Sure, it’s easy enough to weigh yourself using a standard scale, but when you take the leap and switch to smart gadgets like smart scales, you’ll never look back. From basic weight measurements to a detailed look at your BMI, muscle mass, body fat percentage and more, the best smart scale can help you keep track of your weight over time, allowing you to hone in on your health-and-wellness routine safely and accurately. All-in-one smart scales connect to your phone or mobile device using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, allowing you to keep track of those all-important health metrics more easily and securely (no more worrying about losing that piece of paper you jotted on before). We’ve tested and researched the best smart scales to help you on your health journey so you can find one that works best for you.
Smart scale safety
There are valid reasons to weigh yourself, but your self-worth shouldn’t be defined by the number that shows up between your feet. If you’re looking to alter your body shape, that figure could go up as your waistline goes down, since muscle weighs more than fat. Dr. Anne Swift, Director of public health teaching at the University of Cambridge, said that “weighing yourself too often can result in [you] becoming fixated on small fluctuations day-to-day, rather than the overall trend over time.” Swift added that “it’s sometimes better to focus on how clothes fit, or how you feel, rather than your weight.”
(A meta-analysis from 2016 found there may be some negative psychological impact from self weighing. A 2018 study, however, said that there may be a positive correlation between regular weigh-ins and accelerated weight loss. It can be a minefield, and I’d urge you to take real care of yourself and remember that success won’t happen overnight.)
What to look for in a smart scale
Weight
A weighing scale that measures weight is probably the top requirement, right? One thing to bear in mind is that, with all these measurements, weight readings won’t be as accurate as a calibrated, clinical scale. Consequently, it’s better to focus on the overall full body weight trend up or down over time, rather than the figures in isolation.
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Connectivity
Most scales will either connect to your phone over Bluetooth, or to your home’s Wi-Fi network, and you should work out your regular weighing routine ahead of time. A lot of lower-end, Bluetooth-only scales will only record your weight when your phone is present and don’t keep local records. That means if you routinely leave your phone outside the bathroom at home, you could lose that day’s stats. Wi-Fi connectivity, on the other hand, allows a scale to post your stats to a server, letting you access them from any compatible device. But you need to be mindful that there’s a small risk to your privacy should that information from your Wi-Fi scale be compromised.
Bone density
The stronger your bones, the less you’re at risk from breaks and osteoporosis, which you should keep in mind as you get older. Clinical bone density tests use low-power x-rays but higher-end scales can offer an approximation from your own bathroom. These bone mass tests pass a small electrical current through your feet, measuring the resistance as it completes its journey. The resistance offered by bones, fat and muscle are all different, and your scale can identify the difference.
Body fat percentage and muscle mass
Fat and muscle are necessary parts of our makeup, but an excessive amount of either can be problematic. Much like bone density, a smart body fat scale can measure body fat and muscle mass percentages using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). This measurement tests how well your body resists the electrical signal passing through your body. (It’s a rough rule of thumb that you should have a 30/70 percent split between fat and muscle, but please consult a medical professional for figures specific to your own body and medical needs.) For those with specific athletic goals, some smart scales also offer an athlete mode to better tailor readings.
BMI
A lot of scales offer a BMI calculation, and it’s easy to do since you just plot height and weight on a set graph line. Body Mass Index is, however, a problematic measurement that its critics say is both overly simplistic and often greatly misleading. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most common clinical body metrics and medical professionals will use it to make judgements about your care.
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Pulse Wave Velocity
French health-tech company Withings has offered Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) on its flagship scale for some time, although regulatory concerns meant it was withdrawn for a period of time. It’s a measurement of arterial stiffness, which acts as a marker both of cardiovascular risk and also other health conditions. I’ve had anecdotal reports that PWV scales have sent people to the doctor, where they’ve found they were close to a cardiac event. It’s worth saying, as with all of these technologies, that there is limited, albeit positive, research into how accurate these systems are.
