The release of Google Bard’s Advanced tier may be coming sooner than people expected, according to a recent leak, and what's more, it won’t be free.
Well, it’s not a “leak” per se; the company left a bunch of clues on its website that anybody could find if you know where to look. That’s how developer Bedros Pamboukian on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) found lines of code hinting at the imminent launch of Bard Advanced. What’s interesting is the discovery reveals the souped-up AI will be bundled with Google One, and if you buy a subscription, you can try it out as part of a three-month trial.
There is a bit of hype surrounding Bard Advanced because it will be powered by Google’s top-of-the-line Gemini Ultra model. In an announcement post from this past December, the company states Gemini Ultra has been designed to deal with “highly complex tasks and accept multimodal inputs”. This possibility is backed up by another leak from user Dylan Roussel on X claiming the chatbot will be capable of “advanced math and reasoning skills.”
It’s unknown which Google One tier people will have to buy to gain access or if there will be a new one for Bard Advanced. Neither leak reveals a price tag. But if we had to take a wild guess, you may have to opt for the $ 10 a month Premium plan. Considering the amount of interest surrounding the AI, it would make sense for Google to put up a high barrier for entry.
Potential features
Going back to the Roussel leak, it reveals a lot of other features that may or may not be coming to Google Bard. Things might change or “they may never land at all.”
First, it may be possible to create customized bots using the AI’s tool. There is very little information about them. We don’t know what they do or if they’re shareable. The only thing we do know is the bots are collectively codenamed Motoko.
Next, it appears Bard will receive a couple of extra tools. You have Gallery, a set of publicly viewable prompts on a variety of topics users can check out for brainstorming ideas. Then there’s Tasks. Roussel admits he couldn’t find many details about it, but to his understanding, it’ll be “used to manage long-running tasks such as” image generation.
5. Sharing Background/ForegroundThis one is pretty explicit. Although, while my screenshots are showing what “Foreground” looks like, it doesn’t show “Background.” pic.twitter.com/hWHi95U3h3January 4, 2024
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Speaking of generating images, the third feature allows users a way to create backgrounds and foregrounds for smartphones and website banners. The last one, called Power Up, is said to be able to improve text prompts. Once again, there’s little information to go on. We don’t know how the backgrounds can be made (if that’s what’s going on) or what powering up a text prompt even looks like. It's hard to say for sure.
Users probably won’t have to wait for very long to get the full picture. Given the fact these were hidden on Google’s website, the official rollout must be just around the corner.
2024 is shaping up to be a big year for artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to the likes of Google Bard and its ChatGPT. If you want to know which one we think will come out on top, check out TechRadar's ChatGPT vs Google Bard analyzation.
If you’re an Apple fan and your new year’s resolution is to save your money this January, we’ve got some bad news: a new rumor says Apple’s Vision Pro headset will go on sale in just a few weeks’ time. However – and perhaps fortunately for your finances – there are some serious questions floating around the rumor.
The mooted January launch date comes from Wall Street Insights, a news outlet for Chinese investors (via MacRumors). According to a machine-translated version of the report, “Apple Vision Pro is expected to be launched in the United States on January 27, 2024.”
The report adds that “Supply chain information shows that Sony is currently the first supplier of silicon-based OLEDs for the first-generation Vision Pro, and the second supplier is from a Chinese company, which will be the key to whether Vision Pro can expand its production capacity.”
With the supposed launch date just 25 days away, it might not be long before we see Apple’s most significant new product in years. Yet, despite the apparent certainty in the report, there are reasons to be skeptical about its accuracy.
Date uncertainty
For one thing, January 27 is a Saturday, an unlikely day for an Apple product launch. It could be that Wall Street Insights is referring to January 27 in China which, thanks to time zone differences, aligns with Friday January 26 in the United States. That’s a much more probable release date, as it doesn't coincide with the weekend, when many of the media outlets that would cover the Vision Pro will be providing reduced news coverage. Yet the report specifically mentions the date in the US, meaning that questions remain.
Moving past the specific date, an early 2024 launch date has been put forward by a number of reputable Apple analysts. Ming-Chi Kuo, for example, has suggested a late January or early February timeframe, while Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has zeroed in on February as the release month.
Either way, it’s clear that the Vision Pro is almost upon us. Apple has reportedly been training retail staff how to use the device, which implies that the company is almost ready to pull the trigger.
