Latest news with #RayBanMeta
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Meta in talks to acquire AI voice startup PlayAI, hires top OpenAI researcher for Superintelligence team
Meta is reportedly in advanced discussions to purchase PlayAI, a Palo Alto startup renowned for its AI-powered voice replication technology, according to a report by Bloomberg. The deal, which has not yet been finalised, is expected to include both PlayAI's proprietary systems and some of its engineering team. This move is part of Meta's broader drive to catch up with rivals like Google and OpenAI in key AI areas. PlayAI describes its technology as being 'responsive as a conversation between two people'. advertisementBy integrating PlayAI's voice technology, Meta could significantly enhance its AI assistant and hands-free hardware such as smart glasses. Meta recently debuted the RayBan Meta glasses in India, and also released new AI smart glasses with Oakley – more suited for active wear. There are reports that Meta is also working with Prada for a luxury fashion line of the AI smart glasses. Earlier this month, the company also invested $14.3billion in ScaleAI and brought its founder, Alexandr Wang, into its new 'superintelligence' is also aggressively recruiting AI talent. It has recently hired three researchers from OpenAI's Zurich officeand brought in experts from Google and Sesame. These hires strengthen the company's superintelligence team alongside Wang. Meta has recently also onboarded Trapit Bansal, who left OpenAI in June. Bansal, formerly a member of technical staff at OpenAI since early 2022, made notable contributions to their reinforcement learning efforts and was instrumental in developing the ChatGPT-o1 reasoning model alongside Ilya to TechCrunch, his arrival at Meta boosts the company's ability to create frontier AI reasoning systems that could rival OpenAI's o3 and other industry-leading models. His move is part of a wider trend: several former OpenAI researchers, including Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, have also joined Meta's Zuckerberg has apparently been deeply involved in this talent acquisition strategy, reportedly offering compensation packages worth up to $100million for top-tier researchers – at least that is what OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in a recent podcast interview. However, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has recently responded to Altman's comments saying that the statement from the OpenAI CEO was 'dishonest' and that he is 'known to exaggerate' things.- Ends
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses review: The future is here -- but it needs a better battery
Is it the future yet? It's starting to look that way, at least if you judge by Ray-Ban's Meta AI glasses. These fairly ordinary-looking spectacles pack a wealth of technology: cameras, microphones, headphones and an AI assistant that sounds like actress Kristen Bell. (Seriously. Intentionally. It can also be made to sound like Awkwafina, John Cena, Dame Judi Dench or Keegan-Michael Key. I am not making any of this up.) The result is something fairly remarkable: glasses that can not only capture and identify what you see, but also replace earbuds for music, phone calls and more. This isn't a new idea, but the Ray-Ban Meta is by far the best execution of it I've ever seen — and one of the most affordable at $299. However, while I'm sold on the idea of smart glasses, there's still work to be done — mostly in the areas of design and battery life. So, should you consider putting a pair on your face? Here's my Ray-Ban Meta review. First things first: The Ray-Ban Meta glasses start at $299, but that's for clear, non-prescription lenses. I tested the Wayfarer style (a classic for anyone familiar with Ray-Ban sunglasses); there's also a Skyler option for those seeking a different look. You can opt for Transition lenses (the kind that automatically darken when you're outdoors) for an additional $80, but keep in mind there's still the matter of your prescription — if you have one. If you do, you can order the glasses directly from Amazon, then take them to a Lenscrafters or Sunglass Hut store to get prescription lenses added. You also have the option of ordering directly from Ray-Ban, supplying your prescription details and choosing any lens options you might want. As you might expect, the more options you add, the higher the total price. I wear progressives; those plus Transitions and a few other add-ons would have put my total bill at around $1,000. Thankfully, Ray-Ban does accept most insurance. And you might be able to find more affordable lens options at one of the partner stores. I'll just note that the last time I bought new regular frames and progressive lenses (with all the bells