Display
Less a specification and more a note that smart scales have displays ranging from pre-printed LCDs or digital dot matrix layouts through to color screens. On the high end, your scale display can show you trending charts for your weight and other vital statistics, and can even tell you the day’s weather. If you are short-sighted, and plan on weighing yourself first thing in the morning, before you’ve found your glasses / contacts, opt for a big, clear, high-contrast display.
App and subscriptions
You’ll spend most of your time looking at your health data through its companion scales app, and it’s vital you get a good one. This includes a clear, clean layout with powerful tools to visualize your progress and analyze your data to look for places you can improve. Given that you often don’t need to buy anything before trying the app, it’s worth testing one or two to see if you vibe with it. It’s also important you check app compatibility before making your purchase. Some health apps will only work with iOS or Android — not both. Apple Watch connectivity can also be a bonus for tracking workouts and health metrics seamlessly.
Several companies also offer premium subscriptions, unlocking other features – including insights and coaching – to go along with your hardware. Fitbit and Withings both offer these services, which you may feel is worth the extra investment each month.
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Data portability
Using the same scale or app platform for years at a time means you’ll build up a massive trove of personal data. And it is, or should be, your right to take that data to another provider when you choose to move platforms in the future. Data portability is, however, a minefield, with different platforms offering wildly different options, making it easy (or hard) to go elsewhere.
All of the devices in this round-up will allow you to export your data to a .CSV file, which you can then do with as you wish. Importing this information is trickier, with Withings and Garmin allowing it, and Omron, Xiaomi, Eufy and Fitbit not making it that easy. (Apps that engage with Apple Health, meanwhile, can output all of your health data in a .XML file.)
Power
It’s not a huge issue but one worth bearing in mind that each scale will either run disposable batteries (most commonly 4xAAA) or with its own, built-in battery pack. Sadly, all of our crop of smart scales use batteries, adding an environmental and financial cost to your scale life. That’s just about forgivable for scales that cost under $100, but this stretches even to the highest-end models. When you’re spending more than that on a device, the lack of a rechargeable cell feels very, very cheap indeed.
It’s very competitive at the low end for the best budget smart scale, and Xiaomi and Fitbit offer dramatically contrasting products for a very low price. Fitbit’s scale has far fewer features, but has better build quality, is faster and more reliable than its cheaper rival. Crucially, it also leverages the Fitbit app, which is refined and easy-to-use, offering clean, easy-to understand visualizations of weight measurements.
Xiaomi, meanwhile, offers weight and some basic body composition measurements, although this extra data is only visualized inside the app. From a data perspective, the Xiaomi has the edge, but its companion app – formerly Mi Fit, now branded as Zepp Life – is terrible. The lag time for each weigh-in, too, leaves a lot to be desired with the Xiaomi, although I had no qualms about its accuracy.
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When I was a kid, and complained about something, my nan would say “look, you can either have a first class walk or a third class ride.” And Fitbit’s scale here is the very definition of a first class ride – polished, snappy and with a world-class app by its side. The Xiaomi, meanwhile, offers more for your money, and charges less, but both hardware and software lack any sort of polish. It’s therefore up to you if you’d rather the first class walk or the third class ride.
Display type: LCD | Wi-Fi connectivity: Yes | App connectivity: Yes, syncs with Apple Health, Google Fit, or Fitbit | Length: 11.02 inches | Width: 11.02 inches | Number of profiles: Unlimited
Well, this is awkward. Not long before this guide was published, it was revealed that Eufy is in the midst of a massive security issue. Researchers found that its security cameras, which were promised to be secure, allowed internet users to access the stream using VLC player. Consequently the high praise for Eufy’s P2 Pro I have as a scale will need to be moderated by the fact that we don’t yet know how deep the company’s promises around privacy and security really run.
It’s unfortunate, as the all-in-one scale does leap head-and-shoulders above the competition at this level, and it surpassed my expectations by quite a bit. The ease of use was one thing, but the depth of metric data made available in the app, and the way it presents that information, is fantastic. While I don’t think the Eufy Life app is better than, say, Withings’ class-leading Health Mate, it offers exactly what a would-be weight-watcher would need.