We’ll see how accurate the Wall Street Insights report is in a few weeks’ time. Regardless of whether or not it has the correct date, we’re undoubtedly on the brink of seeing Apple’s most anticipated new product in recent memory.
It’s time for AR aficionados to start saving, if you haven’t been already, because Apple is getting everything ready to launch the Apple Vision Pro headset in February according to a new report. This follows rumors that it might be delayed until March.
Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg (article behind a paywall) that if things go according to plan, the first wave of consumer units will be ready to ship at the end of January, with a retail release planned for February – sticking to the “early” 2024 release window Apple gave during WWDC 2023 when the headset was unveiled.
It’s apparently not just the product that’s being prepared for an upcoming launch. The report adds that developers creating mixed reality software have recently been told to “get ready” for the Vision Pro, and in January at least two staff members from every US Apple Store branch are supposedly heading to its headquarters for training.
The training is to help them understand the complex Apple gadget. The headset has a lot of customizable components that need to be calibrated and boxed up in-store (online purchases supposedly won't be available) when someone buys one. If there are any problems with the process, potential buyers may walk out the door, or even take home and unbox a subpar experience – something completely unacceptable for a gadget that starts at $ 3,499 per headset (around £2,800 / AU$ 5,300).
But even if the Vision Pro does materialize on shelves in February 2024 you’re unlikely to actually get your hands on one.
Will the Vision Pro replace your TV? (Image credit: Apple)
A February launch for the lucky few
Not simply because the Apple mixed reality headset is priced out of most people’s budgets, but because Apple won’t have many available.
According to rumors, Apple is only expected to produce 150,000 headsets in 2024. This lack of availability may be why the device will only be sold in the US at launch. And that 150,000 figure is for the whole of 2024; far fewer devices would be available on its release date – so even if you live in the US there’s a good chance you still won’t see one for a while.
The Meta Quest 3 is the main Vision Pro rival. (Image credit: Meta)
That is, unless the gadget is wildly unpopular.
While this seems almost impossible for an Apple product, a combination of price and novelty may put people off – even the company’s most rabid fans. What’s more, the headset is certainly the best VR headset ever made from a raw hardware perspective, but Apple has yet to show off software that puts these specs to use in ways that the far cheaper Meta Quest 3 can’t – even its iPhone 15 Pro’s spatial video can play on Quest hardware.
It also has some frankly ridiculous problems such as a measly two-hour battery life and (according to some people who have tried it) an uncomfortable design. As I said above, with a $ 3,499 price tag there isn’t any wiggle room – it has to be perfect.
All that said, I’m fully expecting the Apple Vision Pro to be perpetually sold out. This will be Apple’s first new product line in a while, and even if it does wind up being an overpriced folly, Apple collectors will desperately want to get their hands on this piece of tech history.
So if you want to get your hands on one, be ready to book an appointment and head to your local Apple Store as soon as you can. Otherwise, you might have to wait for the Vison Pro's successor to get your hands on an Apple VR headset.
Amongst all the hullabaloo of Google’s Gemini launch, Meta opened the gates to its free-standing image generator website called Imagine with Meta AI.
The company has been tinkering with this technology for some time now. WhatsApp, for instance, has had a beta in-app image generator since August of this year. Accessing the feature required people to have Meta's app installed on their smartphones. But now with Imagine, all you need is an email address to create an account on the platform. Once in, you’re free to create whatever you want by entering a simple text prompt. It functions similarly to DALL-E.
We tried out the website ourselves and discovered the AI will create four 1,280 x 1,280 pixel JPEG images that you can download by clicking the three dots in the upper right corner. The option will appear in the drop-down menu.
Below is a series of images we asked the engine to make. You’ll notice in the bottom left corner is a watermark stating that it was created by an AI.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
We were surprised to discover that it’s able to create content featuring famous cartoon characters like Homer Simpson and even Mickey Mouse. You’d think there would be restrictions for certain copyrighted material, but apparently not. As impressive as these images may be, there are noticeable flaws. If you look at the Homer Simpson sample, you can see parts of the picture melting into each other. Plus, the character looks downright bizarre.
Limitations (and the work arounds)
A lot of care was put into the development of Imagine. You see, it's powered by Meta's proprietary Emu learning model. According to a company research paper from September, Emu was trained on “1.1 billion images”. At the time, no one really knew the source of all this data. However, Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, told Reuters it used public Facebook and Instagram posts to train the model. Altogether, over a billion social media accounts were scrapped.
