DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Meta’s Reality Labs has now lost more than $21 billion since the beginning of last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Analysts polled by StreetAccount were projecting Reality Labs to record $421 million in sales and $3.5 billion in operating losses. Meta reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and said that its Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality and augmented reality technologies needed to power the metaverse, logged a $3.7 billion operating loss. Last year, Meta's Reality Labs unit lost a total of $13.7 billion while bringing in $2.16 billion in revenue, which is driven in part by the company's sales of Quest-branded VR headsets. Reality Labs lost $3.99 billion during the first quarter. Meta said in its earnings report that it expects operating losses in its Reality Labs unit "to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and investments to further scale our ecosystem."

Persons: Meta, Zuckerberg Organizations: Meta, StreetAccount, Reality Labs, Labs, Quest Pro, VR, Apple, Qualcomm

☆ Roblox beta comes to Meta's Quest VR headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

July 12 (Reuters) - Roblox Corp's (RBLX.N) eponymous online game will soon be available on Meta Platforms' (META.O) Quest virtual reality (VR) headsets, according to a blog post by Meta on Wednesday. The game will arrive as a beta version, initially on Quest 2 and Quest Pro, in the coming weeks. "The open beta is a great opportunity for the Roblox developer community to optimize their existing games for Quest and build new ones for VR while gathering input and feedback from the Quest community," Meta said. Roblox, which operates a metaverse – or a virtual place where people play and make transactions, gets 66 million daily users and is available on mobile devices, desktops, and Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Xbox. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Meta, Yuvraj Malik, Shailesh Organizations: Meta, Quest Pro, Quest, VR, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Pokemon Go maker Niantic lays off 230 employees, cancels games
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pokemon Go players are seen in search of Pokemon and other in-game items in the Pasadena Playhouse District. Niantic, a mobile games developer based in San Francisco, announced Thursday that it would lay off 230 employees as part of a reorganization. It will also shutter a Los Angeles-based studio, where most of the affected employees are based. The move highlights how the mobile games industry has shifted in the years since Niantic landed its first major hit, Pokemon Go, in 2016. Overall, App Store spending on games declined 5% in 2020 to $110 billion, according to an estimate from Data.ai, a research firm.

Persons: John Hanke, Niantic, Hanke, Pokémon Organizations: Pasadena Playhouse, Marvel, Apple, Google, Meta, Quest Locations: Pasadena, San Francisco, Angeles, Silicon

☆ Meta launches Quest+ subscription for VR headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 26 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) on Monday launched Meta Quest+, a subscription-based service for its virtual reality (VR) headsets to shape a nascent but high-investment market. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, in a broadcast channel on social media app Instagram, said the Meta Quest+ subscription will be available from Monday at $7.99 per month, or $59.99 annually, for its Quest 2, Pro and soon for Quest 3. Apple (AAPL.O) has entered the market dominated by Meta, showcasing its $3,499 augmented reality headset called the Vision Pro. The social media company's flagship VR headset Meta Quest Pro is currently priced at $999.99, down from its launch price of $1,499.99, and Quest 2 is being sold for $299.99, according to Meta's website. Termed as the next big thing, the adoption of virtual reality headsets has been limited to the gaming community despite the devices now having more advanced features.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Jaspreet Singh, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Quest, Apple, Meta, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Meta launches VR subscription service that costs $7.99 a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meta on Monday announced a virtual reality subscription service called Meta Quest+ that will give users access to two new games each month. Meta Quest+ costs $7.99 a month and is compatible with the Quest 2, the Quest Pro and the upcoming Quest 3. The subscription service marks Meta's latest effort to generate recurring revenue from its Reality Labs unit, which is developing virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. New games will launch for Meta Quest+ subscribers on the first of each month. Meta Quest+ is available in the Meta Quest Store starting Monday.

