Tom Cruise turns 60: Some fun facts about the star you didn't know

Facebook&nbsp;Inc launched its first smart glasses on Thursday in a step toward its aim of offering true augmented-reality spectacles.

The glasses, which were created in partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, allow wearers to listen to music, take calls or capture photos and short videos and share them across&nbsp;Facebook's services using a companion app.&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;said the glasses line, called "Ray-Ban Stories," would start at $299.

The social media giant, which reported revenue of about $86 billion in 2020, makes most of its money from advertising but has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality, developing hardware such as its Oculus VR headsets and working on wristband technologies&nbsp;to support augmented reality glasses.

Facebook's chief scientist said last year the company was five to 10 years away from being able to bring to market "true" AR glasses, which would superimpose virtual objects onto the wearer's view of the real world.

Major tech firms including Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, and Snap Inc have raced to develop various smart glasses products, but early offerings like Google Glass proved difficult to sell to consumers put off by high price points and design issues.

Snap, which unveiled its smart Spectacles in 2016, this year launched AR glasses but they are not for sale and are offered only to AR creators. Snap's CEO, Evan Spiegel, said in 2019 that he expected it would be a decade before consumers widely adopted AR smart glasses.

Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently announced the company was setting up a team to work on building the metaverse, a shared virtual environment which it is betting will be the successor to the mobile internet.

"We’ve believed for a long time that glasses are going to be an important part of building the next computing platform," said Zuckerberg in a video posted on his&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;page on Thursday.

Facebook, which has been criticized over its handling of user data, said it would not access the media used by its smart-glasses customers without their consent.

The company also said it would not use the content of the photos or videos captured using the glasses and stored in the&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;View app for personalizing ads, and said the glasses would be an "ads-free experience."

The glasses include an optional virtual assistant so photos and videos can be captured hands-free through voice commands.&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;said an LED light on the glasses would show when the camera is on, to make other people aware when a wearer is taking a photo or video.

It published a guide outlining how to use the glasses responsibly, for example turning them off in private spaces like public bathrooms and not using them for illegal actions like harassment or capturing sensitive information such as PIN codes.

Facebook Inc launched its first smart glasses on Thursday in a step toward its aim of offering true augmented-reality spectacles. The glasses, which were created in partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, allow wearers to listen to music, take calls or capture photos and short videos and share them across Facebook's services using a companion app.

Facebook Inc launched its first smart glasses on Thursday in a step toward its aim of offering true augmented-reality spectacles. The glasses, which were created in partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, allow wearers to listen to music, take calls or capture photos and short videos and share them across Facebook's services using a companion app. Facebook said the glasses line, called "Ray-Ban Stories," would start at $299. The social media giant, which reported revenue of about $86 billion in 2020, makes most of its money from advertising but has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality, developing hardware such as its Oculus VR headsets and working on wristband technologies to support augmented reality glasses. Facebook's chief scientist said last year the company was five to 10 years away from being able to bring to market "true" AR glasses, which would superimpose virtual objects onto the wearer's view of the real world. Major tech firms including Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, and Snap Inc have raced to develop various smart glasses products, but early offerings like Google Glass proved difficult to sell to consumers put off by high price points and design issues. Snap, which unveiled its smart Spectacles in 2016, this year launched AR glasses but they are not for sale and are offered only to AR creators. Snap's CEO, Evan Spiegel, said in 2019 that he expected it would be a decade before consumers widely adopted AR smart glasses. Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently announced the company was setting up a team to work on building the metaverse, a shared virtual environment which it is betting will be the successor to the mobile internet. "We’ve believed for a long time that glasses are going to be an important part of building the next computing platform," said Zuckerberg in a video posted on his Facebook page on Thursday. Facebook, which has been criticized over its handling of user data, said it would not access the media used by its smart-glasses customers without their consent. The company also said it would not use the content of the photos or videos captured using the glasses and stored in the Facebook View app for personalizing ads, and said the glasses would be an "ads-free experience." The glasses include an optional virtual assistant so photos and videos can be captured hands-free through voice commands. Facebook said an LED light on the glasses would show when the camera is on, to make other people aware when a wearer is taking a photo or video. It published a guide outlining how to use the glasses responsibly, for example turning them off in private spaces like public bathrooms and not using them for illegal actions like harassment or capturing sensitive information such as PIN codes.

Facebook unveils its first-generation smart glasses

One comes from a wealthy family, attended Milan's best schools and has spent all his career engineering mergers at Mediobanca, Italy's most influential investment bank.

The other was raised in an orphanage and was too poor to go to high school but at 84 is Italy's richest man, having built the world's biggest eyewear group from scratch.

