9 great reads from CNET this week: Facebook’s Ray

They’re back. Smart glasses. Not the ones from Google and Snap that largely fizzled and faded from view many months and years ago. Now there’s a new pair of high-tech glasses that craves your attention: the awkwardly named Ray-Ban Stories from Facebook.

Priced at $299, the Facebook Ray-Bans can shoot photos and 30-second videos, play music and podcasts, and make calls, but don’t go looking for augmented reality. CNET’s Scott Stein got to wear them around, and he shares how these smart glasses feel and work in the real world. Queenie Wong, meanwhile, dives into some of the challenges the glasses face, not least the privacy issues that may give you pause.

Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:   

‘Hey Facebook, take a photo’: The social network’s smart glasses are here

Facebook wades into a privacy minefield as it focuses more on wearables.

Facebook Ray-Ban Stories 2021

Scott Stein/CNET

Facebook’s smart Ray-Ban glasses are disappointingly familiar

The Ray-Ban Stories are a fusion of Bose Frames and Snap Spectacles, with a big question mark for what comes after this first-gen attempt.

Facebook Ray-Ban Stories 2021Facebook Ray-Ban Stories 2021

Josh Goldman/CNET

Making the iconic Cheesehead hat that’s defined Wisconsin sports for decades

Wisconsin didn’t just reclaim a regional insult. They turned it into an icon.  

Wearing a cheesehead foam hatWearing a cheesehead foam hat

Karisa Langlo/CNET

15 years on, Children of Men feels like a completely different movie

On my first date with my now-husband, we saw Children of Men. Fifteen years later, the movie seems so different. 

Clive Owen in Children of MenClive Owen in Children of Men

Universal

One company just built a better broadband map for the US

LightBox has put together real estate data and info on Wi-Fi access points to show where coverage gaps exist across the US.

LightBox's map of broadband coverage across the USLightBox's map of broadband coverage across the US

Screenshot by Shara Tibken/CNET

This lower-cost foldable phone almost happened. Then reality sank in

TCL had vowed to introduce an affordable device in 2021. Now it won’t jump into the market for at least another year. 

TCL's Project Chicago foldable phoneTCL's Project Chicago foldable phone

Richard Peterson/CNET

How Porsche is inventing a future for electric GT racing 

Porsche’s groundbreaking Mission R concept has only just escaped from beneath its sheet, but already, we can’t help thinking about the future.  

Porsche Mission R conceptPorsche Mission R concept

Porsche

Forget Marvel’s What If… ? Superman & Lois is the comic book show you should be watching  

Commentary: Shows like Loki and What If… ? get all the hype, but the latest incarnation of Superman is filled with heart.

Superman, as portrayed by Tyler HoechlinSuperman, as portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin

CW Network

Our long-term Acura TLX took me home for the first time in years  

In which my mom and I drive home to Washington for the first time in ages.

Long-Term 2021 Acura TLXLong-Term 2021 Acura TLX

Steven Ewing/Roadshow


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