John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 03.17.2022 10:Mar AM EDT

Meta Releases First-Ever Smart Glasses in Four New Countries — Is Your Country Included?

Meta recently announced that it would roll out its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses to four new countries in March or April, depending on the country's schedule.

The company also added that its smart glasses are only available in select retail stores.

Meta Ray-Ban Stories Details and New Features

Meta's Ray-Ban Stories are Meta's first smart glasses that were developed in partnership with EssilorLuxotica, an Italian-French designer, producer, and marketer of ophthalmic lenses, optical equipment, prescription glasses, and sunglasses, per the company's About Us page.

The company advertised the Ray-Ban Stories as a new way to capture photos and videos, share adventures, listen to music or take phone calls, per a separate Meta announcement.

The smart glasses come equipped with dual integrated 5-megapixel cameras to take pictures and record videos from a first-person perspective. It also has an LED light that lights up to lets users know if they are taking a photo or video.

The smart glasses will be able to record up to 60 seconds of video in April following a future update. It is currently able to record videos for 30 seconds only.

Additionally, Meta's Ray-Ban Stories have streamlined, built-in open-ear speakers and has a three-way microphone audio array that delivers a richer voice and sound transmission for calls and videos.

Noise suppression algorithms have also been added to the glasses to give users "an enhanced calling experience" similar to those provided by dedicated headphones.

As a Meta product, the glasses come with the Facebook View app, which is primarily used to share stories and memories with friends and followers. This app can be connected to other apps on your phone like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, so you can import photos to easily edit and share them on those apps.

EssilorLuxottica mentioned that the Ray-Ban Stories come in different lenses, which customers can change depending on their preferences. The lenses include prescription lenses, polarized lenses, and even Transitions lenses.

These lenses are added to the customer's choice of frame design like the Legendary, Retro Round, and the Meteor. It would also have four new color combinations for customers to choose from, such as Wayfarer Shiny Black with Brown Transitions, and Round Shiny Black with Brown Transitions.

Meanwhile, a separate Meta article mentioned that that the glasses are voice-enabled, allowing users to issue commands to the Ray-Ban Stories through voice commands. Users only need to say "Hey Facebook" before giving their command to wake the smart glasses up.

Meta will also add French and Italian in the smart glasses' recognized languages for a hands-free experience in those languages.

Tech Advisor and The Verge mentioned in their articles that the smart glasses come with a touchpad that is built into the frame's sides which lets you change the volume or play and pause audio.

Ray-Ban Stories Pricing and Availability

Meta said in its announcement that its first-ever smart glasses will make their debut in Spain, Austria, and Belgium on March 17, while those France will have to wait until April 14 to get theirs.

The smart glasses will be sold in these countries for €329 in select stores only.

The smart glasses were previously only available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, and the U.K.