Apple already owns the hardware in your pocket, the streaming service in your car, the headphones on your head and a rather substantial piece of the music distribution chain. Apparently that was not enough.
On September 28, 2026, Apple will open Apple Music Hall, its first dedicated live music venue, inside London’s historic Battersea Power Station. The 600 capacity room combines a concert venue, Spatial Audio production facility, recording studios and broadcast center under one roof. Apple announced the project on September 21, although its dedicated venue site lists September 28 as the opening date. No opening act has been announced yet.
Battersea is not exactly a random choice. The former power station on the River Thames now houses Apple’s largest UK location and is one of London’s most recognizable buildings. Audiophiles of a certain age might also remember a large inflatable pig floating between its chimneys on the cover of Pink Floyd’s Animals. Apple putting a Spatial Audio venue there almost feels suspiciously on brand.
Related Reading:
This Is Not Just a 600 Seat Concert Hall
The headline specification is a 48 speaker spatial sound system positioned around the audience. Apple has also installed a 38 foot wide stage that can be configured traditionally or adapted for performances presented more in the round.
That part is interesting, but it is not what makes Apple Music Hall unusual.
Advertisement
Behind the stage are two professional recording and mixing studios capable of capturing every performance as a multitrack recording. Engineers can create the Spatial Audio mix live or finish it after the performance. The venue is also permanently wired for 16 or more cameras feeding a dedicated broadcast control room, with iPhones able to record alongside conventional broadcast cameras.
In other words, an artist can play one show for 600 people and leave with a finished Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast ready audio mix and multicamera video. Apple also plans to livestream performances globally.
That makes Apple Music Hall less like a traditional club with an expensive PA system and more like a television studio, recording facility and immersive music laboratory that happens to sell tickets.
Very Apple.
Advertisement
What Exactly Is Apple Using?
Apple has disclosed plenty about what the venue can do, but rather less about exactly how it does it.
We know there are 48 speakers surrounding the audience, two dedicated recording and mixing rooms, multitrack recording capability, Spatial Audio mixing, extensive camera infrastructure and a purpose built broadcast control room.
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
What Apple has not disclosed is the loudspeaker manufacturer, mixing consoles, converters, microphone package, exact speaker layout, acoustic targets or the renderer driving the live spatial system.
Advertisement
That last point matters.
Apple Music uses Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, and eCoustics has covered the format extensively since Apple introduced it in 2021. But Apple has not specifically described the 48 speaker system inside Apple Music Hall as a Dolby Atmos installation. Until Apple identifies the signal chain or Dolby confirms its involvement, calling the room a 48 speaker Atmos venue would be an assumption rather than a fact.
Forty eight speakers sounds impressive. Forty eight unidentified speakers do not automatically tell us how good the room sounds. Speaker count stopped being a useful substitute for engineering quality somewhere around the time soundbar manufacturers started firing drivers at drywall and calling it a religious experience.
Apple Music Hall A-list CorridorVIP greenroom
What About Dolby Live in Las Vegas?
There is already something related, and it is considerably larger.
Advertisement
Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas is a 5,200 seat venue built around a fully integrated Dolby Atmos system. Dolby says the installation uses 402 speakers and was designed, calibrated and tuned by Dolby engineers specifically for the room. It also includes Atmos mixing tools so performances can be created for immersive playback throughout the venue.
That makes Dolby Live the more ambitious pure live immersive audio installation. Eight times the seating capacity and 402 speakers is not exactly bringing a knife to a gunfight.
But Apple Music Hall is trying to do something different.
Dolby Live is primarily a large performance venue designed to present live entertainment in Dolby Atmos. Apple Music Hall has been built around creating, recording, mixing, filming and distributing the performance from the same permanent facility.
Advertisement
Dolby wants you inside the room.
Apple wants the 600 people inside the room, and potentially millions more consuming what happened there afterward.
Why Apple Music Hall Matters
Foyer
Apple has been pushing Spatial Audio hard since adding Dolby Atmos to Apple Music in 2021. It has expanded into headphones, speakers and increasingly sophisticated automotive systems. Recently that included enabling Apple Music Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos into more than two million Volvo vehicles, with the full immersive experience available on specific Bowers & Wilkins equipped models.
