Meta’s smart glasses have one big advantage that Samsung can’t ignore

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Samsung has made its intentions clear that it wants to compete in the augmented reality and extended reality segments. The company has already launched its first XR headset, the Galaxy XR, which has been released in select markets so far.



There have also been many reports that claim Samsung is working on smart glasses as well, one of which may be released as soon as early next year. That product reportedly carries model number SM-O200P.



Based on what has been reported about these smart glasses so far, they appear to be quite similar in form and function to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. Samsung's iteration has a camera, supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and reportedly provides the same features and capabilities as Meta's glasses.



These include the ability to make calls, play music, record photos and videos, as well as interacting with an AI assistant. In Meta's case, AI duties are handled by Meta AI while Samsung will likely pawn that off to Google's Gemini. Meta's glasses start at $379 so it's likely that Samsung might price its offering in the same range.



On the face of it, these products will be direct competitors. Customers' purchase decision will thus boil down to which of the two has more advantages compared to the other, and that's one crucial area where Meta has the jump on Samsung.



It's important to first understand why would someone want to buy smart glasses? The ease of capturing POV-style videos is one big factor. You can quickly capture a fleeting moment either with the touch of a button or through voice commands without having to fumble around for your phone.



Other features, like getting directions from an AI agent or playing music, are useful but not necessarily the foundation upon which people will base their purchase decisions. There isn't as much novelty there to begin with.



Meta's big advantage is its app portfolio. It owns Instagram, one of the world's largest content platforms. You have the ability to share what you capture on Meta glasses straight to Instagram Stories. It's even possible to live stream on Facebook or Instagram directly from the glasses.



The company also owns WhatsApp, the most widely used cross-platform messaging app in the world. Not only can you make and take voice calls on WhatsApp via the glasses, you can also share the view from the camera during a video call, so that the person on the other end sees exactly what you're seeing.



This advantage has helped Meta quickly quantify the use cases for people who may want to buy the glasses. If they don't find any of the other features useful, at least they might like the ability to share content straight to Instagram, launch live streams or use the glasses as a POV camera for video calls.



Since it owns the entire pipeline, Meta can ensure that these features are incredibly optimized for the glasses and users get the best possible experience. It's like how Apple is able to extract the most of its hardware and software because it owns everything. Samsung will have none of this, at least not with the same level of control as Meta does.



This isn't something that Samsung can ignore. It's essentially the same problem it runs into when trying to convince Apple users to switch. They just have it so much better on their platform that even if Samsung's hardware is objectively better, they stick to their brand because the sum of all parts feels more superior.



Samsung will undoubtedly ink app partnerships that enable similar functionality. It remains to be seen, though, if Meta will open up the ability to post directly on Instagram or run live streams straight from Samsung's glasses. Perhaps the Korean giant might find a better partner in TikTok.



It doesn't have a messaging app of its own but there are many others who might find providing preferential features to users of Samsung glasses to be in their favor. Would it all be as good as Meta users have it? That's something time will tell.






The post Meta’s smart glasses have one big advantage that Samsung can’t ignore appeared first on SamMobile.



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