and whistles) from an optical center, the price tag before insurance was approaching $800. Frames alone can easily cost $200-$300 (ripoff though that may be), so $299 for the Ray-Ban Metas strikes me as a pretty decent deal — especially considering what they're capable of. To look at the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer is to see a familiar-looking frame, one with a barely noticeable camera embedded in one corner and thicker-than-average arms (aka temples). The latter are arguably the only giveaway you're wearing smart glasses; unless someone looks closely, they might never know. That said, I find the design a little chunky overall, the thick black plastic a little bolder than I prefer. But that's just me; others have told me the frames look stylish, or at least similar to what a lot of people are wearing these days (myself included). And these were a review sample; I'd definitely have chosen a different color given the option. I did struggle a bit with the weight: at 2 ounces, they're definitely heavier than my everyday glasses, which weigh just 1.2 ounces. (Note that Meta's specs indicate 1.7 ounces; my scale says otherwise, but that could be the result of my fairly thick progressive lenses.) Although I wouldn't describe them as uncomfortable, I definitely noticed them more. Speaking of noticing things, privacy is often a concern with camera-equipped smart glasses — specifically, the privacy of others unaware you might be snapping photos or recording video. To remedy this, the glasses have a small white front-facing LED in the right corner, opposite the left-corner camera. When you take a picture or start a video, the LED lights up. Obviously this is a battery-powered product, and Meta took an interesting approaching to charging: There's no dock or power cord, but rather a traditional-looking leather case. Just drop the glasses in and an embedded LED ring lights up orange to indicate charging. (It shows green when done.) I have mixed feelings about this. The case is stylish, but also bulky and inconvenient; it's literally the only charging option, so you have to keep it close at hand. At minimum, Meta should offer a simple USB-C charging cord (one that connects directly to the glasses) you can use for travel, and I'd also like to see some kind of dock for desk or nightstand use. This might be less of an issue if the glasses had better battery life. Unfortunately, depending on your usage, they're going to require recharging in just four hours — possibly less. For example, during the course of 90 minutes, I recorded a one-minute video, listened to about 30 minutes of audio, answered some text messages and had a few chats with Meta AI. Then I checked the battery level in the Meta AI app: 60%. The battery level continued to drop even after I took off the glasses, folded them up and set them on my desk. Despite being in "standby" mode, the battery level dropped overnight to 14% from 51%. Thus, unless they're actually recharging inside their case, they're consuming power — even if you're not wearing them. Needless to say, these can't be your all-day glasses, or at least your all-day smart glasses. Of course they'll continue to help you see, even with a dead battery, but imagine heading off to work in the morning and losing access to your headphones, cameras and AI assistant, all before lunch. If there's any upside here, it's that the Ray-Bans can recharge to nearly 50% after just 20 minutes in the charging case (which itself promises eight full charges), but what do you do in the meantime? (One option: Carry your regular glasses in the case and wear them while these are charging.) This is the major problem with the product, and it's a big one — which is unfortunate because it's pretty great in most other respects. Worth noting: I'm also in the process of testing the Solos AirGo V glasses, which use ChatGPT in place of Meta AI but are fairly similar otherwise. They can last up to 10 hours while playing music — so I'm confused as to why the Ray-Bans have such poor battery life. (Note: Right before I published this review, Meta announced a new pair of smart glasses from a new partner: Oakley. Rated battery life: 8 hours. That adds to what I consider inexcusable power performance from the Ray-Bans.) As noted earlier, I consider these glasses to be half wearable camera and half headphone, with an AI assistant baked in for good measure. Let's talk about some of the specs associated with those features, then dive into the specifics. 