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Apple Music Hall closes another part of that chain.
Advertisement
Instead of relying exclusively on labels, recording studios and third party venues to supply immersive content, Apple now has a permanent space where a performance can be conceived for Spatial Audio from the beginning, captured professionally and distributed through Apple’s own music platform.
Apple Music Live already distributes exclusive concert performances, but adapting another venue for every production adds complexity. A permanent room means the microphones, recording infrastructure, camera feeds, broadcast control and immersive playback system are already waiting before the artist walks through the door.
That could make live Spatial Audio content easier and faster to produce while giving Apple far greater control over the final product.
Greenroom seating (top photo) with hair and makeup area
The Bottom Line
Apple Music Hall is not the world’s first immersive concert venue, and Dolby Live in Las Vegas remains a far larger example of what can be accomplished with live Dolby Atmos.
Advertisement
What Apple has built at Battersea is arguably more interesting from a content perspective.
A 600 seat performance can become a Spatial Audio recording, global livestream and multicamera video production without leaving the building. Apple controls the venue, Apple Music controls the distribution platform, and the audience extends far beyond whoever managed to get one of those 600 tickets.
For a company that once revolutionized music by putting thousands of songs in your pocket, building its own concert hall feels almost quaint.
Until you notice that the concert hall is really a content factory with 48 speakers.
Cache-to-Cache lets separate AI models exchange internal information without generating text
A learned Fuser converts one model’s internal data for another
C2C uses selective gating to control which layers receive information
Researchers from Tsinghua University have published a paper describing a technique that lets separate AI models exchange information without producing any text.
The method, called Cache-to-Cache (C2C), has already been accepted at ICLR 2026 and ships with open-source code available to developers.
It targets a specific inefficiency present whenever multiple language models work together inside a shared pipeline.
Latest Videos FromTechRadar
Advertisement
Skipping words entirely
When two AI models cooperate today, one has to turn its thinking into written sentences before the other can read them.
That writing step takes real computing time and throws away small details buried inside the first model’s raw thinking process.
Every AI model keeps a working memory of everything it has processed so far, known technically as a cache.
C2C skips typed language entirely by letting one model pass that working memory straight into a second model’s memory bank.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
A small assistance program called a Fuser handles this handoff, reshaping and rotating the information so the second model can actually use it.
Advertisement
Different AI models store their memories using completely different internal layouts, sizes, and structures from one another.
Simply dumping one model’s raw memory into another would likely confuse it or cause its answers to fall apart.
To prevent that, C2C includes a smart filter that decides which pieces of incoming memory are worth absorbing immediately.
Advertisement
Some internal layers accept the new information right away, while other layers keep reasoning independently without any outside interference.
According to the researchers, this setup makes AI models run between 100% and 150% faster during shared collaborative tasks.
That upper figure works out to roughly two and a half times quicker than the usual back-and-forth typing process.
The team also reports accuracy gains as high as 14.2% when models work together instead of operating entirely alone.
Advertisement
Compared against older setups where models still communicate through typed text, accuracy reportedly improved by 3.1% to 5.4%.
Why does this method have limits
This approach currently works only with open-weight models, since it requires direct access to a model’s internal cache and layer structure.
Most popular AI tools, the kind ordinary people chat with online, hide those internal details completely from outside users.
Advertisement
That means everyday apps like certain chatbots cannot use this shortcut unless their own creators build it in privately.
Nobody outside these companies currently knows for certain whether anyone has started using a similar method internally.
The research team argues that typed language has always slowed machines down since it forces them to think like humans do.
That argument deserves some caution, since the same team that built the system also ran every test proving it works well.
Advertisement
Whether this speeds things up as much as claimed will depend on other external testing of the system.
Meta’s settlement with the state attorneys general (currently awaiting court approval) has been touted as industry-redefining. Indeed, Meta desperately hopes it will be. Although Meta was the only industry player to negotiate its terms, the settlement agreement is structured to broadly reshape the social media industry. In addition to Meta’s guaranteed settlement payments of $12 billion, Meta will pay the state AGs a total of $5 billion in additional bonuses — if the state AGs restrict minors’ usage of Meta’s key competitors (and make comparable settlement payments).