The fact you can get plenty of your vital statistics graphed by hitting two buttons helps you visualize your progress, but the stat dashboard laying out everything, including your BMR, is so useful. If you’re going all Quantified Self, you could theoretically calculate your daily calorie intake to the finest of fine margins looking at this thing every morning.
I’m very partial to Garmin’s Index S2, but I also think it’s the sort of scale that needs to be used by people who know what they’re doing. Almost everything about the hardware is spot-on, and the only fly in its ointment is the low refresh rate on its color screen. I can’t say how upsetting it was to see the display refresh in such a laggy, unpolished manner, especially when you’re spending this much money. But that’s my only complaint, and the rest of the hardware (and software) is otherwise pitch-perfect, offering accurate readings, including body water percentage. If you’re looking to set goals to alter your body shape, this probably isn’t the scale for you – it’s the scale you buy once you already calculate your BMR on a daily basis.
Display type: LCD | Wi-Fi connectivity: Yes | App connectivity: Yes, syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit | Length: 12.7 inches | Width: 12.7 inches | Number of profiles: 8
Naturally, if you’re looking for a machine that’ll cater to your every whim and hypochondriac urge, then Withings’ Body Comp is the way forward. It’s a luxury scale in every sense of the word, and you should appreciate the level of polish and technology on show here. Apart from the batteries, which I’ve already said is a cheap and nasty way to save money given that you’re dropping this much money on a product. I also appreciate its Apple compatibility, which lets you use your iPhone or iPad with the Withings app for iOS to monitor daily health metrics.
The group of people who think it’s reasonable to spend $200 on a scale is, especially with food and energy prices spiking, a fairly small one. But if you’re the sort who already spends hand over fist to keep your body in check, this is probably justifiable as an “investment.” Knowing all of the extras about your nerve health and arteries is a bonus, but let’s be clear and say this isn’t the top pick for everybody. Hell, you might have second thoughts even if you do have a subscription to Good Yachting Magazine.
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Pros
Good build quality
Excellent software support with Withings app
In-depth health tracking, including data on nerve and artery heatlh
For this guide, I tested six scales from major manufacturers:
Mi (Xiaomi) Body Composition Scale 2 ($29.99)
Our cheapest model, Xiaomi / Mi’s Body Composition Scale 2 is as bare-bones as you can get, and it shows. It often takes a long while to lock on to get your body weight, and when it does you’ll have to delve into the Zepp Life-branded scales app in order to look at your extra data. But you can’t fault it for the basics, offering limited (but accurate) weight measurements and body composition for less than the price of a McDonald’s for four.
Fitbit, now part of Google, is the household name for fitness trackers and smartwatches in the US, right? If not, then it must be at least halfway synonymous with it. The Aria Air is the company’s stripped-to-the-bare bones scale, offering your weight and a few other health metrics, but you can trust that Fitbit got the basics right. Not to mention that most of the reason for buying a Fitbit product is to leverage its fitness app anyway.
Eufy’s Smart Scale P2 Pro has plenty of things to commend it – the price, the overall look and feel (it’s a snazzy piece of kit) and what it offers. It offers a whole host of in-depth functionality, including Body Fat, Muscle Mass, Water Weight, Body Fat Mass and Bone Mass measurements, as well as calculating things like your Heart Rate and Basal Metabolic Rate (the amount of calories you need to eat a day to not change weight at all) all from inside its app. In fact, buried beneath the friendly graphic, the scale offers a big pile of stats and data that should, I think, give you more than a little coaching on how to improve your overall health.
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Shortly before publication, Anker – Eufy’s parent company – was identified as having misled users, and the media, about the security of its products. Its Eufy-branded security cameras, which the company says does not broadcast video outside of your local network, was found to be allowing third parties to access streams online. Consequently, while we have praised the Eufy Smart Scale for its own features, we cannot recommend it without a big caveat.
