Talking Technology with V I Labs

Talking Technology with V I Labs episode 96 - Meta Glasses get a serious upgrade

• Vision Ireland • Season 3 • Episode 96

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On this episode of Talking Technology, we have news on the latest updates to Meta glasses. With improvements to both the hardware and software, Meta are continuing to up their game. 


We have questions on video doorbells and accessible gaming, and a discussion on the latest iOS 26 update. 


Daniel explains mesh Wi-Fi systems, and what’s going on at AIB?


All that and more on this episode of Talking Technology.


Join the conversation with a WhatsApp voice note. The number you need is +353 86 199 0011. 


0:00 – Intro

2:42 – Your WhatsApp voice notes

15:10 – New Apple devices and a new watch for David

25:03 – The future of Meta glasses

42:54 – Talking Technology News

1:00:08 – Outro

Support the show

This Vision Ireland podcast contains chapter markers. If you want to skip the intro or a topic you don't like, you can use chapter markers to do so. Chapter markers are only supported in some podcast apps. Enjoy the show. Welcome to Talking Technology with VI Labs. At VI Labs, we believe technology is the single greatest enabler for people with sight loss and all disabilities. If you're looking for the latest news and conversation on tech from a more accessible perspective, you've come to the right place. Do you know, he says it every week, but he's absolutely right, you have come to the right place. Hello gang, welcome in to Talking Technology with VI Labs, episode number 96, we're nearly at the 100, we'll be there soon. Hope you are keeping well, hope all is going well for you, wherever you are in the world. It's getting very cold here in Ireland now, we're starting to really get into those autumn months, we'll have winter soon. And you do really feel it, it's time to get those gloves out again, but there you go, we'll have to get them out of the drawers and into our cold pockets. Because it's getting fairly nippy now, but hope we will get past that too. But hey, welcome in to Talking Technology with VI Labs, episode number 96, it's been a busy couple of weeks in the world of technology. The new iPhones are out and shipping and they're going around the place, the new AirPods 2 and the new Apple Watches. And hey, I actually, I shouldn't let you in on this too soon, but I've got one and I'll tell you a little bit about that and my first impressions of it in just a bit as well. There has also been news for Meta in the last week or two, they had their Meta Connect event. Where they announced a number of new glasses and new software features for their glasses, which are going to be rolling out some in the next couple of weeks, but more in 2026. We will be talking all about that in just a little bit as well, there are some huge announcements for Meta and we will be touching on that with Brian Manning and Joe Lonergan in just a little bit. So do stick around for that, and hey, a reminder to you that if you would like to join the conversation, get in touch with the show, we would absolutely love to hear from you because the interaction here is key. And hey, there are loads of ways that you can get in touch with us. So if you would like to join the conversation, one of the ways that you can do that is by sending us a WhatsApp voice note, the number that you need there. 086 199 00 11, that's 086 199 00 11. Or if you would like to get in touch with us in the good old fashioned way, you can send us an email to content at vi.ie, that's content at vi.ie. So send us a WhatsApp voice note, remember that's not a call, you want to use the voice message button at the bottom right hand of your screen. It's labeled with voiceover, you can just flick to it or send us an email to content at vi.ie. Either way, we would love to hear from you, whether it's your thoughts on the news, thoughts on technology, maybe new technology that you've tried. We'd love to hear from you on WhatsApp or email. So now, though, let's go through some of the voice notes that we have in from the week gone by. And to do that, I am joined, as always, from Kilkenny by Mr. Joe Lannigan. Joe, how are you, sir? Hi, David, I'll go down here into sunny southeast. Sunny southeast, very good. It's not as cold for you, so Joe? No, it's lovely here today. Sun is shining. Yeah, we we have a fair nip out there. You know, when you're using the cane, you're kind of it's very interesting. You kind of have the the exposed skin there, so you can get very cold very quickly if you're not wearing gloves and using the cane. But I think the last kind of two days coming into the office here, I've kind of been thinking I might need to whip out those gloves again. We're definitely getting to that point now, I think. Yeah, you're going to need one of those, a pair of those iPhone gloves that you can still use your smartphone with, David. Yeah, absolutely. No wonder Cork aren't winning all Ireland. The young men of Cork are wimps, for God's sake. Go for a walk and you'll be grand. Thanks, Brian. Yes. You know what? What can we do? We try our best, Brian. We try our best. But hey, Joe, there is loads of voice notes coming in over the last little while. A not insignificant number of people sending messages to that voice note number looking to book taxis. I don't know why people are doing that, but you're sending them to the wrong place. They're free now is the place to go. But yeah, we have actually had some voice notes in regarding some actual techie stuff. And one from Raheem, who is wondering, Joe, about his video doorbells. Just a quick question about accessible camera doorbells. We had a doorbell for the last, I suppose you could say four years, but it's it's given up and we got the renovation work done in the house. I think it might have got damaged when the house is being rewired. So I'm just in America now looking for an accessible doorbell. I know Amazon have one and it requires a subscription as far as I know, which I'm not keen on. So for something that doesn't have a subscription, but yet is accessible. So if you would know of any or even your listeners would know of any, that would be fantastic. All right, guys, I hope you do well. Thanks again. Bye. Thanks, Raheem. Really appreciate it. And we have moved on past the washing machine drama. Now we're on the doorbell drama, Joe. Any suggestions for Raheem here? Well, doorbell drama is right. Yeah. So his doorbell got damaged out of pity to hear. I think he it was a ring he had. Yeah. Ring doorbell. They as Raheem said, they will have a subscription. So if you want to move away from subscriptions, I wouldn't advise the Nest cam either, because that's ten euros per month and one hundred or one hundred euros per year or something. Something like that. That's