Photo: Facebook
Facebook’s Ray-Ban glasses are a big deal for AR

Good morning, and welcome to Protocol Next Up. This week: Facebook's new smart glasses aren't that smart, but that's exactly why they're a big deal. Also: Amazon is now making its own smart TVs.
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At first glance, Facebook's new Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses aren't actually all that smart. They don't feature a display, so you won't get any actual AR from them. The integrated open-ear audio supports stereo Bluetooth playback, but not spatial audio. And the on-board assistant, which can be invoked with a "Hey Facebook" wake phrase, is at launch limited to triggering hands-free photo and video capture.
Facebook executives nonetheless seem to believe that the device is a really big deal for the company. "We do think of this, though it is not augmented reality, as a critical step on the path," I was told by Facebook's VP of consumer hardware Andrew Bosworth this week. After trying a loaned review unit of the glasses for a few days, I do have to agree — and for a reason I didn't anticipate at all.
Ray-Ban Stories glasses look and feel like Ray-Ban glasses. Wearing them doesn't at all feel like wearing an AR headset, or even a more glasses-like AR device such as the Nreal Light that you'll really want to take off when you're done with whatever task you were using it for.
Making true AR glasses look this good won't be easy, admitted Bosworth. "AR glasses are going to have some tougher design moments," he said. "Weight is going to be such a challenge. The thermal, the compute is going to be such a challenge to factor in."
But the design approach could shape the future of AR, with the pared-back design of Ray-Ban Stories being something that other devices aspire to for years to come. "This is going to be the North Star for us for a while, in terms of design," Bosworth said. "As we add more functionality, we're going to have to do it on the value side. It's going to be a strain from the design and comfort side. I think this is a high watermark, and it's a place that we're going to work really hard as an industry to get back to."
For more on Ray-Ban Stories, also check out my story on how Facebook prepared for the next "glasshole" backlash.
"If I did this kind of speculation, I would say this is a perfect video to tease AR and VR." —Benedict Evans, responding to Apple's September event invite video.
"It's okay to be excited about Apple entering VR/AR. I'm excited too! But if you're going around spreading that Apple will single handedly save the entire industry when they've had literally NOTHING to show ... you might be in a cult." —AR whiz kid Lucas Rizzotto, speaking truth to fanboyism.
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After years of working with third-party brands, Amazon is switching up its smart TV playbook: The company will begin selling two lines of Amazon-branded Fire TVs to U.S. consumers next month, including a new Fire TV Omni series that comes with integrated far-field voice control for easy access to Alexa.
Amazon says this will accelerate the rollout of new features, and that's definitely how its head of entertainment devices and services, Daniel Rausch, painted the move. "There are some really hard technical challenges to accomplish here, and we get to invent things faster and in a deeper and more highly integrated way when we get to build something ourselves," he said.
But such features are available on third-party Fire TVs with far-field voice, with Toshiba being one of the first brands to add microphones to its TV sets as well.
So why introduce Amazon as a TV brand? The truth is that Amazon's efforts to establish itself as a player in the smart TV space have been mixed. The company has sold tens of millions of Fire TV sticks, but has not seen the same success with actual TV sets.
All of this has led to a situation in which the Amazon brand may actually be the company's best bet to gain smart TV market share. The move also fits in with a closer integration across devices. By more closely tying Alexa to Fire TV, the company is making it ever more obvious that people are using an Amazon device, no matter whose factory floor it was made on.
I have a very important update to share about those Reese's Puffs AR cereal boxes I mentioned in Next Up a few weeks back: I found a box at my grocery store last night, and discovered that it's actually a series of collectibles. One of the boxes turns into an AR drum machine if you point your phone at it, while two others unlock different synthesizers. I guess I'll have to make some room in our kitchen cabinets. Cereal for lunch, anyone?
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Thanks for reading — see you next week!
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