Given its role in making actual medical devices, you know what you’re getting with an Omron product. A solid, reliable, sturdy, strong (checks the dictionary for more synonyms) dependable piece of kit. There’s no romance or excitement on show, but you can trust that however joyless it may be, it’ll do the job in question and will be user-friendly. The hardware is limited, the app is limited, but it certainly (checks synonyms again) is steady.
Joking aside, Omron’s Connect app is as bare-bones as you can get, since it acts as an interface for so many of its products. Scroll over to the Weight page, and you’ll get your weight and BMI reading, and if you’ve set a fitness goal, you can see how far you’ve got to go to reach it. You can also switch to seeing a trend graph which, again, offers the most basic visualization of your workouts and progress.
Garmin’s got a pretty massive fitness ecosystem of its own, so if you’re already part of that world, its smart bathroom scale is a no-brainer. On one hand, the scale is one of the easiest to use, and most luxurious of the bunch, with its color screen and sleek design. I’m also a big fan of the wealth of data and different metrics the scale throws at you – you can see a full color graph charting your weight measurements and goal progress, and the various metrics it tracks in good detail. If there’s a downside, it’s that Garmin’s setup won’t hold your hand, since it’s for serious fitness people, not newbies.
At the highest end, Withings’ flagship Body Comp is luxurious, and luxuriously priced, a figure I’d consider to be “too much” to spend on a bathroom scale. For your money, however, you’ll get a fairly comprehensive rundown of body composition metrics including your weight, body fat percentage, vascular age, pulse wave velocity and electrodermal activity. Its monochrome dot matrix display may not be as swish as the Garmin’s, but it refreshes pretty quickly and feels very in-keeping with the hardware’s overall sleek look. If there’s a downside, it’s that they ditched the rechargeable battery found in the Withings Body Cardio (its former flagship, and an excellent scale I’d recommend if it were within the parameters of this guide) in favor of AAA batteries. Which, when you’re spending this much on a body fat scale, makes me feel very nickel-and-dimed.
Smart Scales FAQs
What’s the difference between a smart scale and a regular scale?
A regular scale is pretty straightforward – it tells you how much you weigh, and that’s usually it. A smart scale, on the other hand, does much more. Not only does it give you your weight measurements, but it can also track things like your body fat percentage, muscle mass, and even your BMI. Some smart scales even monitor more advanced metrics like bone density, depending on the model.
What’s even better is that smart scales sync with scales apps on your phone using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so you can see all your health data in one place. This lets you monitor trends over time, like if your muscle mass is increasing or your body fat percentage decreasing.
How do smart scales work with more than one person using it?
When more than one person in a household uses the smart scale, it usually recognizes each person by their weight range and other body measurements (like body fat percentage). Most smart scales allow you to set up individual profiles in the companion app, and once your profile is linked, the scale can automatically figure out who’s standing on it.
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Let’s say you and a family member have fairly different weights – the scale will easily know who’s who based on that. But if you and someone else have similar weights, it might ask you to confirm the profile on your phone after the weigh-in. Some scales even let you assign a profile manually in the scales app if it’s not sure.
iPhone users who’ve upgraded to iOS 18 now have the option to record videos while audio is playing, as MacRumors spotted. If you’ve got music playing through the iPhone’s speaker, it’s a quick and dirty way to add a soundtrack to a video instead of bringing a clip into an editor, but audio quality does take a hit.
Previously, in older versions of iOS, opening the iPhone’s camera app and switching to video mode would cause any audio playing to quickly fade out, even if it was playing through wireless headphones. With iOS 18, there’s a new camera setting to change that behavior.
A new “Allow Audio Playback” option is now available for the iPhone’s camera app in iOS 18.Screenshot: iOS 18
To access it, open the iPhone’s settings, navigate to the Camera section, tap on Record Sound, and then turn on the “Allow Audio Playback” toggle. With that activated, audio will continue to play when you’re recording video in the camera app, and if the audio is playing through the speaker, it will be picked up by the iPhone’s microphone and recorded in mono along with the video. If the audio is playing through headphones, it won’t be recorded.