The settlement’s quid-pro-quo effectively places a bounty on the heads of Meta’s competitors — and deputizes the state AGs as Meta’s bounty-hunters. Meta wants the government to hit Meta’s rivals. If state AGs deliver the results Meta wants, Meta pays them off. The quid-pro-quo is not subtle. It’s out in the open for everyone to see, but that doesn’t make it any less corrupt or corrosive.
It’s easy to understand why Meta dangled the bounty in front of the state AGs. For years, Meta has urged governments to increase their regulation of social media—but only so long as any new regulation doesn’t disadvantage Meta more than its rivals. By unilaterally entering into the settlement agreement, Meta has exposed itself to a risk that it ends up as the only major industry player hindered by the agreement’s restrictions.
Advertisement
This would put Meta in a precarious market position, especially given the settlement agreement’s time limits on use and the fact that Meta’s competitors are just a click away for consumers. The economic benefits of having its competitors equally restricted are surely worth far more than $5 billion to Meta. That’s why Meta will happily share a piece of its financial upside with the state AGs if they deliver their end of the bargain.
While it’s clearly in Meta’s interests to pay off the state AGs to impose the settlement terms on Meta’s rivals, why are state AGs so eager to become Meta’s bounty-hunters?
To be fair, the state AGs have plenty of motivation to prosecute Meta’s social media rivals without any additional bounties from Meta. Indeed, prior to the settlement, several state AGs had already initiated enforcement actions against some of Meta’s rivals. The state AGs might view the $5 billion bounty as a financial windfall for doing work they were willing to do for free.
Unfortunately, any windfall from Meta’s bounty arrangement comes at a high cost to the state AGs and their constituents.
Advertisement
First, the quid-pro-quo taints all further social media-related state AG enforcement efforts against Meta’s rivals. Going forward, judges, juries and Meta’s rivals will justifiably wonder: Are the state AGs bringing the enforcement action because they genuinely believe their constituents are being harmed, or because they hope to cash in Meta’s bounty?
Second, the state AGs have shown how justice is for sale in their offices. The state AGs will do the anticompetitive work of controlling the marketplace activities of a company’s rival — if enough money is on the table. Putting a price on justice this way degrades the rule of law.
In promoting the settlement, the state AGs have proudly claimed that they are working to protect the children in their states. Instead, Meta’s bounty demonstrates that the state AGs are actually working for Meta. This is a good reason for the courts to think carefully about whether the settlement should be approved.
Our society needs to have difficult and high-stakes conversations about how we can improve children’s welfare online. By selling out the integrity of their enforcement decisions, the state AGs have discredited themselves as contributors to those conversations.
Advertisement
Eric Goldman is a law professor and associate dean for research at Santa Clara University School of Law. He has been teaching and researching internet law for over 30 years.
Square sellers are now able to link accounts to Apple Business and manage information shown across Apple services from the Square Dashboard.
The integration, announced Thursday, means businesses using Square no longer need to update basic information, such as hours, address, and phone number, separately through Apple Business. Changes made through Square can instead be synced across Apple Maps, Wallet, Siri AI, and other Apple Apps.
Once connected, sellers can manage their logo and business information for Apple Maps place cards from the Square Dashboard. They can also add action links, such as viewing a menu, ordering food, scheduling an appointment, or booking.
In the United States and Canada, eligible Square sellers without an Apple Business account can also enroll via Square Dashboard.
Advertisement
Square says the integration is available to eligible businesses with physical locations in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In 2026, Apple merged all of its enterprise tools into a single platform dubbed Apple Business. It includes tools for device management, employee services, and managing how businesses appear across Apple services.
[Jude Robinson]’s robot Daisy has an unusual function: making a literal chain of daisies. The device is his student final project and demonstrates how a system can replace sensing with clever mechanical constraints. Instead of bringing tools to bear on each daisy, the daisies are brought to the tools in a repeatable, deterministic way.
