Is this the return of Google Glass? Magic Leap and Google team up could be bad news for Meta and Apple

We already knew Google was making at least a tentative return to the world of extended reality (XR, a catchall for VR, AR, and MR) with the announcement it’s helping to make the Samsung XR headset. But it could also be looking for another try and with one of its most high-profile flops: Google Glass.

This speculation follows an announcement from Magic Leap that it is partnering with Google to “bring Magic Leap Augmented Reality (AR) expertise and optics leadership together with Google’s technology platforms and collaborate on Extended Reality (XR) solutions and experiences.”

This is hardly a Google Glass confirmation, but it follows a few rumors that Google wants to have another crack at AR specs – including what might have been an accidental leak from its own Google I/O presentation. It also comes after Meta teased its AR glasses project, and with Apple testing the waters with the Vision Pro it would seem the entire industry is chasing an AR trend.

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Even though this partnership is seemingly set in stone we shouldn’t get our hopes up that Google Glass 2 is coming soon. LG and Meta announced plans to partner on XR technology, only for rumors to come out weeks later that they had already parted ways – rumors LG refused to dismiss.

Much like Meta and LG reportedly butted heads in several ways, Google and Magic Leap could also disagree on how best to create an AR device which could lead to their relationship breaking down. 

What could a ‘Google Glass 2’ look like? 

Assuming this partnership does bear fruit, what do we expect to see from Google Glass 2 – or whatever Google wants to call it?

Well design-wise we imagine it’ll look a lot more like a typical pair of specs. While Google Glass’ space-age design might have charmed some, it’s not at all subtle. The obvious camera freaked people out, and it painted a target on wearers as they were clearly wearing expensive tech that would-be thieves could rip from them. And when the battery dies, they’re useless.

Modern smart and AR glasses have some signs they’re more than meets the eye – like thicker arms, and a light that makes it clear when the camera is in use – but in general you wouldn’t know the specs were anything but regular shades unless you’re well-versed in tech. With prescription or shaded lenses, they’re also something you can wear all the time even when they run out of charge.

Orange RayBan Meta Smart Glasses in front of a wall of colorful lenses including green, blue, yellow and pink

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Image credit: Meta)

As for its features, obviously, AR aspects would be included. To us, this means a HUD with an overlay showing you things like directions pointing you towards your destination, and apps that have you interact with virtual objects as if they’re in the real world.

But the other big feature will most likely be AI. We’ve already seen how the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can leverage cameras and its AI to help you identify objects, find recipes, translate signs, and generally answer questions you might have by simply talking to your specs. Google also has a generative AI – Gemini – and while its recent attempts at AI search haven’t been the best, we’d be shocked if this tech wasn’t incorporated into Google Glass 2.

We’ll have to wait and see what Google’s next AR device has in store for us if and when it launches. You can be sure we’ll be ready to give you the lowdown as soon as we have it.

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WhatsApp Channels may be the best way to follow your favorite sports team

WhatsApp Channels is preparing for a global tour as the feature will be released to users in over 150 countries over the coming weeks.

As a quick refresher, Channels is the platform’s “one-way broadcast tool” allowing specific entities to send various forms of content like photos or videos to followers. It’s primarily a way for people to receive live updates from local government institutions, sports teams, artists, and celebrities. Channels is kept separate in its own section so you won’t have to worry about your chat rooms suddenly getting flooded with extra messages. The company states in the announcement post it protects “the personal information of both admins and followers.” The Channels you’re subscribed to will not be visible to anyone else. 

Alongside the official launch, WhatsApp will also be adding four new Channels-centric features. All these are the result of user feedback the platform received during the testing phase.

First, there's Reactions to, well, react to posts using a single emoji. Everyone will be able to see the total amount of emojis a piece of content has to gauge whether it was well–received or not. Next is Forwarding, which lets subscribers share posts with friends. The forwarded message will “include a link back to the [source] so people can find out more.” Then there's the Enhanced Directory to help you find popular or newly formed Channels to follow. Do note that what you see in the Directory is “automatically filtered” for your country only.

