Meta Flags off Smartglasses in India

After smartphones and smartwatches came smartglasses, and the pioneer in this arena was Meta. Through a tie-up with Ray-Ban, it had come up with snazzy models that looked and felt like ordinary spectacles, if only a little thicker. On May 19, it will officially launch in India. Preorders are available on Ray-Ban’s website. Stores will also start selling it from that date onwards. Prices range from `29,900 to `35,700, depending on the model. The glasses do a range of things from shooting photographs to playing music that can be heard without earphones. It can look at something and provide information on it. Shooting photos and videos is easier because there is no additional step of pulling a mobile phone out. Within its frame, the glasses have tucked away a power button, a 12 megapixel camera that can also take short videos, small open speakers directed at the ear, a touchpad that increases volume by swiping, and can play or pause media. Battery life is four hours on full charge but with the case, which is also a charger, it gives up to 36 hours. Meta has also integrated it with artificial intelligence (AI). A voice command brings up the chatbot that performs AI utilities.

Search Wars

Perplexity is expected to wrap up a new funding round reportedly worth $500 million. This will come as a shot in the arm as it looks to break Google’s dominance as a search engine. The firm will be launching a much-anticipated browser called Comet, an AI-based browser that could disrupt the way people use search engines. Comet will likely include agentic AI capabilities and the ability to automate certain tasks.

Mind Over Matter

Apple has partnered with a brain-computer interface maker to develop tech that lets consumers control devices with their thoughts. The company Synchron has been working on a stent-like implant called Stentrode that’s placed in a vein on top of the brain’s motor cortex making it capable of reading brain signals before translating them into a selection of icons on a screen. The two companies are developing a new standard for the technology.

Return From The Grave

Using AI, an online lecture series has revived a virtual avatar of the long-deceased writer Agatha Christie to teach a writing class. The course is called BBC Maestro and is similar to the lecture series MasterClass. The character’s script was based, its creators say, on the writer’s written pieces and archival interviews. There have been several instances in recent years where AI has been used to bring back the likeness of celebrities for various projects.

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