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Indian Express
13 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Meta CTO says 2025 is a crucial year for its AR/VR business as competition heats up
Meta's chief technology officer (CTO) Andrew Bosworth said that 2025 will be a pivotal year for Reality Labs, the augmented and virtual reality arm of the tech giant. Bosworth, who was one of the first engineers to start working at Meta, also emphasised that the market competition in the AR/VR segment was a good sign. On the surge in popularity of Meta's AI-powered Ray Ban glasses, Bosworth said that the breakthrough device has excited both consumers and competitors. 'Suddenly, we go from toiling in the realms of obscurity to being very much in the world with a product that is very attractive to consumers, and thus competitors. The clock has started on competition coming, and that just means that the progress we make in this year is of disproportionate value to any year before or after it closes,' he said. The Meta executive made these remarks at Bloomberg's tech conference held last week. His comments come at a time when there is emerging competition in the space with Google announcing last month that it is partnering with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create smart glasses that run on the tech giant's Android XR operating system. Apple is also reportedly looking to release its own smart glasses by next year. 'The market is actually, especially when it comes to hardware, a trailing indicator. So you look for early indicators. To some degree, you do have to have a level of confidence and taste in-house,' Bosworth said. He also revealed what Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer at Meta, had once told him. 'Sheryl used to always talk about how most companies don't fail because they got beaten by a competitor. Most companies fail because they didn't execute their own plan correctly,' he said. 'And so what I try to do with the team is really focus us, not so much on the competitive landscape as on [whether] we're executing to our standards,' Bosworth added. Talking about the company's ambitious plans for the year, the Meta CTO said, 'What we'll know by the end of the year is whether we executed on our plan or not. What we'll know in five years time is whether that was enough.' In February this year, Meta said that it has sold more than two million pairs of its flagship Ray Ban AI glasses since it was introduced in October 2023. Last month, the wearable became available for pre-order in India in a range of styles, including the new Skyler frame, with prices starting at Rs 29,900 and going up to Rs 35,700 for select models. The smart glasses can be paired to your smartphone using the newly introduced Meta AI app.
India Today
13-05-2025
- India Today
Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are in India now, they have also been silent killers so far
When someone says 'smart glasses,' your brain probably jumps to something dorky or futuristic, like something out of a sci-fi movie, or those chunky Google Glass prototypes from a decade ago. But Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses? They're nothing like that. In fact, they look just like, well, the classic Ray-Bans. And maybe that classic wayfarer look is why these smart glasses have been able to fly under the radar so far while gaining so much popularity. You could say they have been somewhat of a silent killer. advertisementNow, after being available globally for a while, the smart glasses have finally arrived in India. Priced at Rs 29,900, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will be available for purchase starting May 19, although pre-orders have already the thing: for many of us, especially tech nerds and journalists, this launch has been a long time coming. We've been waiting to get our hands on these smart glasses (since 2023) but couldn't, simply because they weren't available in India. And if you're even slightly interested in tech, chances are, long before the news came about the glasses launching in India, you already know all about it. Without splashy events or dramatic ad campaigns, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses have slowly but surely been winning people over. Even in India, Meta has kept things low-key, making all announcements through press releases and blog posts. It's a soft launch, if you it's not like this is some sort of side hustle for Meta. AI is at the centre of all things Meta, and it's kind of a hero product for the company. And the RayBan AI glasses aren't just regular sunglasses with a hidden camera, they are Meta's big bet on wearable AI. You can take photos and videos hands-free, livestream to Instagram, listen to music through open-ear speakers, and even talk to Meta AI right from your face. Imagine walking through a market, saying, 'Hey Meta, what's this fruit called?' and getting an answer without touching your phone. It's part fashion accessory, part personal cool, no doubt. But what is fascinating here is how quietly these glasses have grown in popularity. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses have been building a fan base in the background. Early adopters have been raving about how convenient they are, especially for creators, travellers, and anyone who hates digging into their pocket every time a notification stealthy success might be down to their design. Ray-Ban is already a trusted name in eyewear. By teaming up with them, Meta avoided the 'tech gadget' look of a device like an Apple Vision Pro and instead delivered something stylish and familiar. You wouldn't even know someone was wearing smart glasses unless they told you. And in the age of privacy concerns and social media fatigue, that subtlety might just be their biggest course, there are still questions. Will people feel comfortable wearing glasses that can record? Will battery life be enough? Will AI on your face feel useful or just a gimmick? Those answers will depend on how Meta keeps evolving the product, and how open Indian consumers are to trying something one thing's for sure: these aren't your average shades. And even if they're not making loud headlines yet, they might just quietly become the next big thing in wearables.