12-megapixel camera 32GB of onboard storage Open-ear headphones 5 microphones Bluetooth 5.2 Wi-Fi 6 IPX4 water resistance Touch controls (In case it's not already clear, these have no display to speak of; they're not AR or VR glasses like the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3.) Imagine snapping photos or videos while on vacation or at a special event, without having to pull out your phone — without even having to lift a finger. You can activate the glasses' camera via a simple voice command: "Hey, Meta, take a photo." There's also a button on top of the right temple; a single click grabs a snapshot, a longer press starts video recording. That's a pretty powerful benefit, though there are a few limitations. First: no selfies. Second: While the camera captures whatever is in your field of view, there's no actual preview to know exactly what you're getting. No zoom, either. And videos are limited to three minutes, max, something to note if you're trying to capture, say, a kid's performance in the school play. In my testing, I found that the glasses worked really well for the kind of "reveal" videos popular on Instagram and TikTok, like when you start out looking at the ground and then slowly pan up to show a waterfall or some other natural wonder. But for anything longer, where you want to stay focused on a fixed subject, it's not great having your whole head as the "viewfinder," because your natural inclination is to look around from time to time — resulting in jarring footage. That's something to keep in mind if you plan to use the livestream feature, which works via the Facebook or Instagram app. I tested the glasses with the latter, despite having never livestreamed anything before, and got up and running with just a few easy taps. But once again, the resulting footage was shaky and, to my thinking, hard to watch, because I move my head a lot more than I do my phone. It's much easier to get stable video with the latter. Take note, too, that while the camera's image quality is pretty good overall — suitable for viewing on your phone and sharing on social media — it lacks the sharpness you'd expect from a 12-megapixel sensor. You can preview photos and videos in the Meta app, but to actually offload them from the glasses for sharing or full-resolution viewing, you need to connect the latter to your Wi-Fi network — a fairly quick process, but still an extra step. There's also the option to automatically import media when the glasses are charging, which is useful. There's another big benefit to the glasses' camera, and that's being able to instantly identify what you're seeing. I'll come back to that in the AI section, below. The Ray-Ban Meta's headphones are kind of miraculous — two tiny down-firing speakers built into the temple arms right where they start to curve over your ear. That's pretty far from your listening holes, yet these things sound amazingly good. Maybe not quite on par with the best open-ear headphones, but close — I was perfectly happy with the quality of music I heard while walking the dog, gardening and so on. (As noted above, the Solos AirGo V — despite having vastly superior battery life — sounds like tinny AM radio in comparison.) There's a bit of resulting "bleed" here, meaning others might be able to hear what you're hearing, but they have to be standing fairly close. Ultimately, I was amazed to discover that eyeglasses could sound nearly as good as headphones — and all the disappointed about the battery life. I'd love to be able to wear these all day, without needing earbuds or the like for podcasts, Zoom calls and so on. The glasses have arguably the best touch controls I've ever used: You can drag your finger along the outside of the right temple to raise or lower volume, tap to pause/play, double-tap to skip to the next track and so on. Each interaction is met with a little "tick" sound so you know it's registering. And because the touch area is very wide, spanning a good stretch of the arm, you're not likely to miss hitting it — which I've found to be the case with most open-hear headphones (and their comparatively tiny touch areas). I did encounter one small issue when watching videos: the audio was a bit out of sync. This was fairly noticeable in TikTok, less prominent in Netflix, but definitely there. It's not uncommon — I've seen this with some earbuds and headphones as well — but there's usually a software toggle (such as "game mode") to help compensate. At this writing, there's no such option in the Meta AI app. Meta AI performs many of the same voice-activated tricks as Alexa or Siri. It can raise or lower audio volume, place calls, send and read messages, tell you the date and time, deliver a weather report, identify the song you're hearing over the loudspeaker (a la Shazam) and so on. By default, it gives you fairly terse responses to any general-information inquiries, which I think is smart; if you say, "Hey, Meta, tell me about the Battle of Trafalgar," you don't necessarily want a 10-minute rundown. And after the initial response, you can say, "Tell me more" (no "Hey, Meta" required), to get additional information. I did experience a few AI glitches. For example, when I said, "Hey, Meta, help me with my glasses" (per the AI's own suggestion), the response was, "To get help with your glasses, say 'Hey, Meta, help me with my glasses.'" I got stuck in this comedic loop indefinitely. That kind of thing tends to get worked out over time, with software updates, but my more immediate request is for better integration with existing ecosystems (namely, my phone). I tested my glasses with an iPhone 16e; although you can ask Meta to set a reminder, it doesn't integrate with the iOS Reminders app; it relies on its own internal software. Similarly, it's limited in what notifications it can share: Anything I already have scheduled in Reminders won't get announced through the glasses. You can't add calendar entries, either; no "Hey, Meta, schedule a meeting with Bob at 10 a.m. tomorrow." And this isn't just an iOS limitation; it's true on Android as well. Overall there's fairly little integration with apps. So if this is just a sort of Alexa/Google/Siri wanna-be AI, what's the point? The camera. You can ask Meta to describe what you're seeing, give you a summary of the book you're holding, recommend recipes when you peer inside your fridge, translate text from a different language and much more. For blind and partially sighted users, there's incredible value in being told what's in front of you, be it an object you're holding in your hand or the overall scene in general. (Again, this is where battery life rears its ugly head; anyone who starts to rely on this for real-world assistance could run into trouble if the glasses run out of juice.) On the whole, Meta AI works fairly well, limitations notwithstanding. While the five available celebrity voices are a rather odd mix (and all AI-simulated, which itself is kind of crazy), I really dug having Keegan-Michael Key as my assistant. There are also three "company players" if you'd rather stick with a non-famous voice. Because this is a fairly high-profile feature, I wanted to give it some extra attention. To start, I used photo-recognition language translation ("Hey, Meta, translate what I'm seeing") on a page written in French; it did an impressive job reading it to me in English. However, it's an all-or-nothing performance; you can't force the glasses to focus on, say, a particular area of a menu; it would attempt to translate the entire thing, which would likely be confusing (and time-consuming) to hear. So this is more useful for a street sign or poster, something with relatively few words. Speaking of translation, there's also a new live-translation feature that arrived just as I was finishing my testing. When someone speaks to you in a different language, it's translated in real-time. Well, almost: While listening to a few YouTube videos in French, the translation lagged behind what was being said, often to the point where it seemed like the glasses couldn't keep up. Or there would be a pause of several seconds while the person continued speaking, and then I'd get a quick dump of translation, which made it difficult to concentrate on what I was hearing versus what I was seeing. Thus, I'm not sure I'd use this to try for actual conversation (though you could do that if the other person was also wearing Meta glasses); it seems better for short bursts, like someone giving you directions or answering a simple question. At this writing, there are four languages available — English, French, Italian and Spanish — and to use any of them, you must first download a language pack within the Meta AI app. In return for that bit of advanced planning, you get to use live translation offline (meaning you don't need to be connected to the internet). The Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses showed me the future. With their classic Wayfarer design, impressive camera, surprisingly good open-ear audio and affordable price tag, they made the case for smart spectacles you'd want to wear full-time. Now we just need a battery that makes that possible. I don't want to have to keep that bulky case with me at all times and don't want to have to dock the glasses in there every 3-4 hours. The point of all this is that if you're already wearing glasses anyway, wouldn't it be great if they could play music and record video and answer questions? Yes! But when they can't do those things all day, you add a hassle factor that I suspect will frustrate most users. Thus, I think Meta needs to at least double the battery life before these Ray-Bans can be considered for full-time use. I'm also hopeful the next version of this product will be a bit lighter (a challenge given the ask for a bigger battery). But mark me down as someone who's very eager to see these things happen.
