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Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Tom's Guide
I spent my first 24 hours with the Oakley Meta HSTN glasses — they're brilliant except for one glaring problem
The moment I put on the limited edition Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses, I could tell these were not the Ray-Ban Meta glasses that I've worn on my face for the majority of the last two years. Between the ultra-reflective orange lenses and angular, sport-forward frame, there's no question these glasses are an Oakley product. But the camera cutouts on the upper corners, a pair of black holes disrupting the stark white frames, give away that there's more to these glasses than what meets the eye. And depending on your vibe, that could be a huge selling point. For me, it's the one thing that seems to be holding these smart glasses back. Let's backtrack a bit. When comparing the Ray-Ban Meta vs Oakley Meta smart glasses, there are several spec improvements that help justify the Oakley's $499 price tag. A better field of view for the cameras and double the battery life are the upgrades that stand out to me. But a lot is also the same, such as a quick set up process with the Meta AI (formerly Meta View) app. After a few prompts to familiarize yourself with Meta's "look and tell me" assistant, the HSTN glasses are ready to wear. Except ready to wear doesn't mean I, personally, am ready to wear them. To put it simply, these aren't a pair of glasses I'd ever reach for on the shelves at Sunglass Hut. The limited edition Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses offer some spec boosts over the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, targeting the sportier crowd of wearable tech enthusiasts. The bold, rounded frame is made to be noticed and doesn't hide the fact that these aren't normal glasses. Compared to my transition lens Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarers, which blend into almost any outfit, the Oakley smart glasses are far more overt. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. As someone who's fashion-conscious, I couldn't help but feel these glasses are bit out of sync with my closet. I'm sure these frames would look amazing out on a paddleboard or bike path, but for my everyday city wear? Not quite my default fit. Luckily, I planned my first official outing with the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses to take place in an appropriately sporty setting: T-Mobile Park, home stadium of the Seattle Mariners. Although I wished the the PRIZM 24K polarized lenses skewed blue to match the Mariners branding rather than the opposing team's yellowy-orange accents, they felt incredible against the sun shining into the park. Everything in my vision, even the players from my second deck seats looked sharp. Most surprisingly, I could track foul and fly ball paths with ease — usually, I'm futilely circling my neck to spot them. (Side note: I can't wait to try these at the golf course to see if they improve my abysmal ball-locating abilities.) Other use cases carry over from the Ray-Ban version of these glasses, such as capturing videos and photos of the action from my POV that I could then post on my Instagram stories or send to my family. Image captured on the Oakley Meta HSTN Smart Glasses Image captured on the Oakley Meta HSTN Smart Glasses Image captured on the Oakley Meta HSTN Smart Glasses Similarly, I could rely on Meta AI to settle in-game debates. Whether it was who else is joining Ichiro Suzuki in the 2025 Hall of Fame class or if the Mariners are actually the only active MLB team to never make the World Series, Meta AI answered accurately and with ease. Even with the crowd noise, I could hear everything through the built-in speakers, and the mics didn't miss a beat picking up my queries. Functionally, the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses are epic. But as much as I immediately love the performance, I'm having a harder time warming up to the design. The style is just... a lot. Unlike the Ray-Bans, which come in tons of frame and lens variations, the Oakley Meta HSTNs are one bold look. A more subtle, all-black pair has been pictured but wasn't seeded to reviewers like myself and is not yet available to purchase. I would opt for this subdued pair instead, although in a perfect world I'd be able to customize the entire look of something I planned to wear daily. I know that there are sporty folks who are drooling over the existing edgy white-and-orange combo. If that's your vibe, I'm confident you'll love them. For me, I still need a little bit of time to come around, but I have a feeling the performance will ultimately outweigh style for me. All I'll say is, you know a product's performance is good when I'll consider compromising my fashion sense for it. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
Top 8 AI Gadgets That'll Transform Your Daily Life
Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses With built-in AI and voice control, these glasses let you take calls, livestream, capture photos, and interact with Meta AI all without touching your phone.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
What Is WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy? Here's How To Turn It On
WhatsApp has introduced Advanced Chat Privacy, a feature that builds on its end-to-end encryption to ... More keep your messages as private as possible by keeping chats in the app. So what exactly is Advanced Chat Privacy, when should you use it and how do you turn it on? WhatsApp, used by billions of people, is end-to-end encrypted, which means no one can read your chats — even WhatsApp. Yet when using WhatsApp, certain features could impact your privacy, especially in group chats, where other users can export your chats or download photos and videos. More recently, the ability to use Meta AI, also known as the blue circle, in group chats means others could use the tool without your permission. It is with this in mind that WhatsApp has introduced Advanced Chat Privacy, a feature that builds on its end-to-end encryption to keep your messages as private as possible by keeping chats in the app. So what exactly is Advanced Chat Privacy, when should you use it and how do you turn it on? What Is WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy? The Advanced Chat Privacy feature builds on previous WhatsApp tools aiming to help control how your messages are shared and used by others. These include disappearing messages — which I am a huge fan of — and chat lock. Available in chats and groups, Advanced Chat Privacy helps prevent others from taking content outside of WhatsApp when you may want extra privacy. When the setting is on, you can block others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media to their phone and using messages for AI features. Advanced Chat Privacy can be toggled on alongside other WhatsApp Privacy features. When Should You Use WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy? 'WhatsApp groups are increasingly an extension of our real world networks, some of which are far closer than others,' Meta's WhatsApp explained in a blog when launching the feature in April. Taking this into account, according to Meta, the feature is best used when talking with groups where you may not know everyone closely, WhatsApp advises. It cites the example of someone talking about health challenges in a support group or organising a community about something important to you. How To Turn On WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy You can turn on Advanced Chat Privacy by tapping the chat name, then tapping on Advanced Chat Privacy. Toggle Advanced Chat Privacy to on to access its features. Toggle Advanced Chat Privacy to on to access its features. WhatsApp Privacy — What To Do WhatsApp is adding privacy features all the time, in response to user demand as some threaten to switch to apps such as Signal. Advanced Chat Privacy is a very useful feature that you should turn on in all group chats and even general ones if you really value your privacy. WhatsApp says it will be adding updates to Advanced Chat Privacy to boost your privacy even more over the coming months, so keep checking back here on my Forbes page for updates.