Mediobanca's boss Alberto Nagel, 54, and Leonardo Del Vecchio, who in less than two months has become the bank's top investor, are squaring off in a battle for control that is rattling the world of Italian finance.

At stake is the future direction of Mediobanca, a venerable institution more than seven decades old. Billionaire tycoon Del Vecchio says Mediobanca should reduce its focus on consumer finance and instead&nbsp;beef up its traditional investment banking business through acquisitions.

Del Vecchio, chairman of Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, unexpectedly built a stake of 7 per cent&nbsp;in Mediobanca in mid-September - only informing Nagel of his move hours before issuing a statement.

Last week he raised his holding to just under 10 per cent, and four sources close to the matter said he was planning to go higher still - which would require approval from the European Central Bank. One of the sources said he was aiming for as much as 20 per cent.

Representatives for Del Vecchio were not immediately available to comment for this story.

The tycoon's bold move on Mediobanca has echoes of the corporate intrigue in the so-called "salotto buono", or fine drawing-room, the informal club that has pulled the strings incorporate Italy since 1945 and had Mediobanca at its centre.

So far, he has kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to motive.

But in brief, remarks that were widely viewed as a direct challenge to Nagel's strategy, he said last month Mediobanca should rely less on contributions from its consumer credit business and its most prized asset - insurer Generali.

He also said Mediobanca was too small, having missed out on a number of possible deals.

The relationship between the pair has deteriorated quickly from 2017 when Mediobanca advised Del Vecchio on the 48 billion euro Luxottica-Essilor merger.

A turning point appeared to come last year when Mediobanca, a leading shareholder in a Milanese cancer hospital, blocked a 500-million-euro investment that Del Vecchio wanted to make in the hospital using his own charity firm which would have seen a unit named after him.

Del Vecchio's ultimate goal behind the Mediobanca's stake-building and management's criticism is to have more control over the future of Generali, including through possible cross-border deals, according to three of the sources close to the matter.

Del Vecchio blames Nagel, as well as Generali's CEO Philippe Donnet, for what he sees as Generali's poor share price performance compared with rivals like Germany's Allianz&nbsp;or France's Axa, the people said.

While he would favour a tie-up with a foreign group, he wants to ensure Generali's Italian identity is preserved, they added.

Mediobanca is the biggest shareholder in Generali with a 13 per cent&nbsp;stake in Europe's third-largest insurer, which accounts for about 30 per cent&nbsp;of the bank's operating profit. Del Vecchio is also a Generali investor, with a 4.8 per cent&nbsp;stake.

Nagel has dismissed Del Vecchio's criticism and on Tuesday said he would build on his current strategy to drive growth from Mediobanca's wealth management and consumer credit businesses under a plan through to 2023.

Some bankers say Del Vecchio seems to be longing for a return to the "salotto buono" past when influential families acted as the power brokers of corporate Italy through interlinked minority stakes.

"Del Vecchio is looking at the old days with a sense of nostalgia," said a banker at a global investment bank who is close to Generali. "But what's the point of turning back the clock? Mediobanca has evolved into a more structured and transparent financial institution."

Executives at rival banks Mediolanum, which owns 3.3 per cent&nbsp;of Mediobanca, and Intesa Sanpaolo have been supportive of Nagel.

Nagel, who has been chief executive of Mediobanca since 2008 after starting his career there in 1991 at the age of 26, has steered the Milanese bank away from its historic role as a financial holding company.

He has unwound a web of cross-shareholdings that had become conduits for contagion during the financial crisis, selling some 5 billion euros of minority stakes in top companies since 2013.

Meanwhile, he expanded into wealth management through the launch of Che Banca! and a string of mid-sized acquisitions, and boosted the bank's consumer finance business.

Mediobanca also bought French boutique merchant bank Messier Maris &amp; Associes in April, a deal that paid off months later when it won a mandate to advise Peugeot owner PSA&nbsp;in the 50-billion-euro merger talks with Fiat Chrysler.

Yet Del Vecchio's criticism that Mediobanca lacks scale has some merit, some banking sources told Reuters, adding the bank faced increased competition on its investment banking turf from UniCredit and Intesa's Banca IMI as well as foreign rivals.

UniCredit Chief Executive Jean Pierre Mustier appeared to take a swipe at Nagel this weekend, having sold down his lender's 8.4% stake in the bank last week.

"Mediobanca was managed well during the crisis," he said in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper. "But today it's not easy to do investment banking in Europe, and like for the rest of the sector, new ideas will be needed."

One comes from a wealthy family, attended Milan's best schools and has spent all his career engineering mergers at Mediobanca, Italy's most influential investment bank.

