- Google revealed Prototype AR -Glasses by Ted
- These glasses are apparently manufactured by Samsung under Android XR
- AR -Glasses are reportedly set to release in 2026
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses has been a wild success for Meta, and it seems that Samsung and Apple have noticed as the duo plans to launch their own Android XR and Apple XR glasses.
We got our first look at the Android XR glasses last week during a Ted speech hosting Google’s head of the augmented reality and expanded reality, Shahram Izadi.
The specifications are a significantly smaller package than Project Moohan Android XR Headset Google and Samsung collaborate on (via Axios) – and you can see the headset behind him on a shelf to get a sense of the size difference.
In the surprise demo, Izadi used the glasses to perform a few tasks including live translation from Farsi into English, scan a book using its built -in cameras and help them find their keys using a feature called ‘memory’. They also pack on a display so that the carrier can receive information visually, not only via audio signals.
Now Korea Economic Daily claims that this prototype is Samsung-made under the duo’s existing Android XR partnership and it is intended to launch next year.
While leaks need to be taken with a pinch of salt, we have heard lots of reports that Meta is planning to launch its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses with a display later in the year, so it is not out of the question that an Android XR device could follow shortly after.
What’s more considering how impressive the prototype seems to be already-to be able to perform a number of tasks in a slim package-it seems that Google and Samsung do not have a consumer-ready product. I just hope they aren’t as expensive as Meta’s glasses are joined to be.
What makes Apple up to?
Apple is also eager to create light scars specifications, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (behind a Paywall). According to people who know Apple’s scars plan “It’s the only thing he really spends his time on from a product development point of view.”
Although Apple’s glasses, according to Gurman, may still be a few years away.
Because real AR glasses are not yet achievable in Apple’s mind (according to people in knowledge), it will apparently first focus on equipping its Apple Watch and AirPods with AI cameras to achieve some of the functionality of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses we have today.
Given Apple’s match with AI on the iPhone 16, it makes sense that it does not currently want to focus on AI -Smarte glasses, although it feels it could be late to the glasses party considering how soon Samsung, Google and Meta are expected to launch specifications.
As with all leaks and speculation, we have to wait and see what Apple is up to the sleeve, but it can benefit from the same benefit Google will – one that Meta is missing.
Smartphone Synergy strategy
The most striking part of Google’s prototype is that the XR device looks a terribly much slimmer than other prototype AR glasses, we’ve seen-such as Meta Orion AR Specifications and Snaps 5. Gen-Gliller Developer Kit. That’s because it’s apparently taking advantage of Google’s biggest advantage: an Android phone according to Izadi.
He explained, “These glasses work with your phone and stream back and forth so that the glasses could be very lightweight and access all your phone apps.”
Because they lack their own telephone marks to trust, Meta and Snap ideally want users to rely solely on their own free platform – one that they have full control of to introduce the apps and experiences they most want to build. Control, they don’t have when it just piggybacking Android via phone apps.
Google, as it runs the Android ecosystem, is probably not eager for people to give up their phones yet.
So its glasses are instead designed to take advantage of processors in your phone rather than a sophisticated chip built into the glasses themselves (although we suspect they still have a small onboard processing effect for simple viewing and camera operations).
This allows Google to remove some of the bulk that a beef chipset requires – such as sophisticated cooling and a larger battery – to create a slimmer end product without sacrificing the overall performance (at least in theory).
Apple could take advantage of a similar relationship between smartphone and glass with its own AR specifications, although Meta and Snap’s third-party approach have an advantage in that they are systemagnostic. You can use which smartphone you want or you may not even need a smartphone at all.
Hopefully, Google’s symbiotic relationships result between its glasses and phones in smart specifications that are not as expensive as its competitors as they do not have to wrap so many components. For example, Meta’s rumored upcoming XR glasses with a screen are expected to cost as much as $ 1,400 (£ 1,100 / AU $ 2,200).
For now, we will have to wait and see, but Google and Samsung’s smart specifications look promising, and if they are set to launch next year 2026, can’t come fast enough.