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This functionality did exist in older versions of iOS with the camera app’s QuickTake feature, which allows videos to be captured in photo mode by holding down on the shutter button, but the resulting video is limited to a 1440P resolution, instead of the 4K offered through video mode.
Using a video editing app is still the best way to add music or narration to a clip, but this update will make it much easier to record videos with dance moves or lip movements that sync to a specific song.
Another well-known hardware leaker on X, Bionic Squash, then weighed in to observe that Razer Lake is indeed a correct codename for the family of CPUs that’ll follow Nova Lake.
Arrow Lake uses a new CPU socket and we don’t know what else will support that socket, but Nova Lake, due in 2026, will switch to a new socket. After Nova Lake desktop (NVL-S), according to HXL we’ll get Razer Lake (RZL-S) in that same socket.
Take all of this with some caution, of course, as with all the chatter that filters down from the rumor mill. With Nova Lake supposedly coming in 2026, we can theorize Razer Lake could arrive in 2027 or 2028.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
Analysis: Razing the online opposition?
This is quite interesting viewed from the perspective of previous Intel CPU rumors, as what we heard before was that Nova Lake was to be followed by Beast Lake. Indeed, Nova Lake was framed as version 1.0 of Intel’s Royal Core project – adopting Rentable Units (giant performance cores that can be split into units, replacing hyper-threading) – and Beast Lake was supposed Royal Core 1.1.
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In all seriousness, we have no idea what Razer Lake might be – if anything – and no details are provided here, save for the socket. The name does seem odd, though, considering it’s Razer Lake and not ‘Razor’ Lake, heavily treading on the toes of a certain maker of gaming peripherals and laptops in quite an outlandish manner, on the face of it. (What next – Risen Lake?)
We’d say Razer might be misspelled (or misheard), but a second leaker clearly backs up the name spelled in that way. And we’re not nearly at April 1 yet. Razer Lake doesn’t really make any sense to us, unless it’s ‘razing’ in the sense of totally destroying the opposition (again, possible a gaming reference?).
What also seems odd here is that we only have one generation of processors down to use the LGA 1851 socket that Arrow Lake introduces. It would seem weird for Intel to have a series of motherboards that was only compatible with a single generation of Core CPUs, frankly – so are we missing a piece here? Is Arrow Lake Refresh set to be replaced with something, rather than going straight to Nova Lake on a different socket. Or will Nova Lake stick on LGA 1851 somehow? (HXL certainly doesn’t think so).
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This leak brings up more questions than answers, so we guess we’ll just have to sit tight and wait to see if anyone else pipes up with further info on Razer Lake – or indeed whatever might follow Arrow Lake. Are we really going to straight to Nova Lake from Arrow?
A cyborg bested me. When I played the online game WebGrid, using my finger on a laptop trackpad to click on squares appearing unpredictably on a grid, my speed was 42 squares per minute. When self-described cyborg Noland Arbaugh played it, he used a chip embedded in his brain to send telepathic signals to his computer. His speed? 49.
Arbaugh was paralysed from the neck down in 2016. In January, he became the first person to be surgically implanted with a chip made by Neuralink, a company founded by Elon Musk. Since then, Arbaugh has been operating his phone and computer with his thoughts, surfing the web and playing Civilization and chess.
But Neuralink isn’t the only outfit melding human minds with machines using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Thanks to a series of trials, a growing number of people paralysed from spinal cord injuries, strokes or motor conditions are regaining lost abilities. The successes are taking some researchers by surprise, says neurosurgeon Jaimie Henderson at Stanford University in California. “It’s been an incredible ride.”
Where that takes us remains to be seen. Musk recently mused about making a bionic implant that will allow us to compete with artificial superintelligence. Others are contemplating more profound implications. “In the future, you could manipulate human perception and memories and behaviour and identity,” says Rafael Yuste at Columbia University in New York.
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But while BCIs are undeniably impressive, as Arbaugh’s WebGrid score demonstrates, the relationship between brain activity, thoughts and actions is incredibly complex. A future in which memories can…
Real estate is a key puzzle piece in achieving the U.S.’ climate goals, according to federal officials.
