North<\/a>, an augmented reality (AR) wearables company backed by Amazon and Intel, has announced that it\u2019s pulling its current Focals smart glasses off the market in preparation for a new incarnation sometime in 2020.<\/p>\n The Canadian company isn\u2019t giving too much away in terms of how Focals 2.0 will differ from the current version \u2014 but we do know that they will be 40% lighter, with a \u201csleeker\u201d look that makes them \u201cnearly indistinguishable\u201d from standard glasses. The company also promises a 10-times higher resolution retinal display compared to the originals and will offer a broader range of prescription support.<\/p>\n Somewhat cryptically, North also said in a blog post<\/a> that it\u2019s moving beyond a display that offers \u201cinstant access to your digital life\u201d toward a future \u201cwhere computing moves into the world around us.\u201d North will reveal key details such as price, new features, and launch date in the coming months.<\/p>\n Above: Focals 2.0 teaser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe first generation of Focals marked the evolution of traditional glasses to smart glasses, with a considered design representing the first true everyday smart glasses available on the market,\u201d North cofounder and CEO Stephen Lake said in a separate press release. \u201cFocals 2.0 are at a completely different level, as the most advanced smart glasses ever made. They represent an enormous step forward in engineering the future.\u201d<\/p>\n North, formerly known as Thalmic Labs, pivoted from gesture- and motion-guided devices<\/a> to holographic eyewear last year<\/a>. Focals represented the first North-brand product, connecting to smartphones over Bluetooth to display key notifications directly in the wearer\u2019s field of view. A separate connected ring called Loop is also required and allows users to control the glasses by clicking with their finger. This setup saves you fiddling with any buttons on the glasses or your smartphone \u2014 it\u2019s all about being discreet. Moreover, the spectacles sport a built-in mic so you can ask Alexa questions, with answers delivered on the display or via a little speaker.<\/p>\n Above: Focals by North<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Much has happened in the 14 months since Focals first went to market. In February, the company scythed the price nearly in half from $999 to a $600 starting price<\/a>, and then it laid off<\/a>\u00a0some 150 employees to cut costs. A month later, news emerged that North had\u00a0raised $40 million in debt financing<\/a>, its first outside funding since it closed a $120 million round<\/a> from big-name backers that include Amazon\u2019s Alexa Fund and Intel Capital back in 2016.<\/p>\n North is now applying its learnings from not only the past year but its entire history prior to its pivot.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent the last year in the market learning how to build, sell, and support smart glasses with our first generation product that we now will combine with over five years of research working on the technology upgrades in Focals 2.0,\u201d Lake said.<\/p>\n A number of companies are working to bring smart glasses to the mass consumer market. Earlier this year, Vuzix started selling<\/a> its $1,000 Blade AR smart glasses, which feature additional functionality, such as the ability to watch Netflix and Amazon Prime videos on the display. Vuzix\u2019s glasses also allow users to snap photos and shoot videos via an on-board camera. Elsewhere, Snapchat parent Snap recently doubled down on its wearables ambitions with the launch<\/a> of dual-camera Spectacles to create 3D AR content.<\/p>\n Despite these efforts, smart glasses have yet to really take off in the consumer realm, something North is clearly looking to change by keeping things simple. It wants to make smart glasses smaller, lighter, and more discreet, which means we probably won\u2019t see any built-in cameras on Focals 2.0.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that Focals were originally only available to buy through North\u2019s physical retail showrooms in Toronto and New York, in addition to roving pop-up showrooms that toured key cities across North America. Back in September, however, North opened up online orders for the first time, allowing consumers to measure up their glasses themselves<\/a> using the iPhone\u2019s TrueDepth camera.<\/p>\n That move eliminated one of the major obstacles to acquiring North\u2019s eyewear, and with Focals 2.0 we may see more of North\u2019s technology in the wild over the coming year.<\/p>\n \u201cFocals 2.0 is such an incredible step forward, and we are gearing up to bring to market at scale,\u201d North CTO and cofounder Matthew Bailey added. \u201cSince launching Focals last fall, we have consistently updated the product experience and will continue to add new features and functionality to our first product generation as we build to our launch of 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Focals2.0_Tease.gif?resize=600%2C336&strip=all\")
<\/p>\nThe story so far<\/h2>\n
![\"Focals](\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Focals-GIF.gif?resize=616%2C346&strip=all\")
<\/p>\nTop specs<\/h2>\n