WhatsApp Channels new features

(Image credit: WhatsApp)

There is more on the way as WhatsApp plans to expand the feature even further. Soon, Channel “admins will be able to make changes to their [posts]”. They have up to 30 days to make edits. After that, the platform will delete everything from their servers. Later down the line in the coming months, it will be possible for the average user to create their own personal Channel. A specific date was not given.

Rolling out

The upgrade is currently rolling out so keep an eye out for the patch when it arrives. 

There is a waitlist for mobile devices that you can join on the WhatsApp Help Center page for Channels. The link doesn’t work on desktop however, possibly hinting that the expansion will be exclusive to smartphone users. We should mention WhatsApp has created its own Channel for users to follow and stay up-to-date on the future of the platform.

We reached out to WhatsApp asking when will Channels for desktop launch as well as when will people be able to create their own feed. This story will be updated at a later time.

In the meantime, check out TechRadar's list of the best encrypted messaging apps for Android in 2023.

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Google Lens and Bard are an AI tag team that ChatGPT should fear

Google Lens has long been a powerful party trick for anyone who needs to identify a flower or translate their restaurant menu, but it's about to jump to the next level with some Bard integration that's rolling out “in the coming weeks”.

Google teased its tag-team pairing of Lens and Bard at Google IO 2023, but it's now given us an update on how the combo will work and when it's coming. In a new blog post, Google says that within weeks you'll be able to “include images in your Bard prompts and Lens will work behind the scenes to help Bard make sense of what’s being shown”.

The example that Google has shared is a shopping-based one. If you have a photo of a new pair of shoes that you've been eyeing up for a vacation, you can ask Bard what they're called and, unlike standard Lens, start grilling Bard for ideas on how you should style the new shoes.

Naturally, the Lens-Bard combo will be able to do more than just offer shopping advice, with huge potential for travel advice, education, and more. For example, imagine being able to ask a Lens-powered Bard to not only name a holiday landmark but build you a good day trip itinerary around it.

This isn't the end of Google Lens' new tricks, either. It's also tentatively jumping into the health space with a new feature that helps you identify any skin conditions that have been nagging you (below). To use the new feature, Google says you can “just take a picture or upload a photo through Lens, and you’ll find visual matches to inform your search”. 

It can apparently also help identify other nagging issues like “a bump on your lip, a line on your nails, or hair loss on your head”. Naturally, these won't be proper diagnoses of conditions, but they could be a start of a conversation with your doctor. 

If you aren't familiar with Google Lens, it's pretty easy to find on Android – it'll either be built into your camera app or you can just download the standalone Lens app from the App Store. On iPhone, you'll find Lens within the official Google app instead.

Next-gen Lens

A phone screen on an orange background showing a Google Lens search for a skin condition

(Image credit: Google)

The budding Google Lens and Bard partnership could be a match made in search heaven, given that Lens is the most powerful visual search tool around and Bard is improving by the week. And that combo could be a powerful alternative to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT itself has basic image recognition powers and Microsoft did recently bring AI-powered image recognition to its Bing search engine. But the integration of the two isn't quite as powerful as the incoming Lens-Bard integration, at least from what we've seen from Google's demos.

Unfortunately, Google's extreme tentativeness around Bard (which is still labeled an 'experiment') means we might not see its full potential for a while. For example, the huge potential power of this Lens and Bard combination will be limited by the fact that there's still no Google Bard mobile app.

Google could change its stance in the future, but right now we're limited to using Bard in our web browsers – and that's far less convenient for visual search than scanning the world with a smartphone and its built-in camera.

So while the integration of powerful Google apps like Lens with Bard has massive potential for how we search the world for info, ChatGPT will rest a little safer in the knowledge that Google is taking a glacial approach to unleashing its full AI-powered potential.

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Wix and Amazon team up to make online delivery even faster

Top website builder Wix has upgraded its SaaS platform with the integration of Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) for ecommerce merchants to deliver orders within one to two days.

