Here is a new chapter in an old human wish: to have a helper who sees what we see and speaks to us without our reaching for a screen. Google and Samsung have opened pre-orders for their first Android XR glasses, lightweight frames designed with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, to buyers in the United States and South Korea ahead of a December 10 launch. The invitation is a familiar one, eyewear that carries memory, translation, and directions in its frames, but it arrives carrying a question older than the technology itself: who gets to watch, and who is watched when the watching is done by a
Google and Samsung's Android XR Glasses Open Pre-Orders in US and Korea, From $395
Recording is disabled if the light is covered or not working properly
Mark
So what actually launched today? Pre-orders, not the product itself?
Mimi
Right. Pre-orders opened for the first Android XR glasses, and they go on sale December 10th, in the US and South Korea only.
Mark
Who is making them?
Mimi
Warby Parker and Gentle Monster design the frames. Warby Parker starts at $395 USD, Gentle Monster at $449. Over 30 designs across the two.
Mark
And inside they're all the same?
Mimi
Same spec: 41 grams, Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1, 2GB of RAM, 64GB storage, a 12MP camera, four microphones, open-ear speakers.
Luke
The battery figure is worth a flag. Nine hours and 72 hours with the case are "up to" numbers. We don't know the conditions behind them.
Mark
Fair. What does Gemini do on these?
Mimi
It uses the camera and microphones to identify objects or landmarks, translate over 70 languages, give directions and summarise notifications you can answer by voice.
Mark
And privacy?
Mimi
A recording light, and recording is disabled if the light is covered or faulty. Bystander faces are redacted in "tell me what I'm looking at" images, and Google says captured visuals aren't used for model training.
Luke
Those are the companies' own statements. Nothing here shows independent testing, and the redaction claim covers one feature, not everything the camera can do.
Mark
So what do we watch?
Luke
How it works in real use after December 10th, and whether the privacy controls quiet the criticism Meta's glasses drew. That's unknown today.
Der Puls
- Pre-orders have opened in just two markets, leaving the rest of the world waiting on the sidelines.
- Warby Parker frames start at $395 and Gentle Monster at $449, setting a premium price for a wearable that still has to prove itself.
- A 41-gram body packs a 12MP camera, four microphones, and Gemini AI into a single pair of frames rated for up to nine hours of use.
- Privacy controls, including a recording light and automatic blurring of bystander faces, face their first real test once the glasses reach public streets on December 10.
Here is a new chapter in an old human wish: to have a helper who sees what we see and speaks to us without our reaching for a screen. Google and Samsung have opened pre-orders for their first Android XR glasses, lightweight frames designed with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, to buyers in the United States and South Korea ahead of a December 10 launch. The invitation is a familiar one, eyewear that carries memory, translation, and directions in its frames, but it arrives carrying a question older than the technology itself: who gets to watch, and who is watched when the watching is done by a device worn on a face in public?
Pre-orders for the first glasses built on Google and Samsung's Android XR platform opened today, available only to buyers in the United States and South Korea. The glasses go on sale December 10th, more than a year after Google first unveiled the Android XR project at Google I/O, and they mark the first release of what the companies call intelligent eyewear.
The frames come from two designers. Warby Parker starts at $395 USD, and Gentle Monster at $449 USD, with more than 30 designs between them. Every pair shares the same core hardware: 41 grams, a Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor, a 12MP camera, dual open-ear speakers, and four microphones. The battery lasts up to nine hours, and the charging case extends that to as much as 72.
Gemini does the interpreting. It can identify objects and landmarks, capture meeting notes in a quick shot, translate more than 70 languages on the fly, give turn-by-turn directions, and summarise notifications that the wearer can answer by voice.
Privacy is where the companies are starting, with Meta's smart glasses and the backlash against them in the background. A recording light shows when the camera is active, and recording shuts off if that light is covered or malfunctioning. Google says Gemini does not use captured visuals to train its models, and bystander faces are automatically redacted when the "tell me what I'm looking at" feature is used.
Whether those safeguards hold once the glasses are worn on crowded streets remains to be seen. December 10th is the first moment they will be truly tested.
Pre-orders opened today for the first glasses built on Google and Samsung's Android XR platform, and they are available only to buyers in the United States and South Korea. The glasses go on sale December 10th. Google announced the Android XR project at Google I/O last May, more than a year ago, and this release is the first wave of what the companies are calling intelligent eyewear.
The frames come from two designers. Warby Parker prices its glasses from $395 USD, roughly $580 AUD. Gentle Monster starts at $449 USD, about $660 AUD. Between them there are more than 30 designs. Gentle Monster's range has six designs with bold coloured frames and lenses. Warby Parker's line-up is built around three models, Wren, Alden and Reid, each of which will come in a range of colours.
Under the frames, every pair shares one hardware specification. Each weighs 41 grams and runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 platform, with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The battery is rated for up to nine hours of use, and a charging case can stretch that to as much as 72 hours. The glasses also carry a 12MP camera, dual open-ear speakers and four microphones.
The camera and microphones are how the glasses take in the world, and Gemini, Google's AI assistant, does the interpreting. According to the reporting, it can help wearers understand their surroundings by identifying objects or landmarks. The camera can capture meeting minutes in a quick shot, and the glasses can translate more than 70 languages on the fly. They also offer turn-by-turn directions and deliver notifications with summaries, which the wearer can answer with natural voice responses.
Privacy is the part Google and Samsung are addressing early, with Meta's smart glasses and the pushback over them in the background. The companies say the eyewear has controls that put the user in charge, along with protections for both the wearer and the people around them.
The specifics: a recording light signals when the camera is in use, and recording is disabled if the light is covered or not working properly. Google also says Gemini activity does not use the visuals a wearer captures to train its AI models. When a picture is used for the "tell me what I'm looking at" feature, the faces of bystanders are automatically redacted.
What remains to be seen is how those safeguards hold up once the glasses are on people's faces in public. The December 10th on-sale date is the first point at which they can be tested, and for now the launch is limited to buyers in the US and Korea.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The intelligent eyewear has controls that put the user in charge and has privacy protections for both the wearer and people around them.— Samsung and Google
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