Xreal Unveils New AR Glasses with Self-Designed Chip to Compete with Meta and Snap

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Xreal, a company backed by Alibaba, launched its latest augmented reality (AR) glasses on Wednesday, aiming to rival competitors like Meta and Snap in the growing AR market.

The new Xreal One Series features the X1 chip, the company’s first self-designed processor. This development marks a significant enhancement in the glasses’ capabilities, eliminating the need for a companion device previously required to connect to phones, laptops, or gaming consoles. With the new chip, users can now see their content on a massive digital screen directly in front of them, without relying on external devices like the previous Beam accessory.

Chi Xu, CEO of Xreal, called the X1 chip “the biggest upgrade in Xreal history and probably the biggest upgrade for the entire consumer AR glasses sector,” adding that the three-year development process was crucial for making the product more competitive. Xu emphasized that the company needed a custom chip to unlock new features and differentiate itself from the competition.

Xreal, one of the leading companies in the AR glasses market, faces tough competition from other tech giants like Snap, which introduced new Spectacles in September, and Meta, which continues to push its Meta Ray-Ban partnership. Additionally, Qualcomm is collaborating with Google and Samsung on their own AR glasses.

Unlike Meta’s headsets, which are large and costly, Xreal is betting on glasses as the future of AR for mass-market adoption. “People have started to realize a headset doesn’t make sense, we need to go to lighter form factors to the glasses category,” said Xu. However, he acknowledged that the challenge is delivering a headset-like experience in a much smaller, more portable form factor.

The Xreal One and Xreal One Pro glasses start at $499 and $599, respectively.

Although AR technology has generated a lot of buzz in recent years, the market has yet to explode. High-cost and uncomfortable large headsets have failed to take off, and companies like Xreal and Meta are focusing on making glasses more compelling. However, the lack of content and clear use cases remains a hurdle for wider adoption. Xu stressed that developing good hardware is essential to attracting developers and creating the ecosystem necessary for AR to thrive.

Looking ahead, Xu projected that Xreal will sell 500,000 units of its previous products by 2025, nearly doubling this year’s sales.

 

JetBlue Cuts Unprofitable Routes and Adjusts Europe Service to Boost Profitability

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JetBlue Airways announced on Wednesday that it will cut additional unprofitable routes, adjust its European service, and redeploy aircraft with high-value Mint business class cabins to improve its financial performance. The airline aims to streamline its operations and focus on markets with higher demand to achieve consistent profitability.

Among the most notable changes, JetBlue will halt service between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as several routes from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Austin, Texas; Houston, Texas; Miami; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The carrier will also discontinue flights from Westchester, N.Y., and Milwaukee, along with ending service to San Jose, California.

One significant change includes the removal of planes equipped with Mint business class from Seattle flights in April. JetBlue stated that it will also cease its JFK-Miami route due to profitability issues in Miami, where legacy carriers like American Airlines and Delta dominate the market. However, the airline will continue to serve Miami from Boston.

“Florida remains a strong geography for JetBlue, but post-COVID, we haven’t been profitable in Miami due to the dominance of legacy carriers,” said Dave Jehn, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning, in a staff memo.

In terms of European operations, JetBlue revealed plans to adjust its service offerings. Starting in the summer 2025 season, it will drop its second daily JFK-Paris flight and the seasonal JFK-London Gatwick route. The carrier is also preparing to announce new European service options next week.

These operational adjustments come after JetBlue reported better-than-expected revenue and bookings for November and December, resulting in an 8% increase in shares on Wednesday. CEO Joanna Geraghty and her leadership team are focusing on cutting unprofitable routes, particularly on the West Coast, and mitigating the impact of engine issues related to Pratt & Whitney engines, while also adapting to post-pandemic demand shifts.

JetBlue assured affected customers that they would be offered alternate flight options or refunds if no other routes were available.

“We’ve made network adjustments in certain markets, removing underperforming flights and reallocating resources, including Mint service, to high-demand markets and new opportunities,” JetBlue said in a statement.

 

Amazon Unveils “Buy with AWS” Button for Cloud Software Vendors

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Amazon is expanding its cloud business by introducing a new feature called the “Buy with AWS” button, aimed at streamlining the purchasing process for cloud software vendors and their customers. This feature, announced at Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Reinvent conference in Las Vegas, allows software vendors to embed a payment option on their websites that enables customers with AWS accounts to buy services directly, taking advantage of pre-agreed discounts.

AWS, the leading cloud provider, brings in over $100 billion in annual revenue, and many software vendors, including Databricks, Wiz, and Workday, host their products on AWS. Now, these vendors can simplify the transaction process, providing a more seamless buying experience for users who are already part of the AWS ecosystem.

Matt Yanchyshyn, AWS’ vice president of marketplace and partner services, emphasized that the new button is designed to increase both customer and partner loyalty, ultimately improving sales conversion rates. The integration is simple for software companies, with the only requirement being that they sell through the AWS Marketplace, where Amazon has recently reduced fees to 3% or lower in some cases.

On the consumer side, the introduction of the “Buy with AWS” button mirrors Amazon’s successful “Buy with Prime” program, which allows retailers to integrate Amazon’s fulfillment network into their own websites. However, the AWS button offers a key difference—there are no fees for software vendors to embed it on their sites. This arrangement results in more revenue for Amazon, as the purchases are tied to services running on AWS.

“Buy with Prime is a separate initiative, but we work closely with that team,” said Yanchyshyn, highlighting the distinction between the two programs. “Buy with AWS is focused on a different use case.”

For cloud software vendors like Databricks, the new feature promises to simplify the purchasing process and increase AWS usage. David Meyer, senior vice president of product management at Databricks, noted that “Buy with AWS” will likely lead to a higher share of revenue from AWS deployments, as it simplifies the buying process.

Workday, which provides finance and human resources software, plans to implement the button for its Adaptive Planning product, acquired in 2018. The company hopes that the button will expedite procurement and make it easier for customers to adopt their software through the AWS Marketplace.

“If this works well, we may expand its use to more products,” said Matthew Brandt, Workday’s senior vice president of global partners. He also mentioned that buyers who are familiar with AWS may be more inclined to choose Workday as a provider.

Industry analysts, such as Ed Anderson from Gartner, believe that the “Buy with AWS” button could prompt other cloud providers to introduce similar features for third-party websites, a move that could further simplify cloud software transactions and increase cloud providers’ market share.