Forbes
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Oakley Meta Performance AI Glasses Offer Upgrades That Beat Ray-Ban Meta
Oakley Meta HSTN is the name for Meta's latest smart glasses and they promise an upgrade in battery life over the Ray-Ban Meta specs. The new specs also have an improvement in recording resolution for video. Oakley Meta smart glasses If you haven't used the Ray-Ban Meta specs, they have proved very popular. Reviewers have said they look great (like Ray-Ban Wayfarers in the case of one model), and many have said they are light and comfortable. Music playback is considered excellent: loud enough to be heard but not overwhelming that you can't hear the outside world if, for example, you're cycling. Though some have said the camera only takes okay pictures and video, more camera fun is to be had when you say, 'Meta, what am I looking at?' or some such enquiry, which is when it leverages its AI capabilities by connecting to your companion iPhone or Android handset. On a personal note, I was highly skeptical when I first saw them, but they won me over. They're very cool. Battery life is unexceptional though, so part of Meta's announcement on June 20 will be welcome: 'More battery stamina: A fully charged pair of Oakley Meta HSTN glasses can last up to eight hours of typical use and up to 19 hours on standby. You can charge them up to 50% in just 20 minutes. The glasses also come with a charging case that can deliver up to 48 hours of charging on the go,' it reads. Eight hours is double that of the Ray-Ban Metas. The camera has been improved to shoot in 3K video resolution and Meta says they are aimed for athletes and fans alike. 'Meta AI meets Performance AI glasses: With Meta AI, your personal AI assistant, built in, athletes can get more out of their Oakley Meta HSTNs right out of the box. For example, you can level up the competition in a whole new way when playing a round of golf. Need to know how the wind is going to affect your drive? Ask, 'Hey Meta, how strong is the wind today?'… Get answers to a range of questions, whether you're improving your game or checking the surf conditions,' it says. About the name, by the way: HSTN is 'pronounced HOW-stuhn,' Meta says, like the street at the top of SoHo in Manhattan. The new glasses cost from $399, with the limited-edition Desert 24k Prizm Polar option priced at $499. Frame colors include warm gray, black, clear and brown smoke. The limited-edition pair are available for pre-order from Friday, July 11, with the others coming later in the summer. Right now, Meta pretty much owns the smart glasses space and these specs could help cement that leadership.
WIRED
20-06-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Meta's Oakley Smart Glasses Have 3K Video—Watch Out, Ray-Ban
The new Oakley Meta glasses outshine the Ray-Ban Meta with a big jump in battery life and video quality. And there's supposedly even more to come. When Meta launched the second generation of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in late 2023, few predicted the success that lay ahead for the collaboration—perhaps not even Meta itself. But now, with more than two million sales under its belt, Meta has been looking for a way to widen its partnership with eyewear giant and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica and keep up the momentum. The answer it seems was staring them in the face: a collaboration with the company's second largest brand, Oakley. 'We launched our second generation of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses at [Meta] Connect a year and a half ago, and they've taken off faster than we expected,' Alex Himel, VP of wearables at Meta tells WIRED. 'But they were never meant to be the one and only thing we did with EssilorLuxottica.' 'We've found people leaning into different active use cases with [Ray-Ban Meta]. And so Oakley, which is a brand that has represented both performance and technical innovation, felt like the most natural next step for our collaboration.' Oakley Meta specs have a higher resolution camera, offering 3K video, up from full HD in the Ray-Ban Metas. Photograph: Oakley Like Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta will be a full smart glasses range, with a number of styles to choose from as the line expands. However, it's the popular Oakley HSTN frames (pronounced HOW-stuhn) that are the first to get the Meta makeover, with all of the same Meta AI functionality as Ray-Ban Metas, but with improved features aimed at a performance market. This includes a 50 percent longer battery life, with a fully charged pair of Oakley Meta HSTN lasting up to eight hours of typical use compared with four hours on the Ray-Ban Meta. The Oakley Meta's charging case also gets a boost, with up to 48 hours of charging time on the go, versus 36 hours in the Ray-Ban Meta. That's perhaps all the more surprising when you hear that the Oakley Meta also have a higher resolution camera, allowing you to share video in 3K video, up from full HD in the Ray-Ban Metas. This is a down to a new physical battery plus software improvements, Himel says, but can Ray-Ban Meta owners expect similar improvements in the future? Oakley Meta glasses have 50 percent more battery life, with a fully charged pair lasting up to eight hours versus four on the Ray-Ban iteration. Photograph: Oakley 'One thing that's cool about Ray-Ban Meta is that every month we've been shipping software updates that make the products better. And so owners should already be noticing that the image quality is getting better—but yes of course, we'll have hardware updates at some point for the Ray-Ban Meta, too.' With a target market that is likely looking to throw themselves down mountains, over hills and along roads, durability has been given due consideration. The Oakley Meta HSTN use the same proprietary frame materials as the analog HSTN, including Oakley's O-Matter, which promises to be 25 percent lighter and twice as strong as traditional acetate. Of course, there are some differences in overall weight compared with the analog versions, but it has been something that Meta says it has worked closely with Oakley to find the balance that stays true to the brand and what its users want from a pair of its glasses. 