-helper tools built around that same “no more bending” philosophy, and its versions still lean strictly utilitarian, designed to work well but never really designed to be seen. Most of these options run somewhere between $10 and $30, and they absolutely get the job done, but they’re not something you’d want sitting out in plain view. The Invisible Shoehorn, at its higher price point, is clearly aiming at a different shelf entirely. It’s less a mobility aid tucked away in a bathroom drawer and more a piece of everyday design you’d be proud to own, closer to something you’d spot in a design showcase than in a pharmacy aisle.

That’s really the appeal here. The Invisible Shoehorn benefits anyone dealing with a stiff back, tight hips, or knees that don’t love bending anymore, but it’s just as appealing to design lovers who want their entryway to look intentional instead of cluttered. It solves the everyday annoyance of a tool that’s either buried in a drawer or, worse, an eyesore parked awkwardly by the door. Instead, you get something that works exactly when you need it and quietly disappears, both literally and stylistically, when you don’t. For anyone who has ever grumbled about bending over to wrestle a shoe on, or wondered why every shoehorn on the market looks like it belongs in a hospital supply closet, this one is worth a second look.

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Nobody Wants This Life Jacket Hidden in a Tote Bag

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Picture the most unremarkable object you own. A canvas tote, maybe, the kind you grab off a hook without thinking, sling over one shoulder, and forget about until it’s holding your groceries or your gym clothes. Now picture unzipping that same bag, pulling it over your head, and yanking a cord that inflates it into a life jacket, because the subway platform under your feet just turned into a swimming pool. That’s Lifeline, a conceptual piece by New York artists Phil Le Brun and Gabriela Mestriner, and it exists because a very real, very unfunny problem has been building under this city for years.

New York’s subway was engineered to handle a major flood about once every five years. That math stopped working a while ago. Nearly 200 stations have flooded during major storms over the past several years, Hurricane Ida alone dumped more than three inches of rain in a single hour back in 2021, and this past summer the city logged roughly two severe weather warnings a week from June through August. Riders have waded through knee-deep water and clung to walls just to get out of a station. That’s the problem Lifeline is responding to, not with a fix, but with a mirror.

Designers: Phil Le Brun and Gabriela Mestriner

The bag itself is genuinely well made, which is part of what makes it unsettling. Mestriner dismantled a standard nylon life jacket and heat-welded the pieces back together into the shape of a tote, using about three yards of nylon, two polyester zippers, four yards of black cord, and four adjustable metal locks. A zipper runs through the center of the flap and body, wide enough to fit over someone’s head, and there’s a detachable rain hood tucked inside for good measure. Pull the straps and the whole thing inflates in about fifteen seconds. None of this was drafted on a computer first. The team built, tested, took it apart, and rebuilt it by hand until it worked.

The color is doing a lot of the talking too. Lifeline is a loud, unmissable orange, the same visual language as a highway cone or a hazard sign. Le Brun has called it exactly that, the language of emergency, and it’s a smart choice because it refuses to let the object blend in the way most safety gear quietly does. Life jackets on a plane are tucked under your seat where you never see them until it’s too late to think clearly. This one is worn like an accessory, which is either darkly funny or the most honest design decision in the whole project, depending on your mood that day.

What actually gets me about Lifeline isn’t the engineering, it’s the framing. Le Brun described the whole project as an “essential that shouldn’t exist,” and that phrase does more work than any statistic could. We’ve gotten so used to climate disruption showing up as background noise, a delayed train, a canceled flight, a flooded platform you just have to walk around, that we rarely stop to ask why any of it has become normal enough to accessorize. Mestriner put it well when she talked about the project sitting at the intersection of convenience and emergency, privilege and vulnerability, and how that weight never falls evenly across people or neighborhoods.

Lifeline isn’t for sale, and it was never meant to be. It launched at the start of Climate Week as what Le Brun calls a narrative object, something built to spark a conversation rather than solve a logistics problem. That’s a fair goal for a five person art collective working with heat-welded nylon in a studio, and I don’t think anyone involved believes commuters should actually be shopping for inflatable totes. But the object does something a chart or a headline can’t quite manage. It takes an abstract, slow moving crisis and makes it wearable, immediate, almost absurdly personal.

I keep coming back to the photos of the bag being converted into a life jacket inside an actual subway station, styled like a fashion editorial one second and a survival scenario the next. That whiplash is the whole point. New York keeps moving through disruption because that’s what the city does, but Lifeline is a pretty sharp reminder that resilience and denial can look identical from the outside, right up until the water starts rising.

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