Facebook and Ray-Ban officially launch smart glasses

Facebook is taking its first stab at smart glasses through its partnership with Ray-Ban. The Ray-Ban Stories are glasses that bring the eyewear's classic Wayfarer designs and adds cameras, a microphone, and speakers to them. Each side hides a camera capable of shooting five-megapixel stills and videos of up to 30 seconds that you can trigger with a long or short tap on its single button. The camera setup is similar to Snap's Spectacles, but Ray-Ban Stories take this further with open-ear speakers and a three-mic audio array, which will let you control the glasses by voice.

This product is, first and foremost, a Ray-Ban device. According to Andrew Bosworth, Facebook Reality Labs' head, the glasses are designed to "help people live in the moment and stay connected to the people they are with and the people they wish they were with."

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Facebook and Ray-Ban glasses leaked ahead of launch

Facebook is getting ready to launch the smart glasses it's created with Ray-Ban. Ahead of the launch, though, Evan Blass has revealed what the glasses would look like, and yes, they do look a bit like Snap's glasses. But that is the shape of typical Ray-Ban glasses. There will be three frame styles to choose from: Wayfarer, Round, and Meteor. It will reportedly come with a protective hard case, bag, and charging cable. 

Now, we just have to find out what features Facebook plans to include with these glasses. And it's a different conversation whether you'd want to use Facebook hardware. 

Source: The Next Web

Facebook Messenger finally gets end-to-end encryption on voice, video calls

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Facebook Messenger had end-to-end encryption in its messages before. But now, Facebook is bringing this security feature to voice and video calls, too. These types of communication became especially important during the pandemic, with Facebook citing over 150 million video calls a day. It isn't available in group voice, chats, and video calls yet, but the company said it would test this out with some users in the coming weeks.

End-to-end encryption offers the assurance that only you and the recipient will get access to what's in your calls and messages. Facebook won't be able to read or listen to your calls. But you can report an end-to-end encrypted message to the company if "something's wrong," which presumably refers to situations involving harassment.

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LG TVs to get dedicated support for Facebook's Portal TV

Soon it'll be much easier to set up and use Facebook's Portal TV with LG TVs. A new firmware update (version 6.0) coming to webOS-powered televisions will allow users to just plug the device into an HDMI port, and it will be detected. A pop-up notice will allow for quick access from the dashboard or webOS home screen. Once you've set it up, you can control the Portal TV app using LG's Magic Remote.

Facebook's Portal TV supports apps like Messenger and WhatsApp as well as Zoom, Workplace, and GoToMeeting for video calls. So, for users who want a bigger screen to make video calls on, this LG update will make it easier for you.

Source: Engadget