It appears to be like like Meta’s sensible glasses lineup is about to broaden past Ray-Ban. A brand new verified Instagram web page referred to as “Oakley | Meta” popped up this week, teasing a joint product launch scheduled for Friday, June 20. Right here’s what to anticipate.
This partnership has been within the rumor pipeline for some time now. Again in January, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Meta was making ready a brand new set of sensible glasses underneath the Oakley model, geared toward cyclists and different athletes.
Not like the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, which concentrate on informal, on a regular basis use with a digicam discreetly constructed into the temple, the Oakley mannequin is claimed to function a center-mounted digicam, one thing extra in step with motion cams just like the GoPro, designed for sporty, on-the-move recording.
The sensible glasses race is heating up
By all accounts, Meta’s Ray-Bans have turned out to be a shock hit. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate introduced it had shipped over 2 million models, with plans to scale manufacturing to 10 million models yearly by the top of 2026. The timing, coinciding with the broader AI assistant growth, has positively helped.
Google has taken discover, too. The corporate not too long ago introduced new sensible glasses partnerships with Warby Parker, Mild Monster, and Kering Eyewear, all operating on Android XR.
In the meantime, Apple appears to be fast-tracking its personal sensible glasses undertaking. Bloomberg not too long ago reported that Apple has accelerated its personal plans for AI-powered sensible glasses, now concentrating on a launch by the top of 2026.
In response to the report, Apple will start producing massive portions of prototypes with suppliers later this 12 months, with the undertaking being led by the Imaginative and prescient Merchandise Group, the identical staff behind Imaginative and prescient Professional.
By way of options, Apple’s first-gen sensible glasses are anticipated to lean closely into AI-powered assistive capabilities like real-world scene evaluation, voice enter by way of Siri, cellphone calls, music playback, turn-by-turn instructions, and stay translation.
The {hardware} will reportedly embrace cameras, microphones, and audio system, drawing direct comparisons to Meta’s Ray-Bans (although one supply quoted by Bloomberg described Apple’s take as “much like the Meta product however higher made.”)
9to5Mac’s Take
The wearables market is shifting quick, and Apple doesn’t wish to miss the boat twice. With Meta promoting thousands and thousands of sensible glasses already, and Google and others leaping in, Apple had little alternative however to drag its timeline ahead. Nonetheless, “by the top of 2026” appears like an eternity away.
If completed proper, Apple’s eventual sensible glasses might take pleasure in the identical tight iPhone integration that helped make the Apple Watch and AirPods successful. However with the Oakley | Meta launch coming this week, and rivals additionally accelerating their plans, the clock is ticking, and Apple’s margin for error is rising slimmer by the day.
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