Latest news with #MetaRay-Bans
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI wearables are 'on the cusp' of taking off, analyst says
OpenAI's ( recent hiring spree, including hires of former CEOs of Nextdoor (KIND) and Instacart (CART), signals serious hardware ambitions, capped by OpenAI's deal with Jony Ive. Creative Strategies CEO and principal analyst Ben Bajarin joins Market Domination to explain that we could see artificial intelligence (AI)–powered wearables hit the market within 12 to 24 months as the space heats up. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. When we look at the moves that OpenAI has been making recently, they've been hiring, uh, sort of on a bit of a hiring blitz, right? They hired the next door CEO as their CFO last year. They recently hired an Instacart, uh, the Instacart CEO as, I believe, their chief product officer. Now there's the Johnny Ive move. But what does all of this I mean, it still takes a while to make hardware, right? It's not like it's like they snap, they've hired him and that's it. What kind of timeline can we perhaps look for for something like this? Yeah, I mean, it really, you're totally right. It takes a lot of time. And just look again, right, at how long Meta had been doing hardware, right? To get to a point where we saw some tipping curves of mass adoption, right? The the glasses had been in in works for a long time before they made it to market. It was really the second generation of Meta Ray-Bans that moved to any kind of reasonable scale with those now having sold over, you know, over two, two million units. So there there is a lot of time that goes into this. What we don't know is how far along OpenAI is already with prior concepts, you know, if they've been trial and erroring in this for a while, and they're and they're closer than we know because of what they got hardware wise, then obviously bringing, you know, more of these assets to the team can put them on a shorter timeline. I I don't think they're starting from scratch where it would be longer. But I also think we got to look at the timeline for, you know, again, just let's look at what Google's, you know, showed yesterday with these kind of AI first classes, whether they have a display or not, right? Like like the Ray-Bans that don't have a display or or some of the others that are being floated with a display. We're on the cusp of of those starting to take off, fueled by your ability to talk to an AI agent, explore the world, let it see what you see and have those interactions. That's that's the 12 to 18 month journey that we're on. You're going to see a whole host of those whether OpenAI is in that or not. But I would say over the next two years, this space is going to heat up quickly, and we're going to see hardware innovation again with this AI first, you know, sort of wearables hardware. Really interesting stuff, Ben. Looking forward to continuing the conversation in the coming months as we get more news on this. Appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
WIRED
26-04-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Meta Ray-Bans Now Speak Your Language, Roku's New Streaming Sticks, and Kia EVs Get Supercharged—Your Gear News of the Week
Plus: Duolingo now teaches chess, Kia EVs get Supercharged, and it's a big week for coffee. Photograph: Brenda Stolyar; Getty Images All products featured on Wired are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. At a speedy event in New York City this week, Roku announced its plans for 2025, which includes two new streaming sticks, some nice software updates, and upgrades to its top two Roku TVs—most notably the value-forward Plus Series. The new Roku Streaming Stick has two big selling points—it's compact and it's $30, but like the previous Roku Express, it's confined to HD content. That limits its value, but it could make a solid addition to a small den or kitchen TV, thanks to the addition of the Roku voice remote for searching across the breezy streaming platform. For $10 more, the similarly slim 4K UHD Streaming Stick Plus is the hotter value. Both devices can be powered by most TVs directly, meaning no need to plug them into a wall outlet, and they include new software features like a 'Coming Soon to Theaters' row and personalized sports highlights. Photograph: Brenda Stolyar On the TV front, Roku's top-line Pro Series TVs get a modest update, including 'custom factory calibration' to ensure a more accurate picture. However, it's the affordable Plus Series that receives the more significant makeover, including the addition of mini-LED backlighting. While we'll have to put it to the test, this should help improve dimming control for better contrast and deeper black levels with less light bleed. All Roku TVs will also now include a Bluetooth headphone mode for quick sound swapping. The new streaming sticks are available for preorder and are expected to ship on May 6, while Roku will announce new TV pricing and availability later this year. —Ryan Waniata Meta Ray-Bans Get Live AI Translations Meta has announced the rollout of its AI-powered real-time translation feature for the Meta Ray-Bans smart glasses to all markets. That means if you're traveling to another country, you can download the language pack and hold conversations in English, French, Italian, or Spanish without connecting to Wi-Fi or a cellular network. Just say 'Hey Meta, start live translation' and you'll hear them talking in your preferred language through the speakers in the glasses, while the other person can view a translated transcript on your phone. I've experienced Meta's translation with text before and found it adequate for reading my children's books in Spanish; Meta AI even offered, unprompted, some funny insights. When traveling, my coworker Kate Knibbs discovered that live translation is a little awkward when it's limited to the written word. Live translation with other speakers should make it much more useful. The company also announced new frame styles and colors, like the Skyler cat-eye style in chalky gray, as well as a few more software features. You'll now be able to send and receive messages from Instagram on your glasses, ask Meta AI to play music from an expanded list of music apps (as long as you ask in English), or ask Meta AI to identify songs in passing. Meta is also expanding access to Meta AI in other countries in the European Union, as well as launching the glasses themselves in Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates. —Adrienne So Kia EVs Can Now Use Tesla's Superchargers Kia EVs are finally part of the Tesla Supercharger club, the company has confirmed, and its cars can now access more than 21,500 of Tesla's DC fast chargers in North America. The move, which was originally approved in January, expands Kia's