Organizations: Monday, Meta, Quest Pro, Reality Labs, Meta Quest

☆ What Apple's entry into virtual reality means for the future of Meta Platforms and the metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Meta Platforms ' vision to sell a future where people work, play and mingle in a virtual world may finally be getting its long-overdue validation thanks to an unlikely partner. Apple on Monday unveiled its highly anticipated mixed reality product, known as Vision Pro , at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference . So confident in the bright future of the metaverse, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta Platforms in 2021 to better reflect its vision beyond social media. More than a year and a half later Apple's metaverse entry may finally offer the much-needed support to Meta's overambitious vision, and lure once skeptical investors back to the virtual world. With the company — and metaverse vision — so dependent on consumer adoption, this creates a difficult near-term setup, Meeks said.

Persons: It's, Mark Zuckerberg, Gucci, Meta's, Gene Munster, Wall, Paul Meeks, JPMorgan's Samik Chatterjee, Advisors Capital Management's JoAnne Feeney, Meeks, Davidson's Tom Forte, scoffed, Apple's, Feeney, Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi Organizations: Apple, Developers, Facebook, Walmart, Grill, Independent Solutions Wealth Management, Advisors Capital, Munster, Quest

☆ Mark Zuckerberg reportedly bashes Apple's Vision Pro: 'Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg criticized Apple's Vision Pro headset at a companywide meeting, The Verge reported. He said that Meta's vision was "fundamentally social," while Apple's vision is "not the one I want." On paper, and even according to early hands-on impressions, Apple's headset looks far superior to Meta's — even if Apple's headset is exorbitantly more expensive. In the Thursday meeting, Zuckerberg said that Apple's headset design didn't have any innovations that Meta hadn't "already explored and thought of." Zuckerberg highlighted that, in the case of the Quest 3, Apple's headset "costs seven times more."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's, Zuckerberg, Apple, Meta, it's, Price, Read Organizations: Meta, Apple

☆ Apple shareholders should rejoice about Vision Pro's $3,500 price tag — and it's a better approach than Facebook's
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Henry Blodget | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Facebook's going for ubiquity — the platform approach — but it's not working well. For anyone who has watched Apple's pricing strategy over the years, this approach shouldn't have been a surprise. Apple's pricing choice also illustrates a distinctly different pricing strategy than the one taken by Apple's big AR/VR rival, Facebook. But Apple's approach does come with a distinct advantage over Facebook's. If Vision Pro is a dud — or takes forever to gain traction — like Quest, Apple at least won't likely burn tens of billions on its investments in it.

Persons: it's, Apple, Facebook's, Steve Jobs, gizmo Organizations: Apple, Facebook, Quest VR, Quest, Microsoft

☆ I tried the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset — here's what it's like
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Steve Kovach | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

related investing news Here's what analysts are saying about Apple's new Vision Pro headset The promise of Apple's new mixed-reality headset isn't really about the headset I got to take one for a test drive. The Vision Pro isn't large enough to fit glasses if you wear them. Even though most of the focus with Apple Vision is on the visuals, I was equally impressed by the audio. The Vision Pro has a pair of speakers that sit near your temples and provide a surround sound effect. But as someone who has tried just about every mainstream headset to date so far, I can tell you that Vision Pro feels like a $3,500 machine.

Persons: Josh Edelson, It's, Siri, I've, Apple, — audibly Organizations: Apple's Worldwide, Apple, AFP, Getty, Apple Watch, Quest, Vision, Meta's Locations: Cupertino , California

☆ Apple Vision Pro demo roundup: Here’s what everyone is saying
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple let some people try out its new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. The Vision Pro will allow users to see apps in a new way, in the spaces around them. The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern said the Vision Pro was intuitive to use, has the "fit and finish" of an Apple gadget, and is more comfortable than Meta Quest Pro or Quest 2. Stern said Apple showed her a number of different demos, and she said she thinks the most valuable initial uses for the Vision Pro will be for watching movies and working. 9to5Mac's Chance Miller said that it was easy to get the Vision Pro to feel "snug" and that it was generally pretty comfortable.

