According to a new report, Samsung’s upcoming XR glasses that are being developed in collaboration with Google won’t arrive until the second half of 2025, but they’ll share some specs with the popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
"Samsung Electronics' plan to release AI smart glasses was confirmed earlier this month, and its first production volume is 500,000 units in the third quarter of 2025," Wellsen XR, a research company in Shenzhen, China, said in a note left for customers on the 15th (local time).
The glasses will apparently be powered by Qualcomm’s AR1 chipset, the same chip that’s used in Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses – the generation being used is not mentioned, but Qualcomm had already released AR2 in 2022.
That’s not the only spec the two devices share, as the report also claims Samsung’s glasses will have a 12MP camera and a 155 mAh battery, the same (give or take 1 mAh) as Ray-Ban’s glasses. In terms of weight, the glasses would weigh 50g, ever-so-slightly more than Ray-Ban Meta.
One of the big questions around Samsung’s XR glasses has been whether or not they’d have a display, and it seems this won’t be the case based on this report. To match the weight and battery size of Ray-Ban Meta while adding a display would be… impressive, to say the least. With this report revealing hardware specs, skipping all mention of a display strongly suggests this product simply won’t be including one.
However, we do get some indication of what these glasses will be capable of. Gemini would handle AI tasks alongside support for “payment,” QR code recognition, “gesture recognition,” and “human recognition functions.”In addition, the Gemini giant language model (LLM) will be installed in cooperation between Samsung and Google.
It’s not entirely clear what all of these features will do, but it suggests a product that’s a bit more capable than Meta’s offering. Meta uses AI on its glasses to leverage the camera for multimodal analysis and answers (and scan QR codes), set reminders, and Meta has teased translation features.
Samsung Electronics officially announced the launch of smart glasses in 2025 in its earnings announcement last quarter. However, it did not say when it will be released and released for the first time.A tease at Samsung’s Galaxy S25 launch in January isn’t out of the question.
The Digital Wellbeing app is getting a new feature to help you spend less time in distracting apps.Instead of blocking users from using the app, it gently reminds them when they've spent too much time on it.
This feature was first spotted in a teardown of the Digital Wellbeing app last month. It has now started showing up for some users. Google has made some changes to the feature since the previous report. It’s now called Screen time reminders instead of Mindful Nudge.
The feature brings up a pill-shaped notification at the top of the screen after you’ve used one of the selected apps for a long time. The notification will show the amount of time you’ve spent on the app, prompting you to close the app and make better use of your time.
You can enable the feature on your phone by navigating to the new Screen time reminders option in the Digital Wellbeing & parental controls settings. Enable the Use reminders option on the following page and select the apps you want to see reminders for to set things up. The feature will then automatically show you a reminder when you spend too much time on one of the selected apps.
This new feature is a welcome addition to the Digital Wellbeing app. It can help users become more aware of how much time they are spending on their phones. This can help them make better choices about how they spend their time and which apps are the ones that tend to be the time-wasters. Although Digital Wellbeing apps in general already do this, the fact that this doesn't completely lock you out of using the apps, but instead gently nudges you, it's a different implementation.
The OnePlus 13, unveiled last month in China, has picked up a software update that comes with a Macro Mode. Once you download and install this update, you'll see a petal icon in the OnePlus 13's default camera app, allowing you to click pictures in macro with the 50MP ultrawide camera.
With the "macro close-up" feature, the phone has become a little more versatile for smartphone photography. As for the camera setup itself, the OnePlus 13 sports a 50 MP Sony LYT-808 primary camera on the rear. It's paired with the Sony LYT-600 50 MP periscope telephoto and Samsung S5KJN5 ultrawide. On the front, there's a 32 MP selfie shooter.
According to early reviews, the camera setup of the OnePlus 13 is more capable than that of its predecessors. It's also worth mentioning that this Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship features the same Hasselblad Master Imaging algorithm that the Find X8 series sports, which aims to offer enhanced photos.
The OnePlus 13 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite and runs Android 15-based ColorOS 15 out of the box. However, the international models will boot OxygenOS 15. The smartphone comes with up to 24GB RAM and 1TB of storage onboard, but the global versions are rumored to have only two options - 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered flagship is built around a 6.82" 1,440p 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner embedded. Fueling the smartphone is a 6,000 mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. The OnePlus 13 also has an IP69 rating.
The OnePlus 13 is currently only available in China.As for the global launch, OnePlus has yet to share details on it, but it's expected in early 2025.The phone could also likely launch alongside the OnePlus 13R, which will reportedly be a rebrand of the Ace 5 that will launch in China in December.
Samsung’s reputation for software updates has been excellent in recent years. One UI has received timely updates almost every year, with a comprehensive beta program leading up to the release of a stable version. One UI 7 hasn’t lived up to that, though, and as we wait for the first beta to launch.
The first One UI 7 beta is expected to arrive in the next week but it looks like it’ll be a lot less stable than we’d hoped, given how many times it’s been delayed.Leaker Ice Universe claims that this will be a pretty rough beta, with many animation-related bugs, including new ones that have been introduced in the latest internal test builds.
This is disappointing to hear if true, but it isn’t necessarily unexpected. One UI 7 is a complete overhaul of Samsung’s Android skin. The six major versions of One UI that have existed so far have felt similar, and while the design has been tweaked here and there, and fully updated in places, it’s still the same fundamental experience. One UI 7 is changing everything, though, with an overhauled animation system, a new notification and quick settings interface, app icons, and more.
While Ice Universe mentions Samsung has "fallen behind" in a lot of ways, software-wise, in recent years, he is optimistic about the Korean company's ability to fix all of the problems in the near future. Stable or not, One UI 7 is going to be a big update and some of the rumored changes to the notification and quick settings panels are controversial.
Gemini officially landed as a standalone app on Android back in February. Now, only a few days after a stray report about a dedicated Gemini app landing on iOS did the rounds, the Mountain View, California-based tech giant has officially confirmed its launch.
The new app allows iPhone users to interact with Google's AI through text or voice queries and includes support for Gemini Extensions. A key feature is Gemini Live, which wasn't available in the previous Google app implementation. When engaged in a conversation, Gemini Live appears in both the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen, letting you control your AI interactions without returning to the main app.You can continue talking to the AI assistant even with your iPhone locked.
The app also aids with learning by allowing users to ask questions on any topic, receive personalized study plans, and access custom, step-by-step guidance tailored to their learning style. Additionally, Gemini can assess knowledge with quizzes, including those based on complex diagrams.
Furthermore, the Gemini iPhone app seamlessly connects with other Google apps through Extensions. This integration enables Gemini to access and display relevant information from apps such as YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and Calendar within a single conversation.
The app is free to download, and Google offers premium features through Gemini Advanced subscriptions available as in-app purchases. Gemini Advanced is part of a Google One AI premium plan costing $18.99 per month. Apart from Gemini in Mail, Docs, and more, it includes access to Google's next-generation model, 1.5 Pro, priority access to new features, and a one million token context window. Users need to sign in with a Google account to access the service.
It's worth noting that the app is only available for users running iOS 16 and above. Also worth noting is that even though the standalone app is rolling out worldwide, users would only be able to make use of Gemini Live in the following languages:
Arabi;Danish;French;Hungarian;Japanese;Portuguese;Spanish;Ukrainian;Chinese;Dutch;German;Hindi;
Korean;Romanian;Swedish;Vietnamese;Croatian;English;Greek;Indonesian;Norwegian;Russian;Turkish;
Czech;Finnish;Hebrew;Italian;Polish;Slovak;Thai
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