> they said they are currently prototyping the device, and when asked about a timeframe, Ive said it could arrive in “less than” two years.

I'll believe it when I see it. Making hardware is much more complex than making software, and 2 years is a long time given the iffy market circumstances right now, so let's see if it's materializes, and if it does...

> but it’s rumored to be screen-free and “roughly the size of a smartphone.”

Let's see if it turns out to be another Humane situation.

I can't see any justification for an AI device. Smartphones are already a perfected form factor developed over decades. They consolidate many other devices people carried in the past. Now most people only need to carry a phone, and maybe they'll wear a smartwatch too. Trying to sell people on a third device that they have to carry around and keep charged just doesn't sound like it will work to me.

I suspect the device is some kind of necklace that actively listens to the environment, records and summarises conversations, and has Siri/Alexa-like capabilities. I don't think this is groundbreaking enough to make people comfortable with an always listening device that transmits to the cloud.

who cares?

The problem with "screen-free" isn't the chassis design, it's information bandwidth. Eyes intake information orders of magnitude faster than ears. Reading a list of 5 restaurants takes 3 seconds, whereas listening to it via a voice assistant is 30 seconds.

Unless Ive has invented a fundamentally new interface (neither voice nor screen), this device is doomed to be another beautiful but useless accessory, like the Humane Pin. Design can't beat the physiology of perception