Persons: Joanna Stern, It's, Stern, Apple, 9to5Mac's Chance Miller, Miller Organizations: Apple, Worldwide Developers, Apple Watch, Microsoft, Meta Quest, Vision

☆ Apple just unveiled its $3,499 Vision Pro headset. Here are some of the coolest things it can do.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Called the Vision Pro, the $3,499 headset is Apple's vision for the future of personal computing. Apple on Monday held its annual WWDC keynote, where the company unveiled its much-anticipated mixed-reality headset that it's calling the Vision Pro. Regardless, the Vision Pro represents Apple's vision for the future of personal computers. But perhaps the Vision Pro with its signature Apple build quality and iOS integration is what the AR/VR industry needed all along to go mainstream. Below are the most interesting Vision Pro features:

Persons: Apple, Meta's, it's Organizations: Apple, Vision, Meta's

☆ Apple to sell Vision Pro AR headset for triple Meta's top-line price
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] People use cameras as Apple's Vision Pro headsets are on display at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. June 5, 2023. Apple's headset will be available early next year in the U.S. with more countries coming later in 2024. The Vision Pro has two hours of use with an external battery, which Apple said would reduce the weight on the user's head. Investors and tech fans alike are focused on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices.

Persons: Loren Elliott CUPERTINO, Apple, Alan Dye, Tim Cook, Walt Disney's, Mark Zuckerberg, there's, John Ternus, Apple's, Craig Federighi, Stephen Nellis, Yuvraj Malik, Dawn Chmielewski, Katie Paul, Peter Henderson, Aditya Soni, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Developers, REUTERS, Apple Inc, Pro, Apple, Vision, Reuters, Adobe, Microsoft, Unity, Meta, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Mac Pro, Mac, Intel, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S, Loren Elliott CUPERTINO , California, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles, New York

☆ Meta's heated rivalry with Apple enters new phase as the tech giants go after headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

But Apple hasn't said exactly when Vision Pro will be available, only that it will be early next year. Meta's Quest family of VR headsets include the $300 Quest 2 and the $500 Quest 3, which will be available in the fall. Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 05, 2023 in Cupertino, California. And Apple has its own new operating system for the Vision Pro that it's calling visionOS. "And we believe Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that can make our vision a reality."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Nagle, Leo Gebbie, hasn't, Zuckerberg, Cook, Tim Cook, Justin Sullivan, visionOS, Bob Iger, Iger, We're, Meta didn't Organizations: Meta, Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, CCS, Vision, VR, Labs, Apple, Google, Facebook, Apple Vision, Apple Worldwide, Disney Locations: New York, Covid, Cupertino , California, Brussels

☆ Apple Debuts Its Next Big Product, a Virtual Reality Headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Kellen Browning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Apple lived up to months of expectations on Monday when it introduced new high-tech goggles that blend the real world with virtual reality. The $3,500 device, called the Vision Pro, will offer “augmented reality” and introduce “spatial computing,” Apple said. But conspicuously absent from its carefully choreographed announcement were the actual words “virtual reality,” underscoring the challenges the tech giant will likely face in marketing the device to a mass consumer audience. Past virtual reality offerings, including Google Glass, Magic Leap, Microsoft’s HoloLens and Meta’s Quest Pro, have been either commercial failures or only modest successes. And companies have so far failed to demonstrate what is indispensable about virtual reality.

Persons: Apple, ”, —, Microsoft’s Organizations: Google, Meta’s

Club holding Apple (AAPL) on Monday unveiled its long-awaited mixed-reality headset, known as Apple Vision Pro, expanding the technology giant's unrivaled hardware-and-software ecosystem into a new realm of computing. Of course, some investors may not be wowed by the Vision Pro. Vision Pro — Apple's first new major piece of hardware since the Apple Watch in 2014 — joins a fledgling field of mixed- and virtual-reality headsets. Bottom line More important than anything announced Monday, we're finally getting a glimpse of Apple's vision for this next-generation computing platform. It's too early to tell where Apple's headset business will be in five or 10 years.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Steve Jobs, it's, Tim Cook, Cook, Apple, —, Bob Iger, we're, It's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Brittany Hosea, BRITTANY HOSEA Organizations: Apple, Apple Vision, Developers Conference, Vision, Pro, Apple Watch, Meta, PlayStation, Club, Disney, Vision Pro, CNBC, Getty, Afp Locations: Cupertino , California, AFP