Using Amazon’s order fulfillment services, the redeveloped platform will now allow Wix ecommerce merchants in the US to download the Amazon MCF app to their Wix store and hopefully lower fulfilment costs.

Wix merchants will also be able to automatically see shipping speed options and real-time delivery dates from Amazon.

Wix Multi-Channel Fulfillment 

Wix says the integration has also been introduced to reduce the complexities ecommerce website owners face fulfilling orders on their own.

“We’re constantly improving our platform to accommodate rising needs of business owners and to help them increase their Gross Payment Volume (GPV),” said Arik Perez, Head of Wix ecommerce.

“Today, seamless shipping and delivery are essential for businesses to succeed. In partnering with Amazon MCF, Wix merchants can be assured that top-of-the-line packing, handling and fast shipping is at their fingertips, which ultimately boosts the potential growth of their business.” 

Some of the other key benefits for Wix ecommerce merchants using the Amazon MCF app include fulfilling orders 24/7 with fast shipping, leveraging Amazon MCF’s fulfillment network with over 200 fulfillment centers and automatic inventory placement.

“We’re continually listening to merchants and working backwards from their needs to develop solutions that help them delight more customers,” said Gopal Pillai, Vice President of Amazon Fulfillment and Distribution Solutions.

“The new Multi-Channel Fulfillment app easily integrates with Wix stores to help merchants make critical improvements to their customer experience, such as providing shoppers accurate delivery dates at checkout, automatic tracking emails, and on-time, low-cost delivery.

“With Multi-Channel Fulfillment, we make fulfilment so easy and seamless that merchants can focus more time on the growth and success of their business.”

Available now, the integration with Amazon’s MCF network will mean that Wix merchants will pay for fulfilment and storage, but not for commitment or app installation.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Wix and Amazon team up to make online delivery even faster

Top website builder Wix has upgraded its SaaS platform with the integration of Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) for ecommerce merchants to deliver orders within one to two days.

Using Amazon’s order fulfillment services, the redeveloped platform will now allow Wix ecommerce merchants in the US to download the Amazon MCF app to their Wix store and hopefully lower fulfilment costs.

Wix merchants will also be able to automatically see shipping speed options and real-time delivery dates from Amazon.

Wix Multi-Channel Fulfillment 

Wix says the integration has also been introduced to reduce the complexities ecommerce website owners face fulfilling orders on their own.

“We’re constantly improving our platform to accommodate rising needs of business owners and to help them increase their Gross Payment Volume (GPV),” said Arik Perez, Head of Wix ecommerce.

“Today, seamless shipping and delivery are essential for businesses to succeed. In partnering with Amazon MCF, Wix merchants can be assured that top-of-the-line packing, handling and fast shipping is at their fingertips, which ultimately boosts the potential growth of their business.” 

Some of the other key benefits for Wix ecommerce merchants using the Amazon MCF app include fulfilling orders 24/7 with fast shipping, leveraging Amazon MCF’s fulfillment network with over 200 fulfillment centers and automatic inventory placement.

“We’re continually listening to merchants and working backwards from their needs to develop solutions that help them delight more customers,” said Gopal Pillai, Vice President of Amazon Fulfillment and Distribution Solutions.

“The new Multi-Channel Fulfillment app easily integrates with Wix stores to help merchants make critical improvements to their customer experience, such as providing shoppers accurate delivery dates at checkout, automatic tracking emails, and on-time, low-cost delivery.

“With Multi-Channel Fulfillment, we make fulfilment so easy and seamless that merchants can focus more time on the growth and success of their business.”

Available now, the integration with Amazon’s MCF network will mean that Wix merchants will pay for fulfilment and storage, but not for commitment or app installation.

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Cyber Security Is A Team Sport

A Cyber Security Hub webinar with Code42 explored how cyber security can become an integral part of enterprise behavior and culture. The talk covered topics from the barriers to getting department coo…

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