'I'm learning a lot. I have a software background, and so it's easy for me to focus on making sure this integrates well with Instagram or the image quality is really good,' says Himel. 'But then when I speak to Matteo or Rocco from EssilorLuxottica, we have to consider all these subtle dimensions that keep the glasses authentic to the brand. 'We've done a lot of research to make sure the flexible hinges fit just right, and that the extra weight is balanced out so that if you're doing something active, they stay on your face, and that they're comfortable to wear all day.' Some of the frames also come with Oakley's PRIZM lenses, which enhance color and contrast for detail enhancement that can help all the more during active use, and there's an IPX4 waterproofing rating that matches Ray-Ban Meta, though Himel admits as this means the glasses are merely splash proof, more needs to be done for future versions. 'I surf pretty actively, and one of the top use cases I've wanted is to have a pair of glasses that I can wear surfing. IPX4 can withstand getting wet, but not getting submerged—that needs an IP67 rating. That's something we're working on for future glasses, but if you're getting splashed, if it's raining, if you're sweating—you don't need to worry about that. The Oakley Meta HSTN work great for this.' The Oakley Meta HSTN will be available in six different finishes, but the range kicks off with a limited edition Oakley Meta, featuring gold accents and gold 24K PRIZM Polar lenses. They will cost $499 and are available for preorder from July 11, with others in the collection costing $399. But what's next for Meta's collaboration with EssilorLuxottica—which has licenses for brands including Chanel, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana—considering the latter announced it would be ramping up production of Meta glasses to 10 million a year by 2026? 'We're continuing to work closely together,' says Himel. "Glasses are a very personal choice. Different people pick different things, different brands, to represent who they are. So we will continue to launch more brands and more styles. 'We have already learned how to scale much more quickly, but there are still a good set of technical and operational problems to solve before we get there. But that's something we're excited to do, and so this is definitely a step in that direction.'
Gizmodo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Meta Clears Out Stock of Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, Amazon Drops Them to an All-Time New Low
For the very first time since the day they were launched, the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses are at an all-time low discount on Amazon, which makes it the ideal moment to acquire one of the most revolutionary wearable technologies available. The Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Skyler and Wayfarer models are now on sale at record-low prices: the Skyler model is available for $303, down from its initial $379, and the Wayfarer model has been discounted to $239, down from $299. These are not only modest price cuts but they're an actual all-time low and a one-time opportunity for anyone who's been eyeing these sleek and futuristic smart glasses. See Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Skyler at Amazon See Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Wayfarer at Amazon Why Are They Unique? What makes the Meta Ray-Ban glasses truly unique is how they effortlessly combine advanced technology with traditional eyewear design: They are already considered the top smart glasses on the market today, owing to their blend of style, comfort, and innovative features that make them a hit with a wide range of users. These glasses are meant to slip easily into your life. At the core of the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses lies the ability to shoot life from your perspective: The newly designed ultra-wide 12 MP camera enables you to shoot high-quality photos and videos with the voice command or the discreet button tap. The five-mic array delivers clear audio whether recording a video, taking a hands-free call, or communicating with Meta AI. You can even livestream directly to Facebook and Instagram, and take your friends and followers along in the moment. Most impressive is the addition of Meta AI which makes these spectacles a wearable personal assistant: Activated, Meta AI can scan your surroundings and make contextually appropriate suggestions to help you stay on top of things and in the loop during the day. Of special mention is the live translation feature supporting real-time translations between French, Italian, Spanish, and English without relying on Wi-Fi. Style and comfort are not overlooked: Both the Skyler and Wayfarer models bear the traditional Ray-Ban style so you'll be looking good when you wear them. The frames are light for wearing all day, and the lenses are available in a variety of options to correct your eyesight. The spectacles are also built to be durable so you can wear them wherever you go. Their current all-time low prices on Amazon make this the perfect time to upgrade your eyewear. Keep in mind that they're actually for everybody with features that will enhance both productivity and pleasure in everyday life. See Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Skyler at Amazon See Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Wayfarer at Amazon
