North ceases production of Focals to focus on news

The augmented reality start-up North will cease production of its Focals smart glasses to focus on a second generation.

There's not much that North has revealed, in terms of what to expect from Focals 2.0. But the company has confirmed that the smartglasses will be 40% lighter and more elegant when launched in 2020. They will also have a higher resolution screen and, judging by the two teaser photos provided, will have a design similar rectangular with thinner arms.

It remains to be seen whether the next generation of North Focals will be more successful than the first. Although very well thought out and fairly ahead of the competition, 2019 has not been easy for North. On the contrary!

After launching its smart glasses in January, it reduced the price from $ 999 to $ 599.99 in just one month. The brand then laid off about 150 employees out of its more than 400 employees. However, it is not known how many of them were on the manufacturing team. The start-up also did not specify how many pairs of smart health connected glasses had finally been sold and shipped; which is generally not a good sign.

"We have decided to lay off a number of employees … in order to focus our resources and make sure we have enough resources to take our next steps in the next 18 to 24 months. Said one of the North officials at the time.

The company will soon be offering an SDK program in addition to its new glasses. More details will be given soon. Until the next announcement, we will not know to what extent the Focals 2.0 glasses will be different from the first version. If you would like to know more, don't hesitate to subscribe to the newsletter on the North website.

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