To rein in all this data, Meta implemented some restrictions. The tech keeps things family friendly as it'll refuse prompts that are violent or sexual nor can they mention a famous person.
Despite the tech giant’s best efforts, it’s not perfect by any stretch. It appears there is a way to get around said limitations with indirect wording. For example, when we asked Meta AI to create an image of former President Barack Obama, it refused. But, when we entered “a former US president” as the prompt, the AI generated a man that resembled President Obama.
(Image credit: Future)
There are plans to introduce “invisible watermarking… for increased transparency and traceability”, but it’s still weeks away from being released. A lot of damage can be done in that short period. Misuse is something that Meta is concerned about, however, there are still holes. We reached out asking if it aims to implement more protection. This story will be updated at a later time.
Google has delayed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events that were set to showcase the company’s Gemini generative AI tool, according to The Information. If true, it's another blow to Google’s efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.
As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event was due to take place just days from now, with the first one kicking off next week. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently taken the decision to push it back to January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the of the decision.”
The reason for the delay? Google was not confident that Gemini was able to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to ensure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it’s clearly not quite there yet.
The events – due to be held in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google’s most important product launch of the year” owing to how keen Google is to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That means that delaying them could be a sizable blow to Google, even if they do ultimately take place in early 2024.
In ChatGPT’s shadow
(Image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)
Despite their imminent dates, Google hadn’t done much promotion for the events (perhaps due to concerns over Gemini’s abilities). In the end, that meant the company managed to avoid an embarrassing retraction or cancellation of already-announced events.
Yet Google isn’t likely to be very happy with the situation. The delay demonstrates how much the company is struggling to get on level terms with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and engineering abilities. It’s also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to delay its Gemini events.
It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly had a major breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool is supposedly able to solve problems it has not been trained on, something that AI has traditionally found difficult, thereby ramping up the pressure on Google to hit back.
Google is likely to weave Gemini’s AI capabilities into its other products, such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company’s apps. Just don’t expect to see these changes until early next year.
When people started working from home, many bought new PCs or laptops, along with webcams and other accessories, but this boom was not to last. With so many people using new devices, it’s understandable that they wouldn’t be in any rush to go out and buy a new one.
This has resulted in a downturn in PC and laptop sales – but the launch of a new operating system could help reinvigorate those sales.
According to the report, the June 2024 date for Windows 12 was mooted at the recent Taiwan Medical Technology Exhibition in Taipei, where Quanta Computer Chairman Barry Lam is reported to have said “next summer, when Microsoft launches a new generation of Windows operating systems, AI PCs will also be launched one after another.”
While it’s not entirely clear from the report where the June 2024 date came from, and Microsoft has not officially revealed its Windows 12 plans, there will be many in the PC industry who hope this is Microsoft's plan. We've also heard other rumors about a 2024 launch date in the past.
A new, powerful, operating system with innovative features could – if done right – encourage people to upgrade to new hardware. Whether or not Microsoft can do it right, however, is another issue.
Windows 11 woes
Windows 11 hasn’t exactly set the world alight. It’s a solid operating system, but there hasn’t been a killer app or feature that has made Windows 10 users want to switch.
So, if Windows 12 is to be the saviour of Microsoft and the wider industry, it’ll need to be a big upgrade from Windows 11, and one that makes full use of cutting-edge hardware. No pressure, then.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
AI to the rescue?
Microsoft hasn’t been shy about its ambitions for artificial intelligence (AI), and while it’s been pushing AI feature in Windows 11 (and even Windows 10), it’s looking likely that Windows 12 will have even more AI integration – and it’s here that the upcoming operating system could differentiate itself from its predecessors.
Acer CEO Jason Chen, who was also at the event, talked about how AI PCs will “continuously accelerate” the industry. These ‘AI’ PCs will likely come with Windows 12 preinstalled (as Lam suggested), and will rely on advanced hardware that’s been specially made for artificial intelligence.
Microsoft’s AI additions to Windows 11, in the form of its Copilot assistant, have been warmly received by users, but they still feel a bit like a gimmick. Nothing, so far, fundamentally changes the way we use Windows 11 or our PCs, as Microsoft has promised.
However, the thought of Windows 12 being built from the ground up to make use of AI, and debuting on laptops and PC with AI-supporting hardware, is incredibly exciting. If June 2024 does indeed usher in a new era of the best laptops and PCs, there certainly will be a lot of people who’ll be tempted to upgrade – including me.
