Zuckerberg announces $1,500 Meta Quest Pro and takes a shot at Apple
On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta’s new $1,499 Quest Pro Virtual Reality (VR) headset. VR gives the user the immersive experience of being in a fabricated environment that is not real, no matter how realistic it looks. Meta’s CEO and co-founder took a shot at Apple which is supposed to unveil its own pricey mixed-reality headset early next year.
Zuckerberg announces new $1,500 headset and takes a shot at Apple’s “Walled Garden”
The executive goes on to say, “I see our role is not just helping to build this open ecosystem, but making sure that the open ecosystem wins out in this next generation of the internet.”
Zuckerberg has been angry at Apple ever since last year when the company gave iPhone users the opportunity to opt out of being tracked by apps and websites for the purpose of receiving customized ads. And that hit Meta hard as the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature cost the company more than $10 billion in revenue. And while that wasn’t the only factor involved, for the year to date Meta’s shares are down $210 or a whopping 62%.
Zuckerberg sees VR and Augmented Reality (AR) as the building blocks of a new platform that could be found on a new device that could become more popular than the smartphone. First, let’s tell you that AR allows users to see computer-generated data superimposed on top of a live video feed. A good example of this is Google Maps’ “Live View” which can be activated while walking.
Users see the view in front of them thanks to a rear camera. On top of that image are arrows that give the user navigation directions while other computer-generated icons point out landmarks and notable locations.
Apple and Meta could also compete over AR glasses
Apple’s upcoming headset, nothing more than a rumor at this point, will reportedly be powered by an Apple M2 chip and could feature 16GB of memory. Rumored pricing has Apple’s headset costing over $2,000 and perhaps reaching $3,000.
Zuckerberg made it sound as though Meta is also working on a similar product. “The fundamental technologies across the stack to build augmented reality glasses are coming together. We’ve got displays, sensors, silicon, AI, and more,” the CEO said.