This smart ring can control your phone, laptop and TV

The latest competitor in the battle to be the first 'true' smart ring claims to be able to control your phone, tablet, laptop and TV -- and it looks a bit like an Apple Watch.

The Neyya smart ring can't give you notifications when you get an email or track your movements, and it doesn't have a screen. But it can connect via Bluetooth to iOS and OS X devices, Windows laptops, GoPro cameras, and Roku boxes and deliver a handy range of controls for some of your most-used surfaces.

Unfortunately, it doesn't actually deliver messages -- but you can set it to vibrate when you receive a call. And you can use it as an external remote-control. The ring is controlled using the flat surface on the top, which acts as a miniature touchpad that you can swipe to do different things, depending on what it's connected to.

Competitors for the smart ring title have similarly limited uses: there's the Swarovski Shine that can track your movements and measure the quality of your sleep, and syncs a crystal with your smartphone so you can analyse the data, and there's also the Ring Clock. Released in 2013, this smart ring is "a marriage of the ring and watch." LED-lit numbers display the time when you rotate the ring. To save energy, it doesn't always display the time.

The Neyya has the most applications to date in the smart ring race, however; from an Indian startup of the same name, Neyya can be used as a slide-changer during presentations by connecting with Keynote, Powerpoint and Prezi. It can also be used to control simple functions on your TV, laptop, phone and tablet, like volume, track selection, and switching off an alarm. 

"Wearables like Fitbit and Apple Watch have transformed the way we track, monitor and manage our health and communications," said Sonia Hunt, Neyya president. "With Neyya we are attempting to reimagine the way we control and interact with our productivity devices."

The Neyya ring costs £129 for the titanium model and £159 for a gold model. It has a ten day battery life and takes 90 minutes to charge. 

The Neyya is available to buy online and will be stocked in retailers -- including Selfridges -- from 26 November.