Daisy is essentially two X-Y gantries with grippers facing one another. Between them is a conveyor upon which daisies are fed, plus a blade at the top with a threading post nearby. A gripper takes a daisy, feeds the stem through the hole in the previous one, then lifts the new addition up to a scalpel blade which cuts a short incision. The thin threading post goes through the new hole in the new stem, ready for the next daisy to be inserted. The two gantries alternate roles, building the chain one daisy link at a time.
[Jude] says that daisy stem shape and diameter have the most impact on reliability, so it’s very important to constrain the daisies such that the scalpel and threading operations work reliably. This is primarily done with v-shaped profiles in the grippers which automatically center stems of different sizes. The sheath around the scalpel blade also plays a role in constraining and supporting the stems as they are gently pierced and sliced. Tuning these elements was a big part of making the system work.
Watch it in action in the video (embedded below) which shows how clever mechanical design can turn an uncertain problem — like how to handle daisies of different sizes — into a deterministic one with the help of clever mechanical design. That same concept is at work in everything from simple nut sorters to highly complex paper airplane machines.
A month-end price war is in effect at Amazon and B&H, resulting in Apple’s M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch dropping to $1,849. Plus save up to $600 on M5 Pro and M5 Max models.
B&H and Amazon are competing for your business today, with a $150 discount on Apple’s 10-core M5 14-inch MacBook Pro with 16GB of unified memory and 1TB of storage. On sale now for $1,849 in Space Black, B&H states limited supply is available at the reduced price and the deal ends at 6:45 p.m. ET on September 25.
Buy 1TB M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch for $1,849 at Amazon
B&H is throwing in free 2-day shipping on orders shipped within the contiguous U.S., while Prime members can get the laptop as early as tomorrow at Amazon, depending on your shipping address.
Today’s top 14-inch MacBook Pro deals
14″ MacBook Pro M5 (10C CPU, 10C GPU, 16GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $1,849 ($150 off)
14″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (15C CPU, 16C GPU, 24GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $2,349 ($150 off)
14″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 24GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $2,989 ($210 off)
14″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 32C GPU, 36GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $3,499 ($600 off)
Latest 16-inch MacBook Pro price drops
16″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 24GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $2,759 ($240 off)
16″ MacBook Pro M5 Pro (18C CPU, 20C GPU, 48GB, 1TB, Standard Display): $3,299 ($300 off)
16″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 32C GPU, 36GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $3,799 ($600 off)
16″ MacBook Pro M5 Max (18C CPU, 40C GPU, 48GB, 2TB, Standard Display): $4,499 ($500 off)
404 Media reports “multiple contractors hired to improve OpenAI’s models have been fired for using AI to train the AI:
That’s not great for the models themselves, but there is also obviously a great irony in AI training companies working for OpenAI firing people for using AI when OpenAI’s whole thing is to make people use AI at work… OpenAI declined to comment on its contractors being fired for using AI.
Their article cites internal documents and three contractors working on OpenAI-related projects which can include more than ten thousand contractors:
One contractor said they see people using AI “all the time and people are let go for it all the time, it’s pretty much the one thing that will get you kicked off ASAP.” The person said, “in a group of thousands there are tons that have been caught….” Two of the sources said people have been fired or offboarded for using AI… One contractor said they used AI while helping to train OpenAI’s models and shared what they presented as their termination letter. It said their employer had identified issues with the “authenticity” of their work….
Advertisement
404 Media spoke to a fourth contractor who has worked on training models for various AI companies. They said they sometimes purposefully chose the worst responses because they wanted to actively sabotage the models’ training. “I did feel guilty about doing this kind of work at the start,” they said. “I either pay zero attention to the results and choose randomly or purposely choose the [worst] output. I’m not sure how much of a difference it actually makes since there are hundreds of other people also rating prompt results, but it does feel like I’m getting paid to make AI worse.”
Two of the contractors worked for Mercor, the article reports, a company which last month Nvidia reportedly discussed funding at a $20 billion valuation.
Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article.