scandalous, isn't it? Well, yeah, well, look, I suppose it depends on the person's preferences. If somebody wants it doesn't have the memory to hold videos and they want to be able to go back to their history for a certain length of time, probably 30 days. It's it could be called good value, but yeah, it is expensive. It's just another subscription that we don't need, I suppose. But at the same time, it can be value for some people. But the other option is Tapo or TP Link, as they're called. They have a video doorbell as well, but you can actually use an SD card so you can record your videos onto an SD card. But they also offer a subscription if you prefer to do it that way. But at least they have both options. So I'd recommend Raheem try that one. I know he has some low vision from memory. He mentioned it before, so he could use the app with low vision or voiceover. And his parent could use it as well with voiceover. So I think that would be the option I would investigate. So Tapo, TP Link, video doorbell and see what options are available. I think they probably have a pro version as well as a normal version. You know, you know, the usual David, you can you can go up a few steps. But yeah, if you want SD card offerings, that's that's probably the way to go. I did I stuck with the more well-known brand because well-known brands are generally generally more more chance of them being accessible with voiceover. You know, so, yeah, that's what I'd go for, David. It'd be interesting to see. And I'm sure someone listening will be able to tell us. We really would appreciate hearing from people on this. If you have used one of the kind of alternative doorbells, I mean, we've covered the Ring video doorbells a lot here before. And we've touched a little bit on the Nest ones as well. But there are other ones, as you say, there's Tapo, there's Eufy. There's a few others. It would be interesting to know what particularly alternative doorbells people are using and what the access is like on those. So please do, if you have thoughts on that, do send them into us. The number that you need there, 086-199-0011 or content of vi.ie. We'd love to hear your thoughts on that. So do let us know, Raheem, how you're getting on with your doorbell. And I know the SD card as well was something that you were asking about. And as Joe said, those TP Link Tapo ones, those should be able to work with an SD card for you. So do maybe give that a whirl, see how you get on with it. Another voice note we have in this week, Joe, is from Keon. Keon is talking about the Apple event. We had coverage of that Apple event in our most recent episode of Talking Technology, episode 95. We covered all of the new goings on there. But Keon has some thoughts on that, as well as thoughts on PlayStation gaming. Hi guys, we'll be our show as always. It's Keon here. Just wanted to let you know I enjoyed our last event about Apple, like new AirPods, new Apple Watch and iPhone. To be honest, I'll be aiming more for the Apple Watch because my AirPods I only got from last year. My iPhone, I only got it last year, so I'd rather stick with my 16 for a while. But I have the Apple Watch SE from 2020. And you know yourself, it's getting old. It's like cracking the screen. I was going to get the watch now, but instead I decided, you know what? I'll wait until my birthday. You know what I mean, because my birthday is not too far away. Anyway, it's November. I'm saving up for some give me enough time to save up for it. Now, the other thing, the very big thing, and I was wondering if you could do a topic on this, as I remember, it's all of our podcasts. You know what I mean? So I was wondering if you could do a topic on is there such thing as accessible PlayStation games these days? Because I was only thinking about that. My brother has PS5 and stuff. And, you know what I mean? There's you play as FIFA and stuff like that. But is there any accessible games for the likes of us to know? I mean, to play a great idea to cover that. I know you talked about gaming in the past, but would you please cover it for specifically PlayStation? Because I was only thinking about it the other day. Now, I know exactly it wouldn't have been accessible back then. But there's one PS I'm really missing over the years. And that's PS2. And, you know, I mean, they haven't made that years. I used to play some good games on that. You know what I mean? So I was wondering if you could do a topic like that. Thank you. Thanks so much, Keon, really appreciate it. And yes, starting off on the topic just with the PlayStation games and console gaming, it is something that we have on the list. I suppose the unfortunate reality is that while there are some games, I know we've touched on Uncharted, The Last of Us as well. There's been a few games like that out there for consoles and PlayStations and stuff like that. The unfortunate reality is there's still far and few between. You know, there are improvements being made to things like FIFA and Just Dance and all of those different, I suppose, more popular games. But there is still a long way to go before we have any level of equal access with sighted players in that regard. And it is one of these things, though, that we are going to keep on the list and we are going to do it. We're just kind of waiting for the right time on that one. Joe, I don't know if you have any other thoughts on that before we move on to the whole Apple stuff. Yeah, well, Keon mentioned his birthday there. I think we'll have to sing him Happy Birthday in November by the looks of it, David, hopefully he gets his Apple Watch. Yeah, games, he also mentioned The Likes of Us. That's where I said to me, The Last of Us. That's one that is famously accessible. Peter at Claridge Bowler, one of our IT trainers, actually plays it. And there is a Spider-Man game that has a fair bit of accessibility options. Some of the menus are accessible in different games as well, but not the full game. Yeah, and there is a screen reader on the PlayStation itself, which gets you around all the different menus and areas. So you can use it like a media center, use YouTube, Netflix and Disney Plus and some of the other apps. But look, it can only get better. But as you said, there is a few. There's limited options at the moment. Mortal Kombat is another one that's supposed to be famously accessible. Yeah, I know it's a fighting game and you'd wonder how, but there is lots of audio description on Mortal Kombat. But yeah, I looked at the future is bright. But we will cover it down the line. We might wait till there's an event or something coinciding with PlayStation 5. There's lots of things coming out near Christmas too. We're not saying there will be another PlayStation. But there is lots of things that we can we can work into a conversation and we will