News18
3 days ago
- News18
Quick Recap: WhatsApp Is Making It Easier To Catch Up On Missed Texts
Last Updated: WhatsApp's Quick Recap feature will summarise unread messages, helping users catch up on long chats quickly without scrolling through entire threads WhatsApp has unveiled a new AI-powered feature, Quick Recap, aimed at improving user experience and saving time. This innovation is particularly beneficial for individuals juggling multiple tasks daily who prefer not to scroll through extensive conversations. Quick Recap summarises unread messages, enabling users to swiftly catch up on chats without reading entire threads. If a chat has been unopened for a while and has accumulated numerous messages, the feature provides a comprehensive summary in seconds. Leveraging Meta AI, users can select up to five chats, click on the three dots in the top right corner, and choose the 'Quick Recap' option for a message summary. The feature supports both personal and group chats. WhatsApp assures users that this feature utilises Meta Private Processing technology, ensuring message data remains encrypted and unreadable by WhatsApp or Meta. However, chats protected with 'Advanced Chat Privacy' will not be included in this feature. Currently, Quick Recap is in development, appearing in WhatsApp beta version Android 2.25.21.12, and will soon be available to beta users before a stable update rollout. Details for the iOS timeline remain undisclosed. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Why Qualcomm is betting on smart glasses like Meta's Ray-Bans as the next big thing in tech
Alex Katouzian, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Compute & XR at Qualcomm Inc, Monday expressed confidence that smart glasses will become the next big category in the consumer tech space. 'As of today, many people are carrying not one device but multiple devices like watches, phones, and earbuds. Glasses will be another smart device that people carry,' said Katouzian. Katouzian's confidence in the smart glasses segment comes after the surprise success of Meta's glasses developed in partnership with Ray-Ban. Although Meta has explored both virtual and augmented reality, it was the Ray-Ban smart glasses that caught consumers' attention globally, despite not being advanced AR glasses. Instead, the Ray-Bans combine the Meta AI voice assistant with basic hardware and a classic design, which helped the company sell millions of units. Ray-Bans are wirelessly linked with a smartphone. 'You have seen Meta Ray-Bans and Oakleys; they exist today at a scale much larger than last year or the year before. The volumes have increased six to seven times compared to what we shipped previously,' Katouzian told at the Snapdragon for India event in Delhi. The reason Qualcomm, the leading maker of smartphone processors, is making a bigger push into smart glasses is probably because it developed the processor that powered the Meta Ray-Ban glasses. Now, that experiment seems to have paid off, and the company is launching a new chip specifically designed for the next generation of smart glasses. The AR1 Plus Gen 1 chip is an upgrade from the processors used in smaller smart glasses, such as the Meta Ray-Bans. The new chip is not only smaller in size, allowing for a larger battery while keeping the glasses looking like regular eyewear, but also supports on-device AI, capable of running small language models. This enables the glasses to handle more offline tasks using voice commands. 'Not only are we moving toward making glasses smarter, but we are also working to combine these devices to deliver a much better user experience. Whether it's on-device or in the cloud, it doesn't matter to us. We are agnostic to that. We will help the cloud agent become smarter by giving it access to your personal information, and we will help the on-device agent become smarter by enabling it to process tasks locally, without accessing the cloud. That's the direction we are headed with these technologies,' he explains. Qualcomm is placing its bet on a product category that has never truly been a hit with consumers. Smart glasses that use augmented and virtual reality have often felt more like tech demos than practical, usable products. However, smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans have made the concept more accessible, even though they only perform basic functions and don't yet offer the kind of futuristic features, such as augmented reality, that tech companies ultimately hope to bring to glasses — features that could one day even replace smartphones. Smart glasses like Meta's Ray-Bans may be the first step in that direction, but it's one step at a time. Katouzian says the next generation of computing devices that people will carry are glasses. However, the chips needed for the glasses need to be reimagined, and the processors designed for smartphones won't be a fit. 'The glasses, especially in the case of AR, operate at below 1 watt, whereas a PC operates at tens of watts, and a phone operates in the single-digit watt range. We are going from tens of watts to single digits, and now to below 1 watt – each step an order of magnitude lower in power consumption,' he explains. 'So of course, the chips we design for AR glasses take into consideration how long the battery needs to last. They minimise power usage while still providing enough performance to make the glasses useful.' While the Meta Ray-Ban glasses may be the most popular smart glasses on the market today, the technology powering them has some limitations. 