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Residential and commercial buildings account for 31% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, after accounting for “indirect” emissions like electricity use, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s more than other economic sectors like transportation and agriculture.
The Biden administration has adopted various policies to cut residential emissions.
The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, offers financial benefits including tax breaks and rebates to homeowners who make their homes more energy-efficient, for example. The White House also recently issued guidelines for buildings in order to be considered “zero emissions,” meaning they are “energy efficient, free of onsite emissions from energy use and powered solely from clean energy,” according to the Department of Energy.
Morgan Wojciechowski, 33, is among the first homeowners to get that federal “zero emissions” label. (That assessment was bestowed by the third-party firm Pearl Certification.)
Wojciechowski, her husband Casey, and their three dogs — Dixie, Bo and Charlie — moved into the newly built residence in Williamsburg, Virginia, in August 2023.
Wojciechowski, who is also the president of Healthy Communities, a local real-estate developer focused on sustainable construction, spoke with CNBC about her new home, its financial benefits and how consumers can best upgrade their homes to be more efficient.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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Morgan Wojciechowski and her husband Casey.
Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
Greg Iacurci: What does it mean for your home to be considered ‘zero emissions’?
Morgan Wojciechowski: It’s a very, very, very highly efficient home that’s all-electric. Those are kind of the first two bullet points of the White House definition.
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The third part is we are part of the green energy program with [our power provider] Dominion. Not only am I producing solar [energy] and any excess is going back onto the grid, but the power from the grid coming into my home is clean and sustainable. It’s about $10 extra a month for me to get that clean energy.
GI: How much did your house cost to build?
MW: Like $1.1 million.
GI: And how big is the house?
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MW: 5,800 square feet.
It’s a large home. But mine is not what everybody’s doing. My home was my personal project because I believe in sustainability and wanted to do it in a home that would be my forever home. But one that’s more replicable would be like what [Healthy Communities] builds at Walnut Farm, which is like 1,500 square feet. We’re selling it for $433,000.
GI: Can you break down your home’s estimated savings?
MW: Our utility bills are projected to be about $917 a year with [solar] panels, or around $80 a month.
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The annual savings are $7,226 [relative to an average U.S. home, according to rater TopBuild Home Services]. That’s just from the efficiency of the home with solar.
If you took the solar production away, I would be saving $5,431 annually. The solar offsets it.
Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
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Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
GI: What do you mean solar offsets it?
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MW: You create energy. Your home uses that energy and sends excess energy back to Dominion. Those credits are stored in an account, and then those credits offset your bill. It’s called net metering.
GI: So the power company is paying you that money?
MW: Those credits are applied to your next billing cycle. They offset your overall utility bill, and that’s where your savings come in.
Solar panels only make sense if you build an energy-efficient home that’s really all-electric.
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Courtesy: Wojciechowski Family
GI: Why is that?
MW: You have to have a home that’s constructed energy-efficiently enough or retrofitted — by replacing your windows with higher-grade windows, adding insulation — so that you will need fewer panels on your rooftop, so you have a quicker return on your investment. Solar only makes sense if you’re going to have a return on your investment within a few years.
GI: That makes solar more attractive?
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MW: If you don’t do energy-efficient upgrades to a pre-existing home or if you don’t build a home that’s energy-efficient enough, you have to add more panels to compensate for the lack of energy efficiency. And if that number gets too big it turns people upside down.
Solar has to make sense with the home that you’re putting it on, or else, don’t do it. Maybe just upgrade your windows, add insulation, condition your crawl space, upgrade your mechanical systems.
There are a lot of things consumers can do. You don’t have to do it all at one time. You don’t have to have a solar home to be zero emissions; you have to have an energy-efficient house that’s all-electric, and you have to buy renewable energy from your utility company.
That’s extremely approachable. Lots of people can do that. Everybody can join in at their level of sustainability.
GI: How do you recommend people get started?