include it soon. Absolutely. And we've touched on in recent episodes of Talking Technology. I can't remember whether it was 95 or 94. That idea that, you know, they are improving things like screen reader accessibility within the tools that are being used to actually make games. And that will probably trickle down to more accessible games in time. But we're still a little ways out from that. So hopefully there's some exciting stuff to come on that, Cian. But we will definitely cover it in the future when we have more to share, I guess, frankly enough. But you also mentioned the Apple event and new iPhones, AirPods, Apple watches. We also had Derry send us in a voice note as well. Derry Lawler sent us a voice note saying that he was going to look at the new AirPods Pro 3. So they proving very popular, actually. But for my sins, Joe, I went out. I touched on this last time and I treated myself to a new Apple watch, a new Apple watch ultra. Yeah, I know it's do you know what? I'll be honest, I took it out of the box, which, by the way, is very fancy, right? It's got nice tactile packaging, really nice. I immediately thought, oh, I don't know. I think I might regret this slightly because it's very, very heavy. And the actual strap that you get with the ultra, it's not one of the rubber kind of silicone ones that you're used to. It's actually a Velcro kind of a strap. And straight away, it reminded me of the little strap that I had that attached me and mom when I was like three. So I wasn't immediately blown away by it. But I've swapped out the band and I have got it working away now. It's much bigger, it's much heavier, but I do think I like it. Does it did it justify its cost? I'm still fifty fifty on that. I don't know. But there's no denying it is a really good watch, Joe. Yeah, I'm just being nosy. How much was it over here in Ireland? Yeah, over here in Ireland. So it was on the steep side, certainly for a watch. So it was eight ninety nine. Now, I'll probably look at getting the VAT back on that or something, you know. So that will bring it down a little bit. I do think in most cases you could get away with the series 11. And I was fifty fifty on whether I would go for the series 11 or the ultra three. The only reason that I went for the ultra three was for the action button to have the extra button on the device that you can reprogram. So I have that on it now. And it just means that I can quickly launch workouts and stuff like that without needing to navigate with voice over into the different workout apps and stuff like that. Yeah. But I would say in most cases, the series 11 is more than enough for people, I would say, in most cases. But the battery life is amazing on the ultra. I've I've I've heard it. So I suppose there is other pluses apart from maybe there is people that are low hiking as well and they want a really durable watch. So there is advantages of getting the ultra and needs, of course. The Apple. Yeah, no, you mentioned the battery life. The battery life is absolutely insane. I charged the watch to 100 percent at 7 a.m. this morning. It is it hasn't been charged since. It is now quarter to three on the same day, quarter to three as we record this. And it is still at 99 percent battery power. That's insane. The feel of the watch, David, I felt that smart ultra Apple watch and the feeling for anyone who's familiar with the smart Braille watch. It feels exactly like that and roughly the same size as well, I would say. OK, that's really interesting. It is it's definitely bigger than the standard watch, bigger than the standard Apple watch even. And it's more actually the kind of the shell of it isn't that much bigger. But where it gains its weight and its size is the screen is almost kind of slightly raised. Now, it's not as it's not quite uncomfortable. I thought initially it was going to be uncomfortable. It's not I've been able to sleep with it, no bother or whatever. And it's been fine. But it is just a different feeling to the standard Apple watch that would take you a while to get used to. What I noticed, too, about the straps that are shipped with the Apple watches is I actually went on Amazon and I purchased a bracelet strap. And it fits perfectly. And it's it's it looks well with the Apple watch. So that's something that you could investigate as well, maybe down the road. So they're cheap enough as well on Amazon. Yeah, you have loads of options. And even I believe pennies do Apple watch straps these days as well. So, you know, if you wanted to go to pennies or Primark, as it is in the UK, you know, there are also options there if you so desire. Vision Ireland staff shopping in pennies. I know. Oh, yeah. Well, no offense to no offense to pennies. I don't I don't think I'll be putting a penny strap on my Apple watch. Ultra 3 if I ever get one. But yeah, well, interesting information all the same. Absolutely. Well, hey, are you interested, Joe, in the AirPods Pro 3? This is one Derry was talking about the AirPods Pro 3 there. Definitely, David, I am excited about the AirPods Pro 3. I have version two at the moment. Like I'm not sure if I'll update, but there is a few interesting features like the live translation, longer battery life, better fit, apparently. Better noise cancellation. Look, all around, they sound like a better set of headphones. So look, AirPods, I suppose just you could leave them with their normal name. And I think they're definitely I'd recommend if you were going down that road to go for the AirPods Pro 3. You know, one thing that's really interesting about the AirPods is and this isn't exclusive to the AirPods Pro 3, by the way, this works. I have the AirPods Pro 2. I have no intention of upgrading. Not yet, at least. But one of the things that has rolled out with the new iOS 26 update is something called Workout Buddy. So when you're doing a workout and you're listening to music with the AirPods in, it will actually speak updates to you as you hit certain milestones. So, you know, you have like, let's say you hit the first kilometer and it has this really overenthusiastic voice. I'll try and imitate it was like, you've got your first kilometer in the books. You did it in 150 minutes and you did it with, you know, 122 beats a minute, you know, like it's like a real like motivational speaker. But, David, I want your voice on it. I want your voice on it instead of the Apple voice. Oh, they'd have to pay me. They'd have to pay me, you know, that would hold them back a little bit. All right. Yeah, but yeah, no, that's a great feature. It sounds like my face, though, a kilometer and 20 minutes. I know. I'm going on at the moment. I listened, you know, they say, you know what they say? You know, the it's not the the hair wins the race, Brian, you know, sometimes be slow and steady wins the race. Yeah, well, look, you