One comes from a wealthy family, attended Milan's best schools and has spent all his career engineering mergers at Mediobanca, Italy's most influential investment bank. The other was raised in an orphanage and was too poor to go to high school but at 84 is Italy's richest man, having built the world's biggest eyewear group from scratch. Mediobanca's boss Alberto Nagel, 54, and Leonardo Del Vecchio, who in less than two months has become the bank's top investor, are squaring off in a battle for control that is rattling the world of Italian finance. At stake is the future direction of Mediobanca, a venerable institution more than seven decades old. Billionaire tycoon Del Vecchio says Mediobanca should reduce its focus on consumer finance and instead beef up its traditional investment banking business through acquisitions. Del Vecchio, chairman of Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, unexpectedly built a stake of 7 per cent in Mediobanca in mid-September - only informing Nagel of his move hours before issuing a statement. Last week he raised his holding to just under 10 per cent, and four sources close to the matter said he was planning to go higher still - which would require approval from the European Central Bank. One of the sources said he was aiming for as much as 20 per cent. Representatives for Del Vecchio were not immediately available to comment for this story. The tycoon's bold move on Mediobanca has echoes of the corporate intrigue in the so-called "salotto buono", or fine drawing-room, the informal club that has pulled the strings incorporate Italy since 1945 and had Mediobanca at its centre. So far, he has kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to motive. But in brief, remarks that were widely viewed as a direct challenge to Nagel's strategy, he said last month Mediobanca should rely less on contributions from its consumer credit business and its most prized asset - insurer Generali. He also said Mediobanca was too small, having missed out on a number of possible deals. The relationship between the pair has deteriorated quickly from 2017 when Mediobanca advised Del Vecchio on the 48 billion euro Luxottica-Essilor merger. A turning point appeared to come last year when Mediobanca, a leading shareholder in a Milanese cancer hospital, blocked a 500-million-euro investment that Del Vecchio wanted to make in the hospital using his own charity firm which would have seen a unit named after him. Del Vecchio's ultimate goal behind the Mediobanca's stake-building and management's criticism is to have more control over the future of Generali, including through possible cross-border deals, according to three of the sources close to the matter. Del Vecchio blames Nagel, as well as Generali's CEO Philippe Donnet, for what he sees as Generali's poor share price performance compared with rivals like Germany's Allianz or France's Axa, the people said. While he would favour a tie-up with a foreign group, he wants to ensure Generali's Italian identity is preserved, they added. Mediobanca is the biggest shareholder in Generali with a 13 per cent stake in Europe's third-largest insurer, which accounts for about 30 per cent of the bank's operating profit. Del Vecchio is also a Generali investor, with a 4.8 per cent stake. Nagel has dismissed Del Vecchio's criticism and on Tuesday said he would build on his current strategy to drive growth from Mediobanca's wealth management and consumer credit businesses under a plan through to 2023. Some bankers say Del Vecchio seems to be longing for a return to the "salotto buono" past when influential families acted as the power brokers of corporate Italy through interlinked minority stakes. "Del Vecchio is looking at the old days with a sense of nostalgia," said a banker at a global investment bank who is close to Generali. "But what's the point of turning back the clock? Mediobanca has evolved into a more structured and transparent financial institution." Executives at rival banks Mediolanum, which owns 3.3 per cent of Mediobanca, and Intesa Sanpaolo have been supportive of Nagel. Nagel, who has been chief executive of Mediobanca since 2008 after starting his career there in 1991 at the age of 26, has steered the Milanese bank away from its historic role as a financial holding company. He has unwound a web of cross-shareholdings that had become conduits for contagion during the financial crisis, selling some 5 billion euros of minority stakes in top companies since 2013. Meanwhile, he expanded into wealth management through the launch of Che Banca! and a string of mid-sized acquisitions, and boosted the bank's consumer finance business. Mediobanca also bought French boutique merchant bank Messier Maris & Associes in April, a deal that paid off months later when it won a mandate to advise Peugeot owner PSA in the 50-billion-euro merger talks with Fiat Chrysler. Yet Del Vecchio's criticism that Mediobanca lacks scale has some merit, some banking sources told Reuters, adding the bank faced increased competition on its investment banking turf from UniCredit and Intesa's Banca IMI as well as foreign rivals. UniCredit Chief Executive Jean Pierre Mustier appeared to take a swipe at Nagel this weekend, having sold down his lender's 8.4% stake in the bank last week. "Mediobanca was managed well during the crisis," he said in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper. "But today it's not easy to do investment banking in Europe, and like for the rest of the sector, new ideas will be needed."

Battle for Mediobanca: Italy's richest man takes on seasoned CEO

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Tom Cruise turns 60: Some fun facts about the star you didn't know

Facebook unveils its first-generation smart glasses

Battle for Mediobanca: Italy's richest man takes on seasoned CEO