Hi there! My name is Janko Roettgers, and this is Lowpass. This week: Fox is acquiring Roku, and Snap is releasing a pair of “consumer” AR glasses.

When Fox announced its acquisition of Roku earlier this week, executives of both companies were quick to promise that not much would change in the near future. Sure, getting its hands on Roku will help Fox become a major force in streaming, and surpass the viewership of Netflix in the United States when you include Fox’s TV networks. But Roku will remain open to all streaming services, and Fox will keep selling its programming to anyone, they pledged.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everything will stay the same. I expect that the deal will have a significant impact on both companies, and that Roku owners will see major changes once it closes. Here’s what I believe is in store for Roku’s future:

The Roku Channel will become a Roku exclusive. One of the questions analysts had on a joint Fox and Roku investor call earlier this week was: What does this deal mean for the future of Tubi and The Roku Channel, the ad-supported streaming services operated by the two companies? The diplomatic answer: The services are complementary, with Tubi mostly serving up movies and TV shows on demand while The Roku Channel has a lot more eyeballs on free, ad-supported streaming channels (also known among industry insiders as FAST channels).

That’s true, to a degree. Tubi’s leadership initially didn't believe in the potential of linear channels and instead put a greater emphasis on being a free Netflix alternative. Roku, on the other hand, had its software deeply embedded in smart TVs and knew that it could build a replacement for the cable guide if it went all in on linear streaming channels.

At the same time, Tubi and The Roku Channel do squarely compete with each other on third-party platforms like Fire TV, Google TV, and Samsung, where consumers can download either app to access free programming. Roku expanded onto those platforms a few years ago, but that expansion has been an ongoing cause of confusion for consumers. Many simply can’t understand why the Roku app they downloaded onto their Samsung TV or Fire TV doesn’t offer them the exact same experience as a Roku device.

When Snap CEO Evan Spiegel unveiled Specs, the first pair of AR glasses the company plans to sell to consumers later this year, he did something that was very Tim Cook-like, and very telling: He described the device as a new kind of computer “designed for real life” – but, at least on stage, never actually put a pair on himself.

That’s very different from the last time Spiegel took the stage to talk about his company’s glasses. Back in 2024, Spiegel actually dared to do a live demo of the device, which at the time was only made available to developers through an unusual rental program. 

That demo showed off some of its capabilities, but also a key shortcoming: The first-generation AR device only had a 46-degree field-of-view, and many of the objects Spiegel was interacting with were cut off at the edges.

Snap’s 2026 model has a 51-degree field-of-view, which according to the company offers the same experience as looking at a 115-inch screen from ten feet away. What that exactly means for experiencing AR objects up-close remains to be seen. (For comparison: Apple’s Vision Pro headset comes with an estimated diagonal field-of-view of more than 110 inches).

But it wasn’t just the fact that Spiegel didn’t extensively demo the glasses that stood out to me. Not wearing them on stage – and distributing a bunch of fashion-style photos that don’t show the full frame on a person’s head– also glosses over the fact of how chunky devices like these still are.

Then there’s battery life. Snap says that the new Specs last for up to four hours of “mixed-use.” However, that also includes audio playback and Bluetooth functionality — features that don’t require the display to be on. There’s no word yet on how long you’ll be able to watch video or access immersive AR experiences with Specs, but my guess is that trying to watch a movie will burn through the battery very quickly. That’s why the company, despite promising an untethered experience, also added a magnetic charging port that can be used while wearing.

Finally, the price point. Snap will sell Specs for $2195, which puts them out of reach for most consumers, and makes Meta’s more limited, monocular $800 Ray-Ban Display glasses look like a steal. 

All of that isn’t meant to be a knock on Snap. I haven’t seen the new Specs in person yet, and I’m sure they’re impressive for what they are. They’re not, however, a consumer device, even if they’re technically for sale to everyone. Instead, they're proof that the industry still has major hurdles around optics, wearability, power consumption and affordability to solve before anyone can truly claim to sell consumer AR glasses.

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This is how Pico’s next VR headset looks like. Kind of like a Vision Pro mixed up with a Samsung Galaxy XR headset, according to leaked animated videos.

Xreal’s Aura AR glasses ship this fall. The visor-style glasses, which are powered by Google XR, can be pre-ordered now … but Xreal won’t tell us a final price just yet.

I’m at the StreamTV Show today. Say hi if you’re around!

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!