can only improve if you're going that speed. David, you can only improve. Yeah, absolutely. I do love its enthusiasm, you know, you've got your first kilometer in the books. So funny. Anyway, moving on, though, yes, those AirPods are really cool. And do let us know, Derry, what you think of them, the sound quality, the sound quality in my AirPods Pro 2 took a nasty hit actually over the weekend. I was adjusting the audio balance and it just seemed to completely go completely out on me for a couple of hours there to get on to Apple support. And they did like a diagnostic on them and stuff like that. I know it's tech support needing tech support. Yes, I know. But they are working again anyway, thankfully. So can't complain about that. But Joe, you're still not tempted to upgrade any of your Apple devices over the next little while? Oh, yeah, I will. I will actually be upgrading my phone very soon. But I'm not going to go for the 17. I think I'm just going to go for the 16. I don't see any major improvements and I can still get 16 for a couple of hundred euros cheaper than the 17. So I'm I'm thinking and veering towards the 16. I'm quite happy with my AirPods at the moment. But if I had if I was forced to change, I would go AirPods Pro 3, as I said. Apple Watch, I have a 7, I'll let it hang in there another little while. And I'd be tempted by the 11, but the Ultra is too expensive for me. And as you said, the strap, I mean, I wouldn't be 100% impressed with that either. The big face on the watch. That doesn't bother me that much as long as it's not overly heavy. But the battery life is class on it all right. But in fairness, the Watch 11 series did get a better battery life as well. So I look at all those things are continuing to improve. So when I go belly up, I will I will be going that direction. Absolutely. Brian, what about yourself? Any plans to upgrade any of your devices? Not at the moment, no. And I'm quite happy with the battery life and the watch as well. I just have the habit of charging it for about two or three hours every evening. And that does mean it's gone. There you go. You know, this one, fascinatingly, it can charge like from like up to 100% in like less than a half an hour, which is incredible. You know, it really does, you know, like charge itself up very quickly. You just go for a shower. You pick it up when it's back and it's already at 80%. You know, it's really cool. That's brilliant. Yeah, really handy stuff. But anyway, shall we move on to meta glasses, gentlemen? Yes, please. Absolutely. So Meta held an event last week, the Meta Connect event. And at that event, they announced a whole variety of new meta glasses. They also announced some software features for the existing glasses. But there's a lot to cover. Joe, I'm going to start off with yourself and come to Brian then in a sec. But do you want to tell us a little bit about some of the new glasses, first of all, that are coming? Yeah, well, there's a new Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 coming out. So I think it brings it up to the standard at Oakley released in the summer. The HT-SN pairs from Oakley and it will have an 8 hour battery life, 3K resolution video recording and 12 megapixel camera. So and they're going to look similar to the last ones. There's going to be a few different types of lenses as well. The transition lens has got a bit of criticism in the last version. So this time, the transition lenses are supposed to be a little bit better. And then I suppose there will be a metadisplay, Ray-Ban display glasses as well. So on your right eye, when you look out for your right eye, there will be a display and it will show alerts, text messages and other content. And you will also have reportedly, this is true, you will have a screen reader built in. So that's great news for anyone that wants to purchase the Meta display. They are a little bit bulkier, apparently, than the normal Meta Ray-Ban glasses. But I suppose when you're putting tech into a pair of glasses like that or a display, it's going to be bulkier, simple as that. So, but for people that don't have vision in their right eye, which we could be talking about some of our listeners, it could be a bit of a lost cause, but at least there is a screen reader in it. And it comes with a wristband, David, a Neuralink wristband. So a neural wristband, sorry, and you'll be able to use gestures. It's like a Fitbit with no screen. And you'll be able to do gestures like maybe hand movement to write back a WhatsApp message. So you get a WhatsApp message and you write something down, like if you're writing with a pen and it will go into the text message and you can send it back with a flick of your wrist. I look, I haven't tested this, but it sounds amazing. It's a bit like some of those features that they brought to the Apple Watch, like the pinch and stuff, but this is a lot more sensitive. So you'll have lots of different wrist movements or pinches and gestures that you can use with the new Meta Display glasses. And I'm interested to get my hands on that down the line sometime, just to test it out. It sounds really interesting. Absolutely. Do you know what's really interesting here as well, I think, is those Meta Display glasses, purely from the fact that they're double the price of the regular Meta glasses, but they don't excite me as such. But what does excite me is, to my knowledge, this is the first time that Meta have really shown that accessibility for them isn't an accident. Like the first Meta glasses were accessible purely by happenstance. And now these ones having a screen reader built in, it shows that Meta have actually got, you know, an idea of what they're doing. And it also shows that, you know, maybe that they're actually building this screen reader. Maybe we'll start to see some of that tech come into their other platforms, like their virtual reality headsets and stuff in time as well. So lots of exciting stuff from Meta there. But before we talk about apps on the glasses, Brian, are any of those new glasses? Go ahead, Joe, sorry. Sorry, there is one more product there before we move on to Brian. There's an Oakley Vanguard, which is like suppose you could compare them to a pair of glasses that a skier would wear, you know. So it's one lens going across and there's a band going around the back of your head. It's for, I suppose, maybe endurance sports enthusiasts or skiers or hikers or people that might not be using their hands, but want to access all the features of the Meta glasses while they're doing extracurricular activities, put it that way. But they have one camera in the middle as well, rather than two cameras. And you can do all the things on the Oakley Vanguard. So you can do on the Gen 2 glasses. And battery life is excellent on those as well between 8 and 12 