Rewind has recently raised $10 million from a16z in 2022 and was developing a service for private data recording, which would allow users to look back on their own history and record their activities in private. That was, however, prior to OpenAI releasing ChatGPT.
What Rewind has previously built- a searchable history for your activity- can now be further enhanced by generative AI. Therefore, the startup’s decision to change course and further incorporate AI into its product is not all that shocking. The business has changed its name to “Limited” and is now selling a hardware necklace that record talks in addition to an AI-powered meeting suite.
Last October, conversation-recording pendant inventor and co-founder Dan Siroker posted the design and began taking orders for $59 at the time. He stated that the product will be shipped in the fourth quarter of 2024 and that the corporation has completed the design in a January post. This week, Siroker revealed the company’s turnaround and the finished design. On X earlier this week, the $99 pendant was listed. In order to dispatch the first batch in August, the company is taking preorders. The business intends to maintain the initial preorder price of $59, according to Siroker. He said on social media earlier on Wednesday that the business has already gotten over 10,000 preorders for the product.
With ease, you may wear the Limitless pendant as a necklace or fasten it to your shirt like a wireless microphone to capture conversations. Meeting transcription and recording is the main use case, which eliminates the need for note-taking. The gadget, according to the manufacturer, can be charged conveniently using a USB-C port, has a 100-hour battery life, and is weatherproof.
Additionally, if the other person in the discussion doesn’t specifically request to be recorded, the hardware features a “consent mode” that prevents recording. Its unclear whether this mode would be enabled by default.
Although the company is still a few months away from selling the gear, it has already produced a meeting recording program that can be downloaded on the web, Mac, and Windows. To record these meetings, the software uses a microphone and system audio, so a bot Is not required.
Features of the app are recognizable from other meeting tools, such as Otter, Zoom, TimeOS, and TLDV. According to Siroker, the company wants to set itself apart with features like automatically generated meeting briefs based on past meetings and participant information and real automated notes. With 10 hours of AI features every month, including transcription, summarization, and notes, the app is free and offers limitless audio storage. All AI features cost $29 a month, or a $19 a month if paid yearly.
The company’s new private cloud solution, which keeps data in an encrypted format, is one of the differentiators, according to Siroker. Rewind was primarily a local product, but with the new cloud capability, customers may retrieve data from any location. According to Siroker, in order to gauge security, the business hired Leviathan Security Group to conduct an independent audit.
“Despite its name, Confidential Cloud is not an oxymoron. It is intentionally private. Not even in the event of a subpoena, your employer, us as a software provider, or the government can decrypt your data without your consent, unlike the typical cloud. You are the only one who can decrypt your data,” as stated by Siroker. Rewind claims on its website that it has received more than $33 million in funding from partners such as NEA, First Round Capital, and a16z. the business stated that it has no intention of raising any more funds because it has not utilized any of the funds from the unique Series A round it completed last year, in which it sought investors by putting up a video on X.
Rewind will remain unsupported in its current form, the business says, but new functionality will not be actively added. This implies that the startup, which had pledged to develop a Windows software last year, will not release it. “We don’t intend to close Rewind or combine it with Limitless. Many of the Rewind features that our fans love will be directly reimplemented to Limitless, according to Siroker. Customers are even able to compare the two goods side by side and determine which they prefer. We anticipate that eventually they will come to the same conclusion as us that they will only employ it.”
According to the company, the hardware product would use an AI-powered bot to respond to inquiries by utilizing data from the internet, links with personal accounts, and meeting records. Additionally, it would provide platform for developers to create experiences or apps related to the product. However, the bigger picture at Limitless is to create AI agents that will carry out tasks for you. It appears that startups using AI are following this trend. Hardware firms with AI capabilities such as Humane and Rabbit, aim to create devices that can handle certain chores on your behalf. Agents that browse the web for you are also being developed by browsers like YC-backed SigmaOS and The Browser Company’s Arc.
Thought AI bots’ output is still rife with errors, there is still a lot of unknowns, and it can occasionally be challenging to get AI to comprehend the context and intents of your question. While it sounds fantastic, it may have AI-powered agents working on your behalf.