For any Call of Duty players who roll their eyes at the growing number of distractingly ridiculous skins, a fix is at hand, at least for one game mode. Season 1 for Modern Warfare 4 will introduce a toggle for Warzone matches that replaces any player skins acquired from other sources around the CoD universe with standard Operator appearances. The toggle is off by default, and it doesn’t impact the experience of any other people in a match. Even when the toggle is enabled, the player’s own skin will appear as usual, so you can be the lone cartoon character and make everyone else wear camo if you want.
Considering that over the years, the popular FPS has offered players the chance to look like everything from Rambo to Beavis and Butt-Head, matches could look downright ridiculous. Not to mention the added indignity of being offed by a creepy fuzzy creature called Wubz, because that’s apparently a thing that you can be. Those players wanting to keep the Warzone experience serious, at least as serious as CoD can ever be, will likely embrace the new option.
Microsoft is giving its compact Surface Pro 12-inch a performance boost, but the more interesting addition is a new AI-powered feature designed around the Surface Slim Pen.
The new Surface Pro 12-inch runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus, with Microsoft claiming up to 17% faster Office performance, 60% faster graphics and 95% faster on-device AI compared with previous generations. Battery efficiency is also up by as much as 18%, while the fanless design keeps the same lightweight approach.
The biggest new feature is Microsoft Ink Canvas, a pen-first workspace for sketching, annotating, generating images and summarising text directly on the canvas. The idea is to let you get rough thoughts down with the Slim Pen before turning them into something more polished. Microsoft says Copilot can use the visual and handwritten input as additional context, helping turn those early ideas into useful creations.
Ink Canvas comes pre-installed on the new Surface Pro 12-inch and will also be available through the Microsoft Store for other supported Surface and Windows devices from October 13.
Advertisement
The Pro itself gets a few hardware changes, too. Its PixelSense touchscreen is now 25% brighter at 500 nits, while a new Black finish joins the range. The enclosure uses 86% recycled content, and Microsoft says the Snapdragon X2 Plus also adds an extra hour of active web browsing.
Advertisement
The 12-inch model remains a 2-in-1, so you can attach the Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard when you need a more traditional laptop setup or use the Slim Pen for drawing, notes and annotations. There’s also an optional 5G configuration for business customers, although the source doesn’t say whether this will be offered to general consumers.
The new Surface Pro 12-inch starts at $1149.99, with availability beginning October 13 in select markets. UK pricing is yet to be confirmed.
Advertisement
Microsoft is also launching a refreshed Surface Laptop 13-inch with the same Snapdragon X2 Plus chip, plus a new Surface Mouse with haptic feedback, a customisable Copilot button and Bluetooth 6.0.
For the Pro, though, Ink Canvas is the feature that stands out. Rather than simply adding another AI tool to Windows, Microsoft is building it around the way people actually use a pen: getting an idea down quickly before worrying about making it look finished.
One of OpenAI’s agents went rogue and hacked an Australian health data website. It’s the first hack of a government system — that we know of.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shared the news in a press conference on Wednesday that OpenAI’s agent tried to access a portal of Medicare statistics in June. It tried to bypass restrictions to gain access to restricted information. Specifically, he said it’s “a research project that has got into areas that it shouldn’t have.”
It’s the latest in a series of revelations that started over the summer when news broke that unreleased OpenAI models in an evaluation environment hacked the AI platform Hugging Face in a bid to cheat on the evaluation. In the two months since that disclosure in July, several similar incidents involving agents from OpenAI and other AI companies have come to light.
These incidents largely stem from unreleased models in testing environments that were not as well-secured as they should have been. One driver of the issue is that bots often won’t give up until they solve the problem or find the answer you’re looking for. Even if that means breaking the rules, going behind the digital red tape and hacking sites. That appears to be what happened with Australia’s government website.
Advertisement
Albanese said the Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal is a public-facing statistics portal that doesn’t have sensitive Medicare information, but is still conducting an investigation to understand what government systems were affected and get more information. A task force has also been created to review the hack and consider any law enforcement and legislative action. As of now, there’s no compromise to the Services Australia network or personal information, Albanese said.