hours. So, yeah, they sound amazing as well, Dave. Absolutely. Brian, your thoughts like are these glasses? I mean, it seems like a logical progression, I suppose, from the Meta Ray-Ban to the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 is better battery life, better camera. All of those are better at a similar price. But what about those things like the display glasses? Does any of that interest you at all or is that just gimmicks? As you know, as a vision impaired or blind person, I'm not sure what application it would have for me. But what I am really interested in regarding you with these new developments is the fact that they are collaborating with other existing support apps, such as, you know, Seeing AI, NaviLens. I'm really I think it's a natural fit that these glasses would collaborate with the developers of NaviLens, because that's something that they could really complement. The fact that you can go into a room or into a building and just, you know, say, hey, Meta, open NaviLens and have all of the NaviLens prompts available to you, that could be a real game changer when it comes to navigating around, you know, like, for example, we'd often hear of nursing homes that would be looking for tips for their for their patients or for their residents. It would be great for a nursing home, a person in a nursing home, be able to open NaviLens, walk around, have, you know, toilet to your right, door straight ahead, have those prompts available to you. Or, for example, UCC here, they have one of the major, the main buildings is fitted out for NaviLens. So again, for the students that go to that building here in Cork, now again, I know I'm Cork-centric when it comes to this, but it's where I'm more familiar, more familiar with. But the library in the Grand Parade have fitted out for NaviLens, as are the Vision Ireland offices. So again, you can just go in with your glasses, just open NaviLens, have all of this information prompted at you. And that is, for me, a real game changer. Seeing AI, again, that's a very, very positive development as well. The fact that you can now just open Seeing AI and read your document in the manner that we've become used to reading our documents with Seeing AI. So very exciting progressions there, I think, and natural progressions. I was never too worried, I have to say, about the batteries, battery life on the Metaglasses, because, you know, you use them, you put them back in the case once the case is charged, you have them available to you again in a relatively short period of time. So it is good and it is a great development that the battery life is extended. But I was never overly concerned with the battery life anyway, I have to say. I do wonder, you know, and we'll touch more on those apps and integrations in a minute. I do wonder if, you know, the glasses were going to use more battery life if you're using things like, you know, I think an interesting example would be something like Aira, you know, where you're using a visual interpreter and they're connected to your glasses in real time or you're streaming video. One of the things that I saw, one of the app integrations that was announced is that Twitch streamers will be able to stream video to social media directly from their glasses and stuff like that as well. If you're a social media content creator. But, yeah, there's loads of different things like that. And I do think they'll need the better battery life as they develop these things. But Joe, your thoughts... Well, if they develop the live stream, if they develop a live stream AI feature, then obviously they will need to increase the battery life. But, you know, as they are now, I mean, it would definitely be a positive, but you nearly would get by with the battery that you have anyway. But if there was a live stream feature, that will be a necessity. For sure. Joe, your thoughts on the possibility of app integrations? We should say that at this point, seeing AI is the only one that's really confirmed a whole lot with this. Navi Lens, unfortunately, haven't confirmed. We did email them ahead of this. Strong rumors David, strong conjecture out there, though. Yeah. Well, there you go. And I mean, it seems obvious, though, Joe, doesn't it? It seems obvious for a lot of these companies. It does seem obvious. And Mark Zuckerberg is trying to bring these meta smart glasses into the ecosystem, make them just about as popular as phones in the future. And that's his plan. And there is two million people in the world already after buying meta smart glasses. And that's that is massive for a product like a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses that has AI built into them. So people are not afraid of them in general. And I think CNAI, one of the leader researchers of CNAI, I've listened to him speak about this already. And he's really excited about them coming to the meta smart glasses. And look, I'm actually very excited about developers breaking into this as well. So it could have an effect going forward even for mobility apps and things like that. So are even fitness, health and fitness apps. I see the Vanguard, Oakley Vanguard actually can do some fitness things like record your heartbeat and all that kind of stuff. So there's lots of exciting things going to happen going down the line with developers attaching themselves to these glasses. Absolutely. It's only a matter of time. You know, and it is going to be exciting. I think this year has been the year of the smart glasses for blind and visually impaired people. But that is only going to progress because right now, meta are the only viable player in this place. We've talked about ally solos. I still haven't got my ally solos yet to try them, test them, compare them. But there's a lot of skepticism around them already, I think it's fair to say. But it is going to be interesting to see as there are viable competitors. It will be interesting because we'll envision decide to put some of their maybe put their ally solo app onto the new meta rib. And if it gets open to developers or will they stick to the plan of using the solo? So that'll be even interesting in 2026. Yeah, it would seem again, it would seem obvious for them because they're going to want subscription revenue. It seems that's how they're making their money these days. So it will be interesting. Brian, you were going to come in there, I think. No, no, no, I was just going to say that, you know, it is the way forward, all these variables and, you know, 26. So it's all ahead of us and people will find out for us here on your podcast. Yeah, as they always are. Another one there, David, is we have been my eyes on it already, of course, which you can get a sighted. You can call a sighted volunteer and they can see everything through the glasses that you could see if you had good