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MW: I would tell a consumer, why don’t you start with windows and doors. That’s a very easy one. Do that and see how you notice any [efficiency] changes.
In a lot of older homes windows are very old and they leak. Air is coming in and out. If you think about it, a house is like an envelope. You you want to seal the inside of your home the best that you can.
I would hit insulation next.
A lot of older homes have HVAC systems, duct work inside of their attic. Insulate it so that it’s a conditioned space, so that those building systems don’t have to work in overdrive to keep up with really hot temperatures or really cold temperatures. That keeps it more energy efficient.
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And there are tax incentives [available] for energy-efficient upgrades to your home. Consumers can get and write them off, so that’s attractive to people as well.
GI: If you’re a renter, there are certain things that are out of your control. I suppose you can ask your landlord.
MW: Depending upon what your rental situation is. I feel like that’s a little bit more daunting, to change someone else’s mind. Once you get to your own home, eventually, then you have more say of what you can do.
Until then, you could be mindful about the energy you use. Turn lights off. I mean, that’s a real thing. People don’t turn lights off. I mean, even though I have a really efficient home, I have timers on things because I don’t want to be wasting energy. That’s an easy one that anybody could do.
Duolingo, the popular language learning app, has always offered fun and interactive ways to learn new languages. It has now added two new features that make it even more feature-packed. As part of its latest update, the app now includes Adventures and Video Calls.
Adventures is a game-like feature that allows you to explore different settings and storylines within the Duolingo universe. It features two characters, Lily and Oscar. Adventures is designed to help you improve your language skills by putting you in simulated real-world situations.
Currently, one adventure is available for each course unit. It is only accessible for English speakers learning French and Spanish speakers learning English. However, more languages will be added in the upcoming weeks and months.
Duolingo
Duolingo’s new video call feature uses artificial intelligence to help you practice your conversational skills in a realistic setting. As the title suggests, the feature lets you make a video call — in this case, to the Duolingo character Lily. You can converse just like you would with a real person, but in an environment without pressure.
Duolingo explains that “Video Call is designed to simulate natural dialogue and provides a personalized, interactive practice environment.” Some Duolingo users tell us the video call option is already showing up within the app, although there isn’t a sign of Adventures yet.
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Duolingo
Finally, Duolingo has announced a new partnership with Loog, a manufacturer of portable instruments. As a result of this collaboration, a new three-octave electric piano compatible with the Duolingo Music course has been introduced. The device is priced at $249 and is currently available for preorder, with shipping scheduled to begin in November.
Shares in Bloom Energy could double if the fuel cell company wins a large deal to power data centers similar to the Three Mile Island nuclear plant restart , according to Morgan Stanley. The investment bank sees Bloom surging to $22 per share, compared to Monday’s close of $10.86, if the company signs a data center deal for 100 megawatts or more. Morgan Stanley expects such a deal to materialize by mid-2025. Constellation Energy ‘s contract to help power Microsoft ‘s data centers with power from Three Mile Island, south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, shows that tech companies are willing to pay a premium for reliable energy, Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a note on Tuesday. BE YTD mountain Bloom Energy shares in 2024. Morgan Stanley values Constellation’s contract with Microsoft at $100 per megawatt hour, compared to the typical market price of about $50 per megawatt hour. Including grid charges, the prices rises to $130 per megawatt hour, according to the bank. Microsoft, however, is not actually building a data center at Three Mile Island. Rather, it is using the power from the nuclear plant to offset emissions from its data centers. This means the contract does not include an additional $75 per megawatt hour premium for directly powering these facilities, according to Percoco. Bloom, however, is positioned to capture a so-called “time-to-power” premium by directly supplying a major data center, according to Morgan Stanley. “While using a fuel cell would not provide the same immediate decarbonization benefits as [siting] at a nuclear power plant, it would provide a time to power benefit not captured in the CEG/MSFT deal at $130/MWh,” Percoco said. Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $22 from $20 in mid-August, 2024, and has rated Bloom Energy overweight since April 2023. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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