How did this happen? One of OpenAI’s evaluation exercises was to find data showing how much the Australian government spends on medicine, according to Albanese. But when the agent wasn’t able to find that information on publicly available sites, it went beyond where it should have.
“It accessed public and non-public information within the portal, and Services Australia also advises that it engaged, in order to do this, it engaged in writing files as well to the internal server,” Albanese said.
Despite the hack happening in June, OpenAI didn’t spot the activity until August. According to Albanese, OpenAI didn’t notify the Australian government — by sending a message to a public mailbox — until Sept. 10. Albanese believes OpenAI understands better protocols are needed, especially since it understands the risks. He expressed his disappointment and concern to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
OpenAI told CNET in a statement that it is reviewing the case.
Advertisement
“As we’ve shared publicly, OpenAI is conducting an extensive review of misaligned model activity during training and evaluation and notifying third parties when our review identifies potential impacts to their systems,” the company said.
OpenAI also said that there’s no evidence that patient records were accessed, but aggregate health statistics and internal file names were.
“We notified the organisations and are providing technical information to support their investigations and help address potential security vulnerabilities. Our overall review is ongoing, and we remain committed to transparency about these issues and to sharing what we learn as that work continues,” said OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri.
Albanese said AI still has upside, despite the risk. “It is bringing enormous economic opportunity for growth, for productivity benefits, for breakthroughs in health, in innovation and other areas of science,” he said. “But AI also poses significant risks, and that’s why we need guardrails to protect our way of life. We want to make sure that we shape AI rather than AI shaping us.”
Advertisement
Dashia Milden
Senior Consumer Insights Editor
Dashia is the consumer insights editor for CNET. She specializes in data-driven analysis and news at the intersection of tech, personal finance and consumer sentiment. Dashia investigates economic shifts and everyday challenges to help readers make well-informed decisions, and she covers a range of topics, including technology, security, energy and money. Dashia graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She loves baking, teaching spinning and spending time with her family.
See full bio
With tamper protection and a “light you can’t miss”, Meta is attempting to address the privacy concerns of the glasses
Introduction
Undeterred by the slew of negative press and genuine safety concerns of the public, Meta has unveiled the latest iteration of its Ray-Ban Meta Glasses.
Meta states the third-gen pair offer longer battery life, new photography tricks and introduce new celebrity collaborations to the mix. But has Meta done enough to make its smart glasses safer and, frankly, less creepy?
I was able to get my hands on the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses (Gen 3) earlier this month and, although my time was limited to just a morning, I’ve detailed my first impressions of the divisive specs here.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Price and Availability
The Ray-Ban Meta Glasses (Gen 3) are available to buy now, and have a starting RRP of a pretty hefty £409/€449. That’s a substantial increase to last year’s Meta Glasses 2, but that’s somewhat unsurprising considering most products are seeing price rises this year – thanks to the RAM crisis.
Design
More style options to choose from that do genuinely look nice
Feel comfortable and natural to wear
New action button on the side
You cannot fault Meta for its variety, as there’s plenty of different styles to choose from. Alongside the staples like the Ray-Ban Wayfarer, Meta has introduced Xena and Aviator styles to its third-gen line-up too.
All the designs undoubtedly look great and, as a glasses wearer, I can definitely appreciate the variety available. I spent most of my time with the Ray-Ban Wayfarers and found they feel easy, comfortable and natural to wear. They never once felt like they were going to slide off my nose, nor did they feel too tight either.
At the front of the specs you’ll see the Ray-Ban branding (if applicable to your chosen style, of course) and that controversial camera lens. When you’re not actively using the camera to take pictures or record, the lens blends in neatly and is easy to miss too.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Like previous iterations, you can control the Meta Glasses (Gen 3) via your voice, paired phone or the touchpad on the legs. The latter can take some getting used to, as I found myself accidentally starting and stopping audio when adjusting the glasses. There’s also a new action button that’s customisable and can be programmed to act as a shortcut to your most used features.