eyesight. But I'd be interested to see, will it be my AI, the actual AI version of my eyes? Will that appear on the glasses? I'd be guessing, yes, it will, because sure, why not? You know, it's natural. It's a natural progression. Are any of these things so I look the future? It's going to be amazing for smart glasses. And I do think the existing WhatsApp feature is one of the strongest elements within the Metaglasses platform. In fact, you can WhatsApp your your your friend or your family member, whoever, and get that information that you would get from where I often be my eyes. That's in existence. That's already on the table. So that's good anyway. Unless you're Mark Zuckerberg and it all goes wrong for you, as we've seen in the Kinect event. Well, that's a different story. He doesn't seem to be able to use his own. Yeah, we have audio of this poor Mark Zuckerberg. You know, it just shows you can have all the money in the world. But listen to this, the poor lad, he was dying there trying to make his WhatsApp call or answer the call. This is with the Meta display glasses. And he was trying desperately to answer his call with his neural band. All right. So I think our call will be coming in. Oh, we'll try that again. All right. So I think our call will be coming in any moment now. What's that video call? There we go. Oh, well, I let's see what happened. That's too bad. I don't know what happened. Maybe Boz can try calling me again. All right. Well, I got a missed video call. Okay. There's the actual video call. All right. I'm just going to pick that up with my, uh, my neural band. This is, uh, you know, it happens. Yeah. Let's, uh, what do you think? Let's just go ahead and video call. Let's go for a fourth. All right. Try it again. I keep on messing this up. And if not, then we'll go for the less fun option. Okay. I don't know what to tell you guys. All right. Um, but, um, we're going to have Boz come out here and we're just going to go to the next thing that we wanted to show and hope that will work. Poor Mark Zuckerberg. Absolutely. No way. No way. Hey, that's the first time I felt sorry for a billionaire, but it just happens to everybody. It's so funny because it's so realistic too. You just know it is head. He was like, Oh no, it's not working. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could feel it from here. I was stressed. He was, it just wasn't happening. It's really dangerous doing demos live, but, um, look, at least the billionaires make mistakes too. So, uh, that's reassuring to know. I envision in my head, he just sees the stock price decreasing in his head. There you go. Uh, so hey, meta glasses, clearly not absolutely perfect, but they are getting loads of upgrades. Uh, new meta Ray-Ban's gen two, uh, the meta display glasses and the Oakley Vanguard. They are all coming out really soon. They will be out in the next couple of weeks. We don't know what the rollout for those will look like in Ireland, but they will be coming really soon. Um, and for the third party app integrations for developers, seeing AI, the one of the main confirmed partners already. Uh, but we would really soon expect to hear stuff from the likes of, uh, Navi Lens, Envision, Aira, all of those. They're, they're going to eventually probably have to, especially given how popular, the meta glasses are among blind and visually impaired people. So we'll expect to hear that, uh, in the next little while too. Uh, but, uh, that feature is going to roll out for developers later this year and full rollout for users will be happening in 2026. So that is, uh, what is coming for meta glasses. Do send us your thoughts on that if you're excited about what's next for meta glasses. If you are, uh, regretting maybe purchasing a first generation meta glasses, would you have rather waited or are you going to stick with your existing meta glasses? Tell us all of your thoughts, the number you need there. 086-199-0011 or you can send us an email to content at vi.ie. That's content at vi.ie. Uh, we have loads more to come on Talking Technology. Uh, so do stick with us for the next little while, but now though, it is time to cross. Yes, he has arrived. He, uh, he is here. Mr. Daniel Dunn with your latest Talking Technology news. This is Talking Technology news. So with your latest Talking Technology news, I'm Daniel Dunn. Apple has released its latest software to the public. New upgrades for iPhones, iPads, Apple watches, Macs, Apple TVs and more have all been released with a number of new accessibility features and a complete visual redesign. There are some nice improvements to assistive access. While the new accessibility reader is extremely buggy right now, it does show good potential for the future. FaceOver hasn't changed significantly, although there are new upgrades to Braille features and you can quickly share your accessibility preferences with someone else so that you were able to use their phone in an accessible way. The iOS 26 visual redesign saw the launch of liquid glass, which some users are finding difficult to see. You can turn on reduced transparency, but this isn't perfect either. Some on-screen elements have lower contrast, including battery widgets, some search bars and the Safari tab bar. So should you upgrade? Unfortunately, there seems to be some major issues with the upgrade process at the moment, and some users are reporting issues with FaceOver speech immediately after the update. Apple have acknowledged that these issues exist and say that a fix is coming, so it is probably best to hold out until that fix is released. You can hear our full reaction to the new iPhone and iOS features in recent episodes of Talking Technology, available now on the VI Labs YouTube channel. In other news this week, AIB are changing how their phone banking service works. When people call the AIB phone banking number, this is what they currently hear. Good morning, welcome to AIB. From the 24th of September, it will no longer be possible to make a bill payment or funds transfer to our phone banking service. You can continue to make these payments through internet banking, mobile app or in-branch. Bill payments can also be made at any on-post location. Please visit our help center on AIB.ie if you have any questions. The news that these services would no longer be accessible by phone concern many of our Vision Ireland service users, so our advocacy team got in touch with AIB. Following consultation on the subject, AIB have agreed to continue to provide these services via phone. However, customers will now need to speak to an operator for this to happen. So how do you feel about this subject? Do you feel directing people to apps is acceptable, or is it important to provide alternatives? Let us know your thoughts with a WhatsApp voice note. Next up, news from Meta. Meta glasses