Xreal Air 2 in action. Xreal’s augmented reality glasses is compatible with gaming consoles and can allow users to play games on a large virtual screen
Xreal
Chinese augmented reality (AR) firm Xreal on Tuesday launched its next-generation glasses, as interest continues to rise in the technology that many tech giants like Apple and Meta see as the next big consumer product after the smartphone.
The Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Air 2 Pro are lightweight glasses, rather than bulky headsets, as the company bets on this kind of device appealing to a wider array of consumers looking for an easy-to-wear product.
“The Air 2 was designed primarily with a focus on improving the comfort while people are using it,” Peng Jin, co-founder of Xreal, told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday.
AR refers to technology where digital experiences are imposed over the real world. Xreal glasses allow users to have large-screen experiences of apps, such as streaming services or gaming. Xreal’s AR glasses can connect to smartphones, game consoles and other devices, allowing a user to open an app and see what they’re viewing on a virtual screen up to 330-inches.
Xreal is launching the glasses in the U.S., U.K. and in some markets in Europe. The Xreal Air 2 starts at $399 while the Pro versions starts at $449. The gear will be available for order in November.
The company said it has managed to use smaller displays inside the device, resulting in AR glasses that are 10% lighter than the previous generation. Xreal also said it has improved the headset speakers to prevent as much sound from escaping.
The first generation of the Xreal Air was released last year.
Tech giants bet on augmented reality
The market for augmented and virtual reality headsets is in its infancy with just 8.5 million headsets expected to be shipped this year, as the market faces a lull due to a drop in consumer spending led by the tough global economic environment, according to International Data Corporation.
The market is seen rebounding in 2024 and growing 46.8% year-on-year, IDC said, likely thanks to the expected introduction of new hardware.
The highly-anticipated Apple Vision Pro will launch next year, alongside new hardware from Facebook-parent Meta — the biggest AR and VR headset maker by market share.
These technology giants see headsets as the potential next big platform for computing. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has staked a large part of the company’s future betting these technologies take off.
Discussing competition in the market, Xreal suggested Apple is marketing the Vision Pro to existing users of Apple products and trying to bring the Apple services from the iPhone or Mac to mixed reality — another term that refers to the combination of virtual and augmented reality.
Jin said that Meta is meanwhile trying to bring its social network to virtual reality, which “has proven to be extremely challenging.” He pointed to technological challenges and Meta’s struggles with commercializing its VR apps.
The Xreal Air 2 glasses start at $399 and will be launched in the U.S., U.K. and selected European markets.
Xreal
Jin said Xreal’s strength is in its lack of legacy, suggesting that Apple would not make a headset that necessarily connects to rival systems and that Meta’s headsets would likely be linked to the company’s social networks.
“For us, we have that flexibility. We have that freedom of not having to work with any existing legacy … so we are cross platform, we don’t mind starting at a very basic experience, and letting people learn about us, accept us into their everyday life, so we can grow from there,” Jin said.
He added that, ultimately, when big companies are involved in a technology, “it’s always good for everybody,” by bringing in more capital, talent and business opportunities.
Xreal aims for fast growth
Still, Xreal is a small player in the market, commanding just a 2% market share, according to IDC — behind giants Meta, Sony with its PlayStation VR and TikTok parent ByteDance.
Jin said the goal is to hit 1 million unit sales annually, which he said he hopes can happen in the next two-to-three years time.
Xreal numbers some big investors, including Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and electric vehicle firm Nio. Jin said Xreal has been “talking with investors very actively” about raising more money and is in “deep discussions” with some investment firms. He declined to provide further details.
The Texas Instruments headquarters in Dallas, Texas, on Jan. 21, 2024.
N. Johnson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Texas Instrumentsreported second-quarter results on Tuesday that beat analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings. But the stock fell in extended trading due to a third-quarter forecast that missed estimates.
Here’s how the chipmaker did versus LSEG consensus estimates:
Earnings per share: $1.41 vs. $1.35 expected
Revenue: $4.45 billion vs. $4.36 billion expected
Texas Instruments said it expects current-quarter earnings between $1.36 and $1.60 per share, while analysts were looking for $1.50 per share. The company forecast revenue of $4.45 billion to $4.8 billion, for a midpoint of $4.625 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $4.59 billion.
