They’re back. Smart glasses. Not the ones from Google and Snap that largely fizzled and faded from view many months and years ago. Now there’s a new pair of high-tech glasses that craves your attention: the awkwardly named Ray-Ban Stories from Facebook.
Priced at $299, the Facebook Ray-Bans can shoot photos and 30-second videos, play music and podcasts, and make calls, but don’t go looking for augmented reality. CNET’s Scott Stein got to wear them around, and he shares how these smart glasses feel and work in the real world. Queenie Wong, meanwhile, dives into some of the challenges the glasses face, not least the privacy issues that may give you pause.
Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:
‘Hey Facebook, take a photo’: The social network’s smart glasses are here
Facebook wades into a privacy minefield as it focuses more on wearables.
Scott Stein/CNET
Facebook’s smart Ray-Ban glasses are disappointingly familiar
The Ray-Ban Stories are a fusion of Bose Frames and Snap Spectacles, with a big question mark for what comes after this first-gen attempt.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Making the iconic Cheesehead hat that’s defined Wisconsin sports for decades
Wisconsin didn’t just reclaim a regional insult. They turned it into an icon.
Karisa Langlo/CNET
15 years on, Children of Men feels like a completely different movie
On my first date with my now-husband, we saw Children of Men. Fifteen years later, the movie seems so different.
Universal
One company just built a better broadband map for the US
LightBox has put together real estate data and info on Wi-Fi access points to show where coverage gaps exist across the US.
Screenshot by Shara Tibken/CNET
This lower-cost foldable phone almost happened. Then reality sank in
TCL had vowed to introduce an affordable device in 2021. Now it won’t jump into the market for at least another year.
Richard Peterson/CNET
How Porsche is inventing a future for electric GT racing
Porsche’s groundbreaking Mission R concept has only just escaped from beneath its sheet, but already, we can’t help thinking about the future.
Porsche
Forget Marvel’s What If… ? Superman & Lois is the comic book show you should be watching
Commentary: Shows like Loki and What If… ? get all the hype, but the latest incarnation of Superman is filled with heart.
CW Network
Our long-term Acura TLX took me home for the first time in years
In which my mom and I drive home to Washington for the first time in ages.
Steven Ewing/Roadshow
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Facebook’s first smart glasses are the Ray-Ban Stories
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