Meta is adding more hands-free capabilities for its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced. The new capabilities allow Ray-Ban Stories users to send end-to-end encrypted messages with WhatsApp, make calls, and hear message readouts. This comes months after Meta added similar functionality for its flagship messaging service Facebook Messenger.
"Launching more hands-free features for Ray-Ban Stories today. Now you can make calls, hear message readouts, and send end-to-end encrypted messages with WhatsApp. Soon you'll also be able to directly reply to Messenger or WhatsApp messages with voice commands," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook wall.
It should be noted that new features were leaked earlier in April. According to the social networking giant, users' personal messages and calls are secured with end-to-end encryption which means Meta, WhatsApp and other third parties can not read or listen to them.
The company announced rolling out Ray-Ban Stories, its first-ever smart glasses in four new countries this year in March. The smart glasses were launched last year in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. Starting at 329 euros, Ray-Ban Stories are available both online and in select brick-and-mortar stores in Spain, Austria, and Belgium starting March and in France beginning April.
Ray-Ban Stories made its debut in the US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, and the UK in September 2021. The company also unveiled new colour and lens variations and software features, including the ability to use voice commands in French and Italian in all markets in March.
Meanwhile, amid recession fears, the tech giant is likely looking forward to bidding goodbye to a few employees as a report says that the platform has asked managers to identify people for layoffs.