Alphabet Reportedly Buying Smart Glasses Maker North

According to The Globe and Mail, Alphabet is rumored to be acquiring smart glasses maker North for $180 million. 9to5Google reports: This comes after North in December stopped selling Focals to focus on launching second-generation smart glasses sometime in 2020. "Focals 2.0" has been teased over the past several months with North claiming that they would be the "most significant product introduction to date in the category." A "lighter" and "sleeker" design would have a "10x display," while miniaturizing the technology by 40%.

Sales of the first-generation device are described as "minuscule" in today's report: "One person close to the sales operations says it's unlikely North sold many more than 1,000 pairs. Its only retail stores, in Toronto and Brooklyn, N.Y., often went days without a single sale." In ending sales, North has not been bringing in any revenue, and the company is running out of money even after slashing monthly spending in half to $3 million. Despite taking on additional investment and loans, North is said to have started looking for a buyer earlier this year.

Focalholes?

[Random361]

Is a Focalhole the new Glasshole?

I guess they didn't want to go with the name

[bobstreo]

FuckUs, umm I mean Focus.

Awesome

[beepsky]

North makes some of the most promising smart glasses.
Ones that lack glasshole features like microphones and cameras.
They're controlled via a tiny ring mounted controller.
This is a promising development, I just hope they make the hardware available for a wider range of styles, or even 3rd party frames.

Re:

[mark-t]

A microphone for voice interface and camera for augmented reality are two things that make the glasses form-factor useful. Hell, the implications for disabled people alone is huge if people didn't get so uptight about the possibility that a person wearing a camera on their face *MUST* somehow also be recording them.

Re:

[Random361]

I find it amusing that people have such adverse reactions to a wearable face camera but nobody bats an eye at people walking around with an iPhone clipped to their belt or a cop wearing a body cam.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

I find it amusing that people have such adverse reactions to a wearable face camera but nobody bats an eye at people walking around with an iPhone clipped to their belt or a cop wearing a body

That's easy.

A person using an iPhone or other camera equipped phone taking photos and video is pretty obvious because they hold the phone in a way that's very unnatural if you were using it. If they were taking selfies, almost everyone holds the phone over their heads with the arm outstretched, while if they were taki

Re:

[mark-t]

Your argument falls apart in that smart glasses like google glasses is actually *NOT* any less visibly obvious than most other types of worn cameras. It is relatively unobtrusive, true, but really, so is any other kind of body cam, and it is still definitely very much in plain sight. The simple fact there are such strong reactions to them being the greatest indicator of this. They are very obviously distinguishable from regular glasses, and no small number of people think that they look ridiculous, u

Re:

[ThumpBzztZoom]

Since the computer, batteries, and display unit are inside the frames, 3rd party frames are extremely unlikely with the North Focals.

aLpHaBeT

[LenKagetsu]

There are two things that are desperate to change their names. Outlaws, and companies that royally fucked up. It's GOOGLE.