are getting significant upgrades with improvements to both the hardware and software. A new feature on all Meta glasses will allow a form of conversation boost increase in the volume of the speech from the person you are looking at. This may make it easier to hear friends in a crowd. Third-party app integrations are coming to the glasses for the first time, enabling potential integrations with many assistive technology apps, such as Aira and Navi Lens. And there is new hardware coming, including a new generation of the standard Meta glasses with double the battery life, as well as new Meta display glasses, which include a mini display on the inside of the right eye lens. It's hard to know if this will be of any benefit to those with low vision, but for those with no vision, it's still probably more effective to use the regular glasses without the display. A new wristband called the Neural Band will allow full control of the glasses through muscle movements, which is very exciting for the future of accessibility. Time will tell how this technology evolves, but it's good to see that Meta aren't standing still and that they are seemingly considering accessibility going forward. A new feature for the deaf and hard of hearing community will allow captions to be displayed over the real world in the Meta display glasses, which is very exciting. Are you interested in the new Meta glasses? Where do you think smart glasses are going to go in the future? Let us know with a WhatsApp Vice Note. Talking Technology News. Now it's time for a rapid fire run through of everything that we didn't cover. Microsoft are introducing their Windows H2 upgrade with support for a new on screen curtain in the narrator and improvements to device access functions. The update is set to roll out in the first few weeks of October. There is another Amazon Prime Day coming up soon, but some companies have started reducing the cost of their products in advance with sales currently available for TP-Link mesh Wi-Fi systems on Amazon UK. If you are having Wi-Fi issues, this may be a good option. And finally, for now, WhatsApp has rolled out advanced privacy features for both WhatsApp groups and regular chats. The feature restricts any content from the chat moving outside WhatsApp. So it does restrict apps like Be My Eyes, as well as the ability to screenshot material. But some people may find it useful for particularly private conversations. And that's your news for this week. For more, be sure to subscribe to the VI Labs YouTube channel and check out our website, vi.ie, to sign up for editions of our tech on tap newsletter. For now, though, it's back to you, David. Thank you, Daniel. Goodness, double the news stories this week. You're keeping busy there, Daniel. There's quite a bit in that, wasn't there? Yes, absolutely. We told you it'd be packed. Loads of stuff to cover there. We'll start off, I suppose, with those stories there on the meta glasses. How do you feel, Daniel, about those improvements to meta glasses? Positive stuff? Absolutely positive stuff. And I was actually playing around with meta glasses there today, you know, kind of really the first time I got my hands for a prolonged period of time to toy around with them, get used to them. Yeah, I think they're a great piece of cash and it's got to be interesting to see how all these app integrations are, you know, it's kind of like, I won't mention its name, the skills that you can, that you can put on the speakers. So it's obvious that they're looking at kind of a similar approach thereby and skills to these glasses, I guess, if you wanted to call it that. Absolutely. And Joe, if I bring you in here, how are you feeling about that issue with AIB? Lots of people quite annoyed that they're not going to be able to call AIB, at least in the same way, you know, that idea of being able to call AIB when you want them with your own privacy and do your own thing, does that concern you at all? Are people justified here? Oh, that definitely concerns me. It's like pulling the rug from someone's feet that's already, you know, been able to be independent and do something like that, they should provide a few different ways, everybody has to bank it into the day and our European accessibility act came in and it doesn't look to me like they're following the rules. So I think the sooner the better, they provide a better answer than what they have done, I think it can't come too soon. To have to have to get through to a customer service agent, it's a bit archaic now at this stage, but look AIB, they're a strong bank in Ireland and I'd have faith in them coming up with the goods and maybe coming up with a better solution to what they have done. Absolutely. Yeah, time will tell on that. I think, you know, it's interesting because I've often wondered, could a brand just come into the market and make accessibility a core focus of their brand, you know, and just ensure that, you know, we will listen to people with disabilities and just make that commitment to people because it seems like a lot is done out of compliance instead of actually saying, you know what, come bank with us, you can trust us, we will take care of our customers with disabilities. And they all try and say that, but it would be nice to see some company actually truly live it. I think the only ones that I could see like that actually give that commitment as such are Apple and, you know, they've stood by that even when they have issues, they're transparent in how they'll fix them, you know. And, and I like the way Meta have stood up to the place. So they could do taking a leaf out of their book. So yeah, I agree with you David, if they had to put, if they put accessibility front and center and build it from that end to the back, it might work better going forward. What I can't understand is like to set up those phone services in the beginning, like when they come out and every amount of years ago, they came out, like that took some investment and, you know, countless hours of program and I presume for all that software to work and I was just going to be abandoned effectively. You know, so, you know, it's, it's, why if, you know, why fix it if it ain't broken? Yeah, it's one of these things. I think their argument is that it's a security thing, but who knows? It will be good to see alternative options or thinking outside the box. But maybe we'll get that time at shall tell. Daniel, I do want to ask you there. There's a story there about TP link mesh Wi-Fi systems. Daniel, tell me what the hell is a mesh Wi-Fi system? OK, so this would be particularly of interest to people out there who have Wi-Fi problems. And there's, I come across maybe two types of households that have this really old, big stone houses that were built 1900 and prior and really new energy a rated houses, you