☆ Apple expected to reveal mixed-reality headset at developer conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CUPERTINO, California, June 5 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is expected to unveil a mixed-reality headset at its annual software developer conference on Monday, its first big move into a new product category since the introduction of the Apple Watch nine years ago. Like Meta's Quest Pro from last year and Quest 3 announced last week, Apple's device is likely to blend a video feed from the outside world with a virtual world displayed on screens inside the headset. Investors and tech fans alike will be focusing on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices. Investors will also look for updates on CarPlay, Apple's software for vehicles, which the company said last year would start to power more dashboard functions.

Persons: It's, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Nellis, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple Watch, Apple, Facebook, Meta, Meta's, Quest, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Apple Park, Thomson Locations: CUPERTINO , California, San Francisco

☆ Apple Is Stepping Into the Metaverse. Will Anyone Care?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kellen Browning | Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Apple headset is expected to cost about $3,000 and will look like ski goggles, according to current and former employees familiar with its development. Eventual hits like the iPod, iPhone and Apple Watch started in niche markets that grew into big businesses. But even Apple executives have been skeptical about the company’s prospects in virtual reality, which, they say, may still not be ready for its mainstream moment. That drop-off cuts recent metaverse start-up investment to about a quarter of its peak in the first half of 2022, PitchBook said. “The metaverse investment fad — it came and went, and now people are focused on A.I.,” said Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Company.

Persons: PitchBook, ”, Doug Creutz Organizations: Apple, Worldwide Developers, Apple Watch, PitchBook, Cowen & Company

☆ In challenge to Meta, Apple expected to unveil mixed-reality headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Meta and Apple are competing with each other. The difference is that Meta is doing it publicly, while Apple is doing it privately," said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Analysts say that the Apple device, which Bloomberg has reported could cost near $3,000 and look like a pair of ski goggles, is a place holder of sorts. While Meta has products on the market, Apple has major advantages in defining the emerging field among software developers, said Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager who tracks the XR market at IDC. "And Apple is in a much better position to give you an experience that works across devices than Meta is."

Persons: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Greg Joswiak, iPhones, Sag, Ben Bajarin, Meta, Jitesh Ubrani, Ubrani, Stephen Nellis, Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: FRANCISCO, Apple Inc, Apple, Worldwide Developers, Meta, Moor, Strategy, Analysts, Bloomberg, Sony Group Corp, Quest, Creative, IDC, San, Thomson Locations: California, Cupertino , California, Silicon Valley, San Francisco

☆ Zuckerberg unveils Meta Quest 3 VR headset days before Apple reveals its own
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased his company's latest virtual reality headset, the Quest 3, on Thursday. Apple is expected to debut its competing VR headset next week as part of the company's June WWDC event. The iPhone-maker's consumer headset, which could also incorporate augmented reality technologies, will reportedly work with hundreds of thousands of iPad apps and cost at least $3,000. Meta continues to be spending heavily in the metaverse, the yet-to-be-developed digital universe that requires virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to access. Last October, Meta debuted its Quest Pro VR headset intended for businesses as opposed to consumers.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, it'll, Meta Organizations: Qualcomm, Apple, Labs, Meta, Quest Pro, Research, NPD Group, CNBC, Nvidia Locations: U.S