The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro headset is going to be a little later than anticipated as rumors state it’ll come out sometime in March 2024.
Industry insider Mark Gurman claimed in his recent Power On newsletter that the original plan was for January 2024, but for reasons unknown, things had to be pushed back a couple of months. Forbes in their report suggests two possible reasons for the delay. One: Apple may want further “advanced device testing” before the big day. Two: the tech giant is still hashing out the logistics of how it plans to distribute the Vision Pro. The idea so far is Apple will release the VR headset in the United States first with an international launch to certain countries later on in 2024. We currently don’t know the full list of global regions that’ll receive the Vision Pro although Gurman has said in the past that the United Kingdom and Canada are two possible locations.
According to 9To5Mac, Apple is expected to “sell the device by appointment only” at one of its in-person stores or online on its digital storefront. The company will not partner up with third-party retailers as it aims to “carefully curate the rollout”.
The Vision Pro is slated to offer differently-sized headbands as well as prescription lenses so all users can enjoy the mixed-reality experience. Doing so would’ve required retailers to stock up on hundreds of accessories for a headset they might not be familiar with. It appears Apple would rather do everything itself in order to avoid any errors.
Alongside new iPads
It is disappointing to learn about the delay for the Vision Pro although it does make sense. Not just because Apple wants to do more testing, but also so it can line up the launch with the release of other products. Spring can be a busy time for the company and this upcoming season looks like it won't be an exception. Gurman stated back in October that there will be new iPads in March; however, it will simply be a minor refresh. What constitutes a “minor” upgrade is unknown.
If you want a more substantial upgrade, you may have to wait a bit longer. Other rumors suggest Apple will launch an iPad Pro sporting an OLED screen in 2024. It'll be available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch models. From there, Apple will reportedly continue updating its hardware, such as the iPad Air and MacBook Pro, with OLED tech in the following years. As always, take this information with a grain of salt. Things could change at the last minute.
As highlighted in our Meta Quest 3 review, the new VR headset is bringing a lot of improvements to the VR world, but for Oculus Quest 2 owners it’s also bringing one major downside – your headset’s storage space might soon feel a lot smaller than it did before.
To take advantage of the Quest 3’s improved Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, its 8GB of RAM, and its full-color mixed reality, VR app developers will be releasing updates to their software (Meta said it’s coming to over 50 during Meta Connect 2023). However, as reported by UploadVR, these updated files won’t be exclusive to Quest 3 owners.
People using a Quest 2 will also be forced to download the new, larger file sizes, but here’s the kicker: they won't be able to benefit from any of the improvements stored in those bigger files. And the size increases aren’t insignificant – for example, Red Matter 2 is jumping from 5.6GB to 9.1GB.
Just under 3.5GB might not seem like a lot, but if you’ve been a long-running Oculus Quest 2 user and have an original 64GB model (as this writer does) then 3.5GB is 5.5% of your total storage space – or 6.2% of the available space after you factor in the 7.5GB taken up by the Quest 2 OS.
Thankfully this might not be an issue forever. While developers currently don’t have the option to release distinct Quest 2 and Quest 3 versions of their VR experiences, they can release a separate, simplified version for the Quest 1.
Meta didn’t provide an exact timeline, but it did reportedly tell UploadVR that it has plans to “extend this [facility to release distinct versions of apps] to Quest Pro and Quest 3 in the future.” So hopefully Quest 2 owners will soon be able to reclaim any storage space that has been snatched away from them.
In the meantime, be prepared to have to delete some apps from your Quest 2’s digital library. Alternatively, you could check out the Meta Quest 3 and see if it’s worth upgrading too – if you have to download the bigger files, you might at least take advantage of the benefits they bring.
Meta is rolling out update v57 to your Meta Quest Pro and Oculus Quest 2. This last patch before the Meta Quest 3 launch event later this month is underwhelming compared to previous ones, but it fixes a few snags that should make the Quest 3 feel super–smooth and intuitive on its release.
The biggest change coming in this update is to avatar customization, though Meta is only adding a few tweaks. After updating to v57 you’ll have greater control over your avatar’s skin tone, hair and eyebrow color, and the makeup they’re wearing. These changes should make it easier for your virtual representation to better match your IRL look and style.
Meta’s avatars aren’t just used in its own suite of VR apps like its Horizon Worlds metaverse; they’re also used by a whole bunch of third-party experiences like ForeVR Bowl – a game this writer is a champion in. These new customization options will allow you to bring a more accurate representation of yourself to a wider range of VR activities – and these changes might encourage more devs to support Meta avatars in their software.