know, packed with insulation and everybody gets in their standard broadband system. It doesn't matter whether it's fiber, DSL, whatever system you have. You get one box from the Internet provider. That's your Internet router, as we all know, maybe an area or two on it if you're lucky. And that's it. And you hope then that that box is powerful enough to power, you know, the whole house that you've devoured away. You go off in the box that the Wi-Fi is available to you. Well, as I mentioned, with those two types of houses, you will usually find that the Wi-Fi doesn't get to the rooms particularly where you want it, because often the service providers will, if it's a cable especially, it comes in the front door. That's where the Wi-Fi box is. You're at the back of the house. Wi-Fi is one bar, you know, everyone's buffering. So what do you do? There's Wi-Fi extenders out there, which are OK, right? They'll do a job. They might get it into an extra room for you. But the mesh is a much better system. And what the mesh will do is it kind of replaces the Wi-Fi network in your house. And as you move from room to room or black spot to black spot, if you want to call it at the moment, where, you know, traditionally it didn't have a reception, it doesn't have to disconnect and reconnect to different points. It seamlessly goes over to the next one. So it's going to pull off the, you know, it's going to pull the Internet through uninterrupted. There's much better, there's multi nodes in it as well. So there's much better range, quality of service. So this mesh system, TP-Link, typically they come in two or three, two or three units. Tree is probably the most popular one that's out there. And you plug them in at various points around the house and you leave them plugged in. That's it. And they just keep the Internet, you know, as best quality as it can be from your router to where you are. And no, they're not cheap. They're on the expensive side because they're good technology. And Amazon UK, having an offer at the moment, there's, you know, up to 40% off depending on the model you go with. Often you don't see that kind of offer come around when it's on, you know, the prime days. But they seem to have, for some reason, gone earlier this year with it just for these products. So I just thought it was brilliant to not only talk about what the mesh system is, but the fact that it's also an offer at the moment. And I think a lot of the offers I've seen on the mesh, you get 60 days of audible free as well. So a little sweetener. Yeah, absolutely. We have the Eero systems at home. We find them quite good, actually. You know, like it's and we don't even have a big house at home, you know. It's like it's a standard size house. But it's just it gives you that kind of rather than having, you know, just kind of choppy internet in different parts of the house. It just means things are a bit smoother and a lot of things as well. And one of the things people don't tend to realize is a lot of the boxes that you might get from the likes of your air, your Vodafone, your Virgin Media or your Sky, a lot of the standard boxes, they will use kind of older technology often like Wi-Fi 5, whereas now we're starting to move to Wi-Fi 6 and 7. So 7 is the new one, yeah. So like we and your standard, your phones, so things like your iPhone, they're going to support Wi-Fi 6, which is going to be a little smoother. So by getting something like the Eero or one of those or a TP link, especially if you get the right ones and you shop around, you can get better Wi-Fi just out of that as well, which is good. Absolutely. But of course, one thing just to show one spanner of caution into the works there. So your Wi-Fi is only ever going to be as good as the internet connection coming in. Now, what the mesh would do is would give you Wi-Fi almost as good as if you had connected it with connected to the router with a cable, you know, from your old network port on your laptop back to the back of the router where the network port is like a wider, older telephone connection. So that's what the mesh can do. But if you have poor internet coming in, let's say it's a telephone line coming in and it's poor. And then unfortunately, you know, your internet experience is going to be poor anyway. So just don't confuse poor Wi-Fi with kind of poor service coming in over an older bad phone line or, you know, poor quality satellite connection or whatever way you are connected. Absolutely. I remember it was really interesting talking to a gentleman from Air recently and he was telling me, you know, a lot of those old phone line cables, those cables that they were using to deliver internet before those copper cables, they're literally just rotting. So it's one of these things where, you know, if you are having choppy internet, maybe look and see if you have fiber, then your fiber is available in your area. Absolutely do go for it because it is policy that the old copper telephone line network is, you know, to be pretty much phased out, made redundant over the next few years. So, you know, if there's fiber in your area and it's available to be gotten through and you can get it in, it is a big improvement in the service and particularly if you're having bad service at present. Absolutely. Well, there you have it. Daniel, thank you so much for explaining that. We'll touch more on Amazon Prime Day deals in our next episode of Talking Technology. So be sure to subscribe to that either on the ViaLabs YouTube channel or in any of your podcast apps, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Downcast, all of them, we're there. You can subscribe to Talking Technology with ViaLabs and we would love to have you along. We'd also love to have you along to some of our upcoming training courses. We've got loads of those coming up as well. You can check those out on our website, vi.ie. If you would like, just go to the upcoming event section and you will find loads of stuff there. But for now, that is our show. Thank you so, so much for listening to Talking Technology with ViaLabs episode number 96. A reminder that we do cover lots of things like the iPhone upgrades and other stuff on metal glasses in past editions and you can always find those on the podcast feed. So do check those out. But for now, that is our show. Thank you so, so much for listening. We'll see you in two weeks time for another episode of Talking Technology. But for now, stay safe. Thanks for listening. We'll see you then. Thanks for listening to the Talking Technology podcast with ViaLabs. If you'd like to support our show, please visit vi.ie slash donate. Talking Technology is proudly sponsored by IA Labs, the market leader in digital accessibility services. IA Labs, digital inclusion, your legal obligation. IA Labs, digital inclusion, your legal obligation.