HTC enters US smart-glasses market with privacy-focused Vive Eagle -

HTC Corp is launching its Vive Eagle smart glasses in the United States, entering a growing market dominated by Meta Platforms Inc and facing increasing concerns over privacy and discreet recording.

Priced at US$499, the glasses went on sale Sept 3 with immediate shipping. They are available in two designs — a rounded “Pantos” frame and a Wayfarer-style model — and come in several colours, including black, brown, red and blue. HTC’s pricing is comparable with several Ray-Ban Meta models but is higher than Meta’s latest self-branded glasses, which launched in June at US$299.

HTC is entering the market ahead of smart glasses being developed by Alphabet Inc’s Google and Samsung Electronics Co, which are expected to arrive this fall. Apple Inc is reportedly planning audio-focused glasses for 2027, while Snap Inc and Xreal Inc are preparing products with built-in augmented reality displays.

The launch comes as smart glasses face growing privacy concerns in the US. Critics have raised concerns that wearable cameras can allow people to record others more discreetly than smartphones. Meta has responded with privacy-focused advertising and additional measures to prevent users from disabling or covering the recording indicator on its glasses.

HTC says privacy protections are a central feature of the Vive Eagle. The glasses automatically disable the camera if their recording indicator is covered. People nearby can also say “stop recording” to end an active recording. Removing the glasses from the wearer’s face also stops video recording.

The Vive Eagle allows users to choose between Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT as their preferred AI assistant. HTC says it uses enterprise versions of the services that do not require users to log in or provide identifying information. The company also says data collected through the glasses is not used for its own AI training.

The AI assistants can analyse what the wearer sees and provide live translations in dozens of languages. The glasses can also respond to voice commands, take photographs and perform other tasks, with processing times varying depending on whether the request is handled directly on the glasses, through a connected phone or in the cloud.

The glasses feature 12-megapixel cameras capable of capturing photos and 3K video of up to 10 minutes, along with 32GB of storage. HTC says the battery provides up to 4.5 hours of continuous music playback and 36 hours of standby time.

A US$49 power-boost accessory is also available, providing enough additional capacity to recharge the glasses by about 80%. The glasses include built-in speakers and microphones for audio, calls and voice commands, while an IP54 rating provides protection against dust and light water splashes. – TS/ERMD

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