☆ Meta unveils Quest 3 mixed reality headset ahead of Apple's VR debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday revealed the company's next generation mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, as it braces for Apple to potentially reshape the nascent market that Meta has dominated so far. Priced starting at $499, the device will be 40% thinner than the company's previous headset and feature color mixed reality, which combines augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) elements, Zuckerberg said in an Instagram post. Zuckerberg's announcement came less than a week before tech rival Apple (AAPL.O) was expected to unveil its first mixed reality device. Meta's devices comprised nearly 80% of the 8.8 million virtual reality headsets sold in 2022, according to an estimate by market research firm IDC. Its high-end Meta Quest Pro now retails for about $1,000, down from a launch price of $1,500, and the Quest 2's 256 GB version now starts at about $430, down from $500.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Pico, Meta, Katie Paul, Yuvraj Malik, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: YORK, Apple, Meta, Qualcomm, IDC, TikTok, Thomson

☆ Apple slashes sales estimates of its headset - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has lowered sales estimates for its long-awaited mixed-reality headsets by about two-thirds, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The iPhone-maker had initially hoped to sell about 3 million units a year, but has now pared back those estimates to about 1 million, and then to 900,000 units, the report said. The mixed-reality headset, which can overlay digital objects on a view of the real world, is widely anticipated to be Apple's next major product. The headset is expected to cost around $3,000, Bloomberg News had reported in February. Meta Platform Inc's (META.O) Quest Pro virtual and mixed reality headset is priced at about $1,000.

☆ Creator of Meta's Oculus VR says Apple's rival mixed-reality headset is 'so good'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Oculus VR cofounder Palmer Luckey was full of praise for Apple's mixed-reality headset. Apple has been quiet on its next big thing at a time when its rivals are shifting to focus on AI. The original designer of Meta's VR offering, Oculus, says Apple's much-rumored rival metaverse headset is "so good." Oculus was acquired in 2014 by Facebook before the social-media company changed its corporate name to Meta. Apple has remained relatively quiet on AI by comparison, with Tim Cook emphasizing the need to be "deliberate and thoughtful."

☆ Meta's Reality Labs records $3.99 billion quarterly loss as Zuckerberg pumps more cash into metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg keeps racking up losses from his metaverse investments while downsizing his social media company through cost cuts. In its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, Meta said its Reality Labs unit, which is tasked with building the virtual reality and augmented reality technologies for the futuristic metaverse, recorded a $3.99 billion operating loss. The numbers show a slowdown from last quarter, when Reality Labs lost $4.28 billion on $727 million of revenue. For all of last year, Reality Labs recorded an operating loss of $13.72 billion on $2.16 billion in sales, underscoring how VR and AR technologies have yet to reach the mainstream. In March, Meta cut the price of its Quest 2 VR headset as well as the high-end Quest Pro.

☆ Apple's VR headset will reportedly run hundreds of thousands of iPad apps
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple' s virtual reality headset will run with hundreds of thousands of iPad apps and take an all-encompassing approach to features, according to Bloomberg. In a bid to entice both developers and consumers, Apple has included gaming, fitness, and e-reader functionality for the virtual reality headset, Bloomberg reported. The headset will run most of Apple's flagship iPad apps, including Books, Camera, FaceTime, Maps and Messages. There are also hundreds of thousands of third-party iPad apps that will reportedly be compatible with the headset at launch. Apple's headset will reportedly cost a minimum of $3,000, three times as expensive as Meta 's high-end Quest Pro.

☆ Companies like Uber and Amazon use AI to pay people different wages for the same work, a new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some companies use AI to pay workers "different amount for the same amount of work," per new research. As companies adopt AI, she's concerned these practices could become prevalent in other industries. According to Dubal, companies like Amazon and Uber have "massive data sets" on the contract workers using their delivery or rideshare platforms, including when they work, for how long, and what kind of pay they've taken for past jobs. One Uber driver Dubal interviewed, Domingo, recalled being one ride of short of unlocking a $100 bonus one evening, but then said he experienced 45 minutes of "dead time" in a popular area before he was able to get another ride. Dubal described the alleged variable pay system as the "gamblification of work," a sentiment other gig workers shared.

Search resuls for: "Quest Pro"

25 mentions found