'Today, with the Meta glasses, you have to download an app on your phone that then interfaces with the device. We don't think that's the best way to do it because the app, by default, wakes up the phone's large processors to actually do its work. When these two things come near each other, they realise that there's another computing device there. We can offload the compute through either low-power Bluetooth or low-power Wi-Fi into the smartphone. What we would like to do is develop better contextual awareness between the glasses and the phone,' Katouzian said. But Katouzian imagines a future where smart glasses will have a relationship similar to the one we have with our smartphones or smartwatches. This means the glasses, smartphones, and smartwatches will work together seamlessly, with each device having its role and excelling at what it does best. 'Just imagine a watch combined with a pair of glasses. The watch will tell you everything about your internal health, while the glasses provide information about your external environment. When combined, your health and surroundings become one. Everyone carries a phone, which is a very powerful computing tool that holds your personal information: your calendar, emails, texts, location, and many other daily essentials are all stored there. Now, combine that with the glasses and the watch, so I can offload computing tasks to the phone to do things for me. I could store a large model on the phone itself. It can answer questions like, 'Hey, what should I do today in Delhi?' The glasses will detect that it's cloudy and about to rain, while the phone knows your location and understands your areas of interest.' While the Meta-powered Ray-Bans don't yet have augmented reality capabilities, they do feature video cameras, speakers, and a functioning AI, which many users have found more useful than the AI use cases currently available on a phone. 'You can actually do many things with an assistant, or ask questions that you would otherwise have to type or figure out where to get the information from. What that means is the AI agent has to be with you all the time to be useful. You should be able to just wear the glasses and have access to the agent. Today, this happens through the phone because it's the only connection to the cloud. Tomorrow, another device on your body that can have a cellular modem is the watch. So the watch and glasses will become an important pair,' he said. Katouzian said the AI agent will, by default, be part of whatever device you are using, whether it's a phone, watch, or glasses. He added that Qualcomm is working on a way to put a cellular modem directly into the glasses. 'We fully plan to figure out how to embed a cellular modem in the glasses themselves. It's already in the watch today – there's no reason it can't be in the glasses. 'The glasses cannot be very heavy; otherwise, their usability and comfort start to diminish. We pay a lot of attention to packaging and partitioning our chipsets and software in such a way that the glasses can be used comfortably for a full day.' From recording a concert with the built-in cameras without taking the phone out to make a call, much like any pair of wireless earbuds with a voice assistant, smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans offer features similar to other modern consumer tech products. While Ray-Bans don't offer advanced features, their form factor allows certain functions to work better on the glasses, making everyday technology more useful and helpful. The smash success of Ray-Bans has opened a new market for others to pursue seriously, and look beyond smartphones, which have started to peak but still generate billions of dollars in revenue. Meta's Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has admitted that the glasses have been a bigger hit than expected since their launch, and the demand for them outpaced Meta's ability to manufacture them. Katouzian is encouraging its OEMs to make smart glasses alongside smartphones and wearables. 'We have the ability to make devices contextually aware of each other so they don't need an app. If an OEM can build both the phone and the glasses, they can use our protocols to fully utilise what the phone offers or what the watch offers. I think that's how we want to proceed.' In India, Lenskart, which provides eye care solutions and retails computer glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses, is launching a pair of smart glasses featuring a Qualcomm chip. 'With Lenskart, we put together our solution with a glass maker, an actual ODM elsewhere, and combined it with what Lenskart wanted to do. This combination will allow Lenskart to provide smart glasses to its customer base,' he said. Katouzian says the launch of smart glasses from Lenskart will help broaden the market for smart glasses in a country like India. Meta recently launched its Ray-Ban smart glasses in India, though they cost as much as a mid-range smartphone. Qualcomm has also set its sights on augmented reality and mixed reality as key target areas, diversifying its business beyond smartphones. The San Diego-based chip maker is heavily involved in Samsung's Project Moohan mixed reality headset, which will be powered by Google's new mixed reality OS- Android XR, designed for headsets and smart glasses. Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin. Email: ... Read More
