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Magic Leap is Google’s new mystery partner for XR headsets

Hint: lenses.

We may find out because Google and Magic Leap now have a “multi-faceted strategic technology partnership” designed to “foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.” Many leading tech companies chasing lightweight glasses are reportedly finding their optical components are difficult to develop and expensive to produce and are merely dipping toes in the water while they figure it out — like Apple with its heavy and pricey $3,500 Vision Pro, or Meta with its Quest 3’s passthrough mode or the lightweight Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that don’t have a display at all but do have a generative AI voice assistant. Google also inked a mystery deal with Samsung and Qualcomm to produce a headset back in February 2023, and we’ve heard basically nothing about it from those companies since then — though the rumor mill suggests it might arrive by the end of 2024 and could be revealed alongside the next Galaxy Z Flip and Fold handsets.

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