(Image credit: Meta)
Another change is the ability to finally explore more of your Horizon Home – the VR space you first land into when you boot up your headset. Previously you’ve only been able to jump between preset hotspots in the VR space. While this fixed approach is accessible to new VR users, Meta admits that this restriction becomes more and more jarring as you explore other virtual reality experiences and get used to a high degree of freedom that isn’t present in your Horizon Home.
With update v57, Meta is unlocking free-form locomotion, so you can teleport (almost) anywhere in the space. Just push the joystick forward on either controller and an arch will appear that shows you where you’ll travel to – release the joystick when the arch is white and you’ll teleport, but you won’t move if the arch is red.
Lastly, Meta is adding the ability to unsend image messages in VR and in the Meta Quest mobile app – at least for users in Australia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the US. To unsend a message you just have to hover over the image in VR (or tap on it in the Quest mobile app) and select Unsend to correct any mistakes you may have made by sending the wrong image to the wrong person. The only trace of the old message will be a notification that something was unsent, which the recipient will see instead of the image.
For one, Meta may be saving some big platform changes for an update that releases after the Quest 3 has launched, helping the new headset to feel fresh and exciting from both a hardware and software perspective.
Alternatively, by getting these minor annoyances fixed ahead of the Quest 3 announcement, Meta is leaving the Quest OS in a good spot for a few months while it works on developing any user-requested features that come in after launch.
Most Quest updates typically drop monthly, but the first Quest update after the Quest Pro launch (v47) was released roughly two months after the previous one. That’s likely due to Meta adding features like mixed reality capture and background audio playback that the Quest Pro community was clamoring for very vocally. But these kinds of reactive updates likely take a bit more time to develop, because Meta can’t start working on fixes until users tell it what they want changed.
The Meta Quest Pro got a major update two months after launch (Image credit: Meta)
Meta may be anticipating a similar update schedule for the Quest 3, and so it wants to get rid of some smaller snags now, so that it has the time and capacity to work on more major features that users request.
We won’t know exactly what Meta is up to until the Quest 3 release, however. To find out more about the new headset as soon as it’s announced, be sure to check back with us for our Meta Connect 2023 coverage when the event takes place on September 27.
Meta has named the date for Meta Connect 2023 – September 27 – and we know that the highlight of the company's annual hardware and software showcase will be the full unveiling of the Meta Quest 3 headset.
Meta Connect is something of a mixed bag, in which we’ll not only find out about the new products that Meta is releasing in the near future, such as the Quest 3, but also its plans for stuff we might not get our hands on for the best part of a decade, if not longer.
Here are four announcements and updates that we expect to see at Meta Connect 2023 – as well as one announcement that we think Meta won’t be making.
More Meta Quest 3 details
This isn’t much of a prediction, as Meta has confirmed that it'll be officially unveiling the Quest 3 during Meta Connect 2023.
(Image credit: Meta )
We already know a fair amount about the Quest 3 – it’s a standalone VR headset that will succeed the Quest 2, it’s Meta’s “most powerful headset” yet, and it will start at $ 499 / £499 / AU$ 829. But we don’t have many specific details about its specs, release date, and what different Quest 3 models will offer – Meta’s “starts at” pricing suggests that more expensive upgraded versions of the Quest 3 will be available, and while we expect they’ll just be different storage options (as was the case with the Quest 2), we’ll have to see what Meta unveils.
We also don’t know if Meta will show off any new software to take advantage of the Quest 3’s specs. It may announce new VR games and apps that will take advantage of the Quest 3's improved performance over its predecessors, as well as mixed reality software that will be able to use the Quest 3’s improved color passthrough (the Quest Pro’s color-passthrough was okay but very grainy, and according to people in the know the Quest 3’s passthrough is significantly better).
Microsoft Office on Quest
Speaking of Quest 3 software announcements, we hope that Meta and Microsoft will finally announce when native Office apps will be available on the Quest platform. During last year’s Meta Connect 2022 event, the companies announced that Office programs (like Word and Excel) were coming to the Quest headsets, but a year later they've yet to materialize – the only way to access them is via a virtual desktop app that’s synced with your real-world PC.
Maybe the AI Copilot will come to Quest as well (Image credit: Microsoft/GTS)
The companies also said that Xbox game streaming would be coming to VR, but since the announcement details have been scarce. Meta Connect 2023 would be the perfect time to finally give us a release date – and hopefully one that’s in 2023, as we’re tired of waiting.
