Meta’s smart glasses are no longer called “Story”. Now they are simply called smart glasses. Technically speaking, the new model Meta just announced is called “Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses,” and the company is always happy to correct you if you call it something else, but these are just smart glasses. is. There are no ifs, ands, or weird names.
The new glasses, which Meta just announced at its Connect launch event, are now available for pre-order, and will be available starting at $299 on October 17th, have two main purposes. The first is to replace your headphones. Smart glasses are equipped with similar personal audio systems, such as Amazon’s Echo Frames and the Bose Tempo series. They all play music, but they all try to make sure that only you can hear it. With the new generation of glasses, Meta has also significantly upgraded the microphone system. The specs include his five microphones, including one on the nose bridge, which should make both calls and voice commands clearer. (Stories only had one microphone, and it broke in noisy or windy conditions.)
Another role of glasses is as a camera. The smart glasses, like Stories, have a small camera lens on the right temple, but these cameras can take 12-megapixel photos and 1080p video, both of which are significant upgrades from the previous generation. I am. The 32GB internal storage can store around 500 photos and 100 of his 30-second videos (the maximum length the glasses allow) before filling up, all synced through the Meta View app . The app also lets you quickly share everything you capture to Meta’s many sharing platforms.
Not only can you take photos and videos with your camera, you can now start livestreaming to Facebook or Instagram with just a few taps on the stems of your glasses. While recording, a white light around the lens will flash to indicate that it is recording.
Adding live streaming further exacerbates many of the product’s already serious privacy concerns. This is also one of Meta’s attempts to answer the big questions surrounding all smart glasses. What should I do with them? Meta has reportedly struggled to keep users interested in wearing its Stories, with more than 90% of buyers eventually abandoning the device.
Last time, Meta’s big selling point was the message. This time, the smart glasses are being pitched more as creator tools, allowing you to cook while recording, play the drums, and do a variety of other two-handed activities. A report earlier this year said the glasses would also allow viewers to talk to you, but Meta didn’t mention that feature.
In fact, with any smart glasses, there’s one thing you have to do first and foremost. It’s about looking good. To that end, Meta and Ray-Ban developed smart glasses in a number of new colors, with names like “Matte Jeans” and “Caramel,” and multiple lens options. In addition to the classic Wayfarer, the companies also created a new rounded style called the Headliner.
All of these are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor, which Qualcomm boasts has “on-glass AI” in a less than 1-watt package, and Mehta says the battery inside the smart glasses is active. It is said that it should last 4 to 6 hours with regular use. (And once they die, they’re just glasses.) The included case can also charge the smart glasses eight more times.
The smart glasses aren’t the all-seeing smart glasses with screens that Meta is planning for later this decade, but the improved look and feel could mean they actually stay on users’ faces this year. seems to be getting higher. Because you can do so much more with your glasses. We don’t know which will be a hit: an audio system in your glasses or a camera in your face, but a surprising number of technology companies are betting on at least one of them. And what if it turns out they’re just some nice-looking shades? That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?