Snap tries to make the case again for its $2,200 smart glasses

0:00This is TechCrunch.

0:30also join virtually. So, there's virtually no excuses not to participate in this hands-on training. You won't want to miss out on the more than 300 sessions covering agentic AI for enterprise, personal AI and workflow automation, physical AI and robotics, gen AI, data engineering, and responsible AI. These are workshops and boot camps taught by experts from companies like Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Hugging Face, just to name a few. Not only is this a great place to network with other data scientists, ML engineers, AI researchers, and technical leaders, I also think this is an awesome opportunity to focus on real-world applications and skills you can use at work.

1:07And I mean, you can learn about a wide range of topics. Again, ODSC West 2026 is happening October 27th through the 29th in San Francisco and virtually. Go to odsc.ai.west and use promo code TCDAILY for an additional 15 % off your pass to ODSC AI West 2026. That's ODSC.AI slash West and use code TCDAILY to get an extra 15 % off on the number one AI builders and training conference. This episode is brought to you by Framer. You know what's absolutely terrifying? A bad website or worse, one that doesn't work. Avoid that nightmare and use Framer. Framer is the AI website builder that helps creators, teams, and businesses ship production-ready sites faster than ever while getting every detail right.

1:55Prompt, inspect, edit, and publish in one place at a whole new pace. You get a visual canvas, responsive layouts, a built-in CMS, and agents to help bring your vision to life. No design experience required. I'm thinking about adding a fun little Halloween animation to my website this season. Framer's design tools and agents could help make that idea happen without turning it into a nightmare. See for yourself why thousands are trusting Framer to help build their websites. Learn how you can get more out of your site from a Framer specialist or get started building for free today at framer.com slash fcdaily for 30 % off a Framer Pro annual plan.

2:33That's framer.com slash fcdaily. Rules and restrictions may apply. Snap tries to make the case again for its$2 ,200 smart glasses. I'm Imran Shaikh and your Friday Daily Crunch featuring three big tech headlines starts right now. Meta's camera-equipped smart glasses have proven more successful than other entrants into the market, but they have also deeply disturbed certain consumers who see them as invasive emblems of a dystopian surveillance society run amok. Well now, as the company Weathers complains that it's selling pervert glasses, it has reportedly decided to sell a pair that doesn't come with integrated spy equipment.

3:12Yes, the information reports that Meta is developing a new smart glasses model dubbed Luna that, sans cameras, comes equipped with a convenient system to communicate with the company's AI chatbot and Muse, its AI consumer agent. Now, the glasses include six built-in microphones so users can communicate with the chatbot as well as a button on the side of the glasses that, when pressed, activates the AI system. Luna may be unveiled as soon as MetaConnect, Meta's annual hardware-slash-developer event happening in Menlo Park next week, the outlet notes. The smart glasses industry has grown over the past few years, with Meta positioned near the front of the pack of providers.

3:50However, concerns over, you know, little things like usability, cost, and privacy have dogged the business, with many consumers still unsure of how, why, or if they should use the devices. Meta's Reality Labs, which is responsible for developing its smart glasses line, is still losing a gargantuan amount of money, as its earnings report from April revealed. Spotify is expanding its partner program for podcasts, which lets podcasters earn money from ad and premium revenue sharing to a total of 35 regions, including Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas this fall.

4:30Eligible podcasters will be able to earn revenue from both video and audio podcasts. Video impressions by premium users count toward revenue, as does ad revenue share from free users listening to the show. The company said podcasters can distribute their shows on other platforms and also keep all the revenue they earn from sponsorships. Spotify has so far run its partner podcast program in the US, Europe and Australia, and this is the streaming service's biggest geographical expansion for this program. The company said that video podcast consumption on Spotify has increased 140 % since the future was launched in 2022, and its total monthly payouts to shows has gone up a third since January.

5:09Earlier this year, Spotify changed its eligibility criteria to earn revenue from video podcasts. Creators can now apply if they have a minimum of three episodes online, 2 ,000 consumption hours, and 1 ,000 engaged audience members for the last 30 days. The company said this change has increased consumption in participating shows by an average of 45%. Well, folks, when Snap debuted its long-awaited smart glasses, specs, earlier this year, the reveal was not only underwhelming, but also a genuine disaster. You see, the glasses, which cost a whopping$2 ,200 and are vaguely reminiscent of scuba gear, inspired jeers online and called for the company's CEO, Evan Spiegel, to resign.

5:52The company's stock subsequently nosedived. Well, since then, Snap has clearly been looking for an opportunity to explain why SPACs, A heavy, expensive piece of hardware that most casual consumers will probably be unable to afford deserves to exist. This week, the company had its chance to make that argument. At an event in Los Angeles, Spiegel and other Snap executives unveiled a variety of new features and services connected to Specs. The new updates seem clearly designed to help integrate the glasses into a broader array of digital activities, and in doing so, give Specs a clearer sense of purpose.

6:27During Wednesday's event, Spiegel shared details about a number of the new features. After a pretty trippy promotional video that vaguely brought to mind an ayahuasca hallucination, the CEO took the stage and began a series of live demos. New entertainment options, Specs can now connect with HBO Max and Spotify, provide a baseline of interactive fun that smart glasses have largely lacked until now. Yet perhaps the biggest announcement was the launch of Specs Intelligence, which the company calls a new anticipatory AI system designed to pair not only with the company's glasses, but also with user devices.

7:03That's including iPhones and Macs. Snap claims that this new system builds an understanding of your goals, priorities, relationships, and routines from the apps and tools you choose to connect, helping you focus on what matters now while making progress towards your longer-term goals. Other announced features were, well, slightly more head-scratching. For instance, one of the new experiences is an app developed through a partnership with the NBA and WNBA that allows users to practice basketball and improve their shot via the Glass's AR capabilities. But realistically, I mean, who's really going to play basketball while wearing heavy goggles on their head?

7:41The company has announced that it's hosting a specs pop-up in Los Angeles in October before the devices ultimately ship later this fall. Now let's go to our friend, producer Dennis, with the latest in startup business news all in about one minute. Imran, thank you. And Blue Sky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down from the top leadership position and transitioning to a new role as chief innovation officer, the company announced on Monday. Graber, who has helped grow the X and Threads competitor to 43 million users and furthered the development of its underlying AT protocol, will be replaced by Tony Schneider as interim CEO.

8:17though. Schneider is the former CEO of Automatic and a partner at TrueVentures. Under Graeber, BlueSky has seen remarkable growth at times, especially after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter. In the Berlin-based startup, Periwinkle is offering a new avenue for those wanting to leave centralized social media operated by big tech companies. Instead of joining a decentralized, open social networking app like Mastodon or BlueSky, Periwinkle allows anyone to set up a social media account on their own domain under their own control. And that'll do it for me. Imran, back to you. And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.

8:55Today's stories were reported by Ivan Mehta, Lucas Ropec, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists. We'll see you here tomorrow, same Tech Time, same Crunch channel. And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.

9:10Hey there, I'm Travis Hoyam, one of the hosts of Motley Fool, Hidden Gems Investing. Each weekday on Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing, we talk through the business news you need to know and the stories moving stocks on Wall Street. On weekends, we game plan personal finance strategies and dive into the industry shaping tomorrow and host the experts, authors and executives that understand them. Tune in for insights and a long term perspective on investing and of course, stock ideas, plenty of them. To quote a listener, it pays to listen. Check us out and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.