Alphabet to Buy Laser-Scanning Eyewear Company North for $180M

https://9to5google.com/2020/06/25/alphabet-north-focals/

- Jun. 25th 2020 7:47 pm PT



While Glass lives on as an enterprise product, it never came close to reaching Google’s wildly ambitious vision of replacing the smartphone. Others have since entered the smart glasses space, with North being one of the more notable players. Alphabet is now rumored to be acquiring North after Focals sold poorly.

The Globe and Mail this evening reports that North is in the “final stages” of an acquisition from Alphabet. Google’s parent company is said to be paying $180 million for the Canadian company.

This comes after North in December stopped selling Focals to focus on launching second-generation smart glasses sometime in 2020. “Focals 2.0” has been teased over the past several months with North claiming that they would be the “most significant product introduction to date in the category.”

A “lighter” and “sleeker” design would have a “10x display,” while miniaturizing the technology by 40%.

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