charging network by more than 80 percent and sees the automaker joining the likes of Ford, Rivian, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz in tapping into Tesla's resources. As part of the move, the company announced that its refreshed 2025 EV6 and the 2026 EV9 will come with Tesla-compatible NACS connectors, but existing Kia EV owners with a CCS1 charging port can get adapters from their dealer. —Verity Burns Cuisinart's First-Ever Espresso Bar 'Collection' Anyone for coffee? This week, Cuisinart announced what it's touting as its very first espresso bar collection—a Mama, Papa, and Baby Bear of three bottomless portafilter machines. The range starts with a vanishingly slim profile, 15-bar EM-160 Espresso Bar Slim retailing at $230, and tops out with a $600 'Grind and Brew' EM-640 model with 16 espresso grind settings. The mid-sized $300 machine, EM-320, doesn't have a grinder but adds 5 bars of pressure compared to the Slim. This is hardly Cuisinart's first foray into espresso, but it does amount to a bit of a reboot for the American brand. Each device in the Espresso Bar collection comes equipped with a frothing wand, a 52-millimeter stainless steel bottomless portafilter, and an option on cold-extracted espresso for iced lattes or martini lovers. The devices offer a fairly tall profile: Cuisinart advertises that each will allow room for a 20-ounce travel mug. Likely the most distinctive of the three machines, the lowest-priced 'Slim' device is less than 7 inches wide. Tuesday was the official launch for the new line, but retailers like Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel quietly added the Cuisinart appliances to their websites in mid-April—an increasingly common strategy from manufacturers who want advance reviews on retailer websites by the time the company's PR officially declares liftoff. — Matthew Korfhage Fellow Drops Its First Espresso Machine The coffee news doesn't stop there. With the fanfare and tightly controlled pre-hype usually reserved for iPhone launches, San Francisco coffee device maker Fellow announced its first espresso machine. The retro-futuristic-looking Espresso Series 1 comes in black, cherry red, or malted chocolate. It offers adaptive pressure at the coffee puck, guided brewing, and a steam wand with a thermostat that stops frothing at the designated temp. Fellow reserved its biggest excitement for the Espresso Series 1's patented new boiler system, which the company says will offer what it calls the 'holy grail of espresso'—true temperature and pressure stability, in a home espresso machine market best known for wild fluctuations and slow heat-ups. The company's research and development head, Nick Terzulli, explained the tech at a livestreamed launch event from the company's San Francisco office. The new 'boosted boiler' involves three independent heating elements combining fast heating with a thermal mass heater, a mini-boiler, and a heated group head for tight temperature control at the output. With all three in concert, Terzulli says, you can achieve the thermal stability of a commercial dual boiler on a 120-volt circuit, with less than two minutes heating time. 'If you understand physics, you understand why my head is exploding inside my body, right?' Terzulli said. The device costs $1,500, but anyone who buys during the first two weeks of the presale can reserve the Espresso Series 1 for $1,200 and get $100 in free coffee. — Matthew Korfhage Duolingo Now Teaches Chess Strange things are happening over at Duolingo's headquarters. After its infamous green owl mascot faked his death earlier this year, the language learning app continues its abnormal behavior and wants to teach a new subject that transcends language: chess. It's still in early testing with a limited number of Duolingo users, but it will roll out to iOS in English in the coming weeks, with other platforms to follow in the following months. OK, teaching chess isn't all that abnormal for Duolingo. The company began its first non-language courses in 2023 with music and math. Chess is the latest, and it continues the signature gamified learning experience the app is known for. The course is built for people who might find the game intimidating and starts with basics like how each piece moves, patterns, and strategies. You can play fast-paced mini-matches to hone your skills or full games against Duolingo's in-app chess coach.
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Forbes
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Are Coming To India, Mexico And The UAE
Prakhar wearing the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses The Ray-Ban Meta Glasses are popular and in high demand. As a result, Meta is expanding their availability to more regions. The Meta Ray-Bans are currently available in select markets like the US, Canada, and parts of Europe, but they'll soon be launching in India, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. Meta announced new styles, more features and wider availability of both its Meta AI and Ray-Ban smartglasses. For context, these smartglasses combine Meta's on-device AI with open-ear audio, a camera, and hands-free controls — all inside iconic eyewear frames. The Ray-Ban Meta Glasses are also getting an additional style. You can now buy them in new and expanded Skyler frame and lens color combos. The Skyler Shiny Chalky Gray with Transitions Sapphire lenses comes in a cat-eye shape with a neutral tone. Meanwhile, the Skyler Shiny Black is now available with G15 Green lenses or with Clear lenses. Prakhar wearing the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses While the exact launch dates for India, Mexico, and the UAE remain unknown, Meta is also expanding access to Meta AI on its glasses to more countries in the EU starting today. Additionally, it'll be rolling out the ability to ask Meta AI about what you're looking at and get real-time responses in all supported EU countries beginning next week. The smart assistant is expanding its capabilities in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Meta AI's live translation feature is also rolling out to more markets with 'Hey Meta, start live translation' command. It will work across English, French, Italian, and Spanish, without requiring Wi-Fi or network connectivity if you've downloaded the language pack in advance. As per Meta, when you're speaking with someone in one of those languages, you'll hear what they say in your preferred language through the glasses in real time. You can also view a translated transcript of the conversation on your phone. Meanwhile, supported music services are also expanding to more countries beyond the US and Canada. You'll be able to request music and ask questions about your favorite songs across Apple Music, Spotify, Shazam, and Amazon Music.
