TL;DR
A pair of glasses that looks like ordinary eyewear, sees what its wearer sees and answers questions out loud is now on pre-order. Samsung and Google's first Android XR glasses, built into Warby Parker and Gentle Monster frames, opened for orders on Nov. 12 at $395 and up and ship Dec. 10 in the U.S. and South Korea, according to trade reports. There is no screen: Google's Gemini assistant listens, looks through a small camera and talks back. Samsung says the camera stops recording if anyone covers its little warning light, a company claim aimed squarely at the privacy worries that have followed camera glasses. For most people, this is the moment an AI helper moves from the phone in a pocket to the frames on a face, starting at $395. Our odds on when these reach buyers, and when the screen-in-the-lens version follows, are below the line; to see them and the timeline of breakthroughs that leads to true AR glasses, subscribe.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our labeled speculation on what it adds up to; and every source.