Given that Apple is set to launch its Apple Vision Pro headset in early 2024, Meta only has a few months left to make its platform look as strong as possible before the new rival enters the space. This Apple headset will likely include VR versions of Apple’s catalog of productivity apps such as Pages and Keynote – so Meta would be smart to get Microsoft’s software onto its systems asap.
The metaverse and AI
Horizon Worlds, Meta’s metaverse social media platform, usually gets a shout-out during Connect events, though the announcements are often a little lackluster – last year it was the news that avatars would be getting legs. And to make matters worse, we just hopped into Horizon Worlds, and as of August 14, 2023 our avatars are still legless…
Horizon Worlds doesn’t need legs; it needs reasons for people to use it. Meta has been steadily building up a catalog of VR experiences in the app and making various graphical improvements to it, but there’s still little reason to use Horizon Worlds over other VR software. Hopefully, at Connect 2023 Meta will finally give us a reason to try its metaverse out and not walk… sorry, bounce, away immediately.
ChatGPT has stolen the metaverse’s thunder (Image credit: Diego Thomazini via Shutterstock)
One way Meta in which could try to reignite interest is to combine AI with the metaverse, and bring together two of tech’s biggest current subjects. Meta has been hard at work developing AI following the success of ChatGPT and other platforms, and it may want to harness those efforts to try and make its platform more appealing – perhaps by using AI to create bigger and better Horizon Worlds experiences, or to add NPC bots to make the service seem a bit more popular than it is.
With a smartphone version of Horizon Worlds also reportedly on the way for those who don't have a VR headset, some kind of AI integration could give more people a reason to try out the app.
AR hardware plans
At Connect 2021 and 2022 Meta has mentioned augmented reality (AR) tech and shown off things it’s working on but it’s all been in-development tech and prototypes rather than something that we regular folks will ever get our hands on. We expect this might change at Meta Connect 2023.
Both the 2021 and 2022 events came with teases of hardware that would come in the following year; in 2021 this was Project Cambria (aka the Quest Pro) and in 2022 Meta teased a new consumer-friendly VR headset (the Quest 3). In 2023 we expect it’ll do the same but for AR hardware rather than VR.
Could Meta announce the Ray-Ban Stories 2 at Meta Connect? (Image credit: Facebook / Ray-Ban)
One big reason is that we don’t think Meta is ready to tease a new VR headset yet (more on that below), but even if it did we think an AR announcement makes more sense.
As we mentioned Meta has been publicly talking about its AR plans for some time – there are only so many times it kicks the ball down the road before we get tired of it teasing AR tech we can’t use. Additionally, with Apple preferring to use augmented reality when talking about its Vision Pro headset (rather than virtual reality), Meta may want to release its own AR tech to try and capture some of the renewed interest in the space that the Vision Pro has created.
If Meta does tease some kind of AR glasses, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re created in partnership with RayBan – like its Ray-Ban Stories glasses – or if they’re a completely Meta product. We’ll have to wait and see what happens on September 27.
No Meta Quest Pro 2 teaser
If you’re hoping Meta will also tease a ‘Meta Quest Pro 2’ during the event, we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. While this isn’t impossible, we feel Meta will keep its VR focus on the Quest 3 during the event (outside of showing us any prototypes for non-consumer products like it’s done in the past)
Our reasoning here is twofold. Firstly, teasing another VR headset just after the Quest 3 releases could put an instant dampener on any excitement people have for the new headset – it won’t get its time in the spotlight, which could hurt sales.
Secondly, we don’t think Meta is ready to commit to launching a new VR headset in 2024 – which is when a Meta Quest Pro 2 teased at Meta Connect 2023 would arrive based on Meta’s usual tease-release cadence.
The Meta Quest Pro likely won’t get a sequel for a while (Image credit: Meta)
That’s because Meta reportedly recently canceled an in-development Quest headset prototype that leakers have said was the Quest Pro 2. While Meta has argued that the headset wasn’t the Quest Pro 2, and was instead an undesignated prototype, based on the leaks it sounds like this headset would have become the Pro 2 if development continued and it was given a proper name. No matter what the project was or wasn’t called Meta hasn’t argued it was canceled, and it will take time for Meta to develop a new prototype to replace it – suggesting the Quest Pro 2 is too far from ready to tease anything.
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