Features
Meta AI is present
Hearing Enhancement
Longer battery than last year’s
The Meta Glasses 3 introduce a handful of new features, with one of the most useful and genuinely helpful being Hearing Enhancement. Similar to the AirPods Pro 3, the Meta Glasses (Gen 3) will now support those with mild to moderate hearing loss and act as a makeshift hearing aid – however I should disclaim that Meta hasn’t disclosed yet whether it’s medical grade or not.
There’s Meta’s AI-powered voice assistant, Muse, which is built into the glasses – though just note Muse isn’t currently available in the UK. Instead, it’s just Meta’s AI tool that was found in previous iterations of the glasses.
Like last year’s, Muse allows you to do anything from play and control music, take a photo, start recording or even start live translation too, all from just a simple voice command. My experience with live translation was solid, as it was able to translate a menu to English – although it did literally just read out all the meals which was a bit overwhelming in the moment. In fairness, that’s most likely user error, as I probably would get a better experience if I provided a more concise prompt.
Advertisement
Advertisement
In addition, Meta AI was able to hear me ask it questions, even when I did so quietly and under my breath, and generally provided me with correct and accurate answers too. Having said that, there were one or two instances where it gave me the complete wrong answer, despite changing my prompt.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
You can also use Meta AI to “restyle” images, which worked pretty well, though I don’t really imagine it’ll be used that often. Essentially, you’re prompted to look at something and ask Meta to “restyle it”, and the result will be sent to the Meta app.
Finally, Meta promises its third-gen pair will see up to nine hours of battery life, which is an improvement over last year’s. As I only had a morning with the glasses, I can’t confirm whether this is accurate or not.
Camera
“A light you can’t miss” when recording
Tamper protection on the lens
Dolby Atmos integration
Landscape photography mode
Oh, the Meta Glasses’ camera. Such a small yet unbelievably controversial addition to the glasses. There are a few new features of the camera that I’ll get into later, but I’ll start by addressing Meta’s attempts to make it safer.
Advertisement
To alert people when you’re using the camera, an LED will light up. When recording, the LED will either flash continuously or stay on constantly, while taking a photo will result in a simple flash. Meta stated at the event I attended that it’s “a light you can’t miss”, and I completely disagree with this statement. The flashing when recording is somewhat eye-catching, but it’s still subtle enough that you might not notice it – especially in bright sunlight or if you’re caught off guard.
Advertisement
Sure, if you’re aware of smart glasses and know where to look, then the light is arguably hard to miss, but the issue is that I don’t think many people would know where exactly to look.
LED on the Meta Glasses (Gen 3) Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The Meta Glasses (Gen 3) also have tamper protection, which was introduced back in July. This means if you try to cover up the LED, the glasses will be disabled. Even if you cover the LED halfway through recording, the glasses should stop working temporarily.
Safety concerns aside, the camera now supports landscape mode for 16:9 shots, which definitely replicates what you’re actually seeing better than before and makes for a more immersive landscape shot. In addition, the glasses now have Dolby Atmos integration, which means videos sound more immersive than before.
While I didn’t get a chance to test this with my own recordings, I did see examples provided by Meta and the difference between normal stereo and Dolby Atmos recordings was undeniable.
With new designs to choose from, hearing enhancement features for those suffering with up to moderate hearing loss, and the ability to shoot in landscape mode and with Dolby Atmos, the Meta Glasses (Gen 3) are a definite upgrade over last year’s. If you’re a content creator who wants to shoot hands-free footage that’s actually usable, the Meta Glasses (Gen 3) are definitely a great choice.
However, there’s just no denying the privacy issues that surround the Meta Glasses (Gen 3). I can definitely appreciate how the LED to alert users that the glasses are recording is bright and eye-catching, but I still believe that’s because I know it’s there. For those who aren’t tech nerds like me, the light could be all too easy to miss.
Advertisement
Finally, and perhaps this is a personal opinion, I’m not sold on Meta’s AI either, but it’s worth noting that I’m yet to really find an AI agent that I use all the time. Generally I think it’s more effort to use an AI voice assistant than to simply Google an answer. Maybe after a longer period of time with the Meta Glasses, I’d come across instances where using Meta AI is invaluable, but I’m yet to find myself wishing I was wearing the specs while out and about.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login