Revenue increased 16% in the second quarter from $3.82 billion in the same period a year earlier. Sales in the company’s analog chip business, its largest, rose 18% to $3.5 billion, surpassing the StreetAccount estimate of $3.39 billion for the segment.
Net income rose 15% to $1.3 billion, or $1.41 per share, from $1.13 billion, or $1.22 per share, a year ago.
Texas Instruments is a key supplier of legacy semiconductors for automotive and industrial uses.
As of Tuesday’s close, Texas Instruments shares were up 15% for the year on broader market optimism for chips. In June, the company said it would spend $60 billion to expand chipmaking factories in Texas and Utah, a move that was praised by the Trump administration in its push to bring more technology manufacturing to the U.S.
Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, takes the stage during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024.
The meeting between Trump and Bezos, one of the world’s richest men, lasted for more than an hour, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the conversation was private.
Amazon declined to comment on the meeting. A spokesperson for Bezos didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The nature and exact timing of the visit couldn’t be learned.
A Gulfstream G700 private jet linked to Bezos landed in Dulles, Virginia, outside Washington, on July 14 before taking off the next day, according to Jack Sweeney, a programmer who tracks flight data from jets owned by Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others.
Bezos, who also owns rocket company Blue Origin, has cozied up to Trump during his second term in the White House. Trump frequently hurled insults at Bezos during his first term, largely because of the Amazon founder’s ownership of The Washington Post.
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Bezos joined a swath of tech CEOs on stage at Trump’s inauguration in January after donating $1 million to his inaugural fund.
The Trump administration praised Bezos for his decision to revamp the Post’s editorial pages to focus on “personal liberties and free markets.”
In April, Trump said Bezos, who stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021, was “terrific” and “a good guy” after the billionaire assured Trump that the e-commerce giant had no plans to display tariff-related surcharges on its website.
More recently, Bezos has reportedly sought to capitalize on the dramatic falling-out between Trump and Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help Trump win a second White House term and previously led the government-slashing initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency.
Bezos competes with Musk, who is the CEO of SpaceX, through Blue Origin and Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite internet venture.
After Trump and Musk’s relationship soured, Bezos spoke with Trump on several occasions, while Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp traveled to the White House, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The conversations centered in part on government contracts, according to the Journal.
Amazon logo on a brick building exterior in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2024.
Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Amazon plans to acquire wearables startup Bee AI, the company confirmed, in the latest example of tech giants doubling down on generative artificial intelligence.
Bee, based in San Francisco, makes a $49.99 wristband that appears similar to a Fitbit smartwatch. The device is equipped with AI and microphones that can listen to and analyze conversations to provide summaries, to-do lists and reminders for everyday tasks.
Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday that the company will join Amazon.
“When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you,” Zollo wrote. “What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon.”
Amazon spokesperson Alexandra Miller confirmed the company’s plans to acquire Bee. The company declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
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Amazon has introduced a flurry of AI products, including its own set of Nova models, Trainium chips, a shopping chatbot and a marketplace for third-party models called Bedrock.
The company has also overhauled its Alexa voice assistant, released more than a decade ago, with AI capabilities as Amazon looks to chip away at the success of rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.
Ring, the smart home security company owned by Amazon, has also looked to introduce generative AI in some of its products.
Amazon previously experimented in the wearables space through a health and fitness-focused product called Halo. It sunset the Halo in 2023 as part of a broader cost-cutting review.
Other tech companies have launched AI-infused consumer hardware with mixed success.
There’s the Rabbit R1, a small square gadget that costs $199 and uses an OpenAI model to answer questions, as well as the AI pin developed by Humane, which later sold to HP.
Meta‘s Ray-Ban smart glasses have grown in popularity since the first version was released in 2021.
OpenAI in May acquired Jony Ive‘s AI devices startup io for roughly $6.4 billion. The company reportedly plans to develop a screen-free device.