quest 3 – Page 3

European Pricing for Quest 3 Accessories Allegedly Leaked

meta accessories, Meta Quest 3, News, Quest 2, quest 3, quest 3 accessories, VR accessories / Ryan Harris / September 5, 2023

Meta Quest 3, the company’s upcoming $500 standalone mixed reality headset, is probably going to get a big info dump at Connect 2023 later this month. It appears an ecommerce site in Europe has leaked some of the available accessories and prices.

As first reported by MIXED, Netherlands-based online vendor UnboundXR.eu listed a number of Quest 3 accessories and prices ahead of their official availability:

Meta Quest 3 Silicone Face Interface (Black) for €49.99
Meta Quest 3 Carrying Case for €79.99
Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery for €149.99
Meta Quest 3 Charging Dock for €149.99

Listings for everything but the Quest 3 carrying case have since been removed from the site.

Notably, those prices include value added tax (VAT), which in the Netherlands is 21%. It’s not clear exactly how that will look in US pricing, however when comparing previous accessory prices in the EU, US prices may look something like this:

Meta Quest 3 Silicone Face Interface (Black) for $39.99
Meta Quest 3 Carrying Case for $59.99
Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery for $119.99
Meta Quest 3 Charging Dock for $119.99

Granted, that’s only some healthy specualtion, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

If Quest 3 is anything like Quest 2 in terms of accessories though, there are sure to be many more to choose from, including prescription lenses, left and right replacement controllers, and a version Elite Strap without the built-in external battery.

Speaking of Elite Straps, if you were hoping to save a buck by reusing a Quest 2 Elite Strap (if it isn’t already shattered to pieces), a leak posted by X user ‘VR Panda’ potentially reveals that the Quest 3 attachment point is notably smaller than Quest 2’s, meaning you’ll need to buy a new Elite headstrap for Quest 3.

🫣 pic.twitter.com/XhW1oNBKID

— VR Panda. Alex From CHN (@ZGFTECH) September 4, 2023

Whatever the case, we’re sure to learn more soon at Connect 2023, which takes place September 27th – 28th at Meta’s Menlo Park, California headquarters.

European Pricing for Quest 3 Accessories Allegedly Leaked Read More »

Quest 3 Unboxing Reportedly Leaked Ahead of Fall Release, Video Here

Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, quest 3 leak, quest 3 unboxing / Mike M. / August 24, 2023

Meta’s upcoming Quest 3 headset is slated for a Fall 2023 launch, possibly even at the company’s Connect developer conference coming September 27th. It seems Meta has suffered yet another unauthorized pre-launch unboxing of their hardware, echoing the Quest Pro leak from last year.

The video in question was posted to Reddit today, and subsequently captured and reposted in full by X (formerly Twitter) user ‘VR Panda. Alex From CHN’ before it was deleted by the original Reddit poster.

Quest 3 leaked early again #metaquest #Quest3 pic.twitter.com/KfjXx5Qxi7

— VR Panda. Alex From CHN (@ZGFTECH) August 23, 2023

In the video, we get a brief (if not anticlimactic) glimpse at what appears to be the Quest 3 headset and Touch controllers. There’s not much else to say here: it definitely looks like Quest 3, floppy headstrap and all.

Meta announced Quest 3 back in June, just days prior to the reveal of Apple Vision Pro. Meta’s upcoming mixed reality headset is launching this fall for the starting price of $500, bringing with it much of the color passthrough functionality of the pricier Quest Pro, which sells for double the price.

At the time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the company’s next standalone headset “[t]he first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality,” also touting it for its slimmer and lighter profile.

The headset, which integrates pancake optics instead of the Quest 2’s Fresnel lenses, is said to be “40% thinner” than Quest 2 when measuring without the foam facial interface.

Unboxing leak notwithstanding, we’re sure to learn more about Meta’s launch strategy at Connect in late September, and what games the company will highlight to make best use of the headset’s mixed reality capabilities.

Quest 3 Unboxing Reportedly Leaked Ahead of Fall Release, Video Here Read More »

Meta Shows Off Quest Hand-tracking Improvements, Claims “almost as responsive as controllers”

hand tracking, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, News, quest 3, quest hand-tracking, Quest Pro / Mike M. / August 24, 2023

Apple is going all-in with hand-tracking for its upcoming Vision Pro, but can hand-tracking really replace proper VR controllers? Meta, Apple’s main competitor in the space, isn’t going so far as to make that particular claim, however the company says Quest’s recent hand-tracking improvements are now “almost as responsive as controllers” thanks to its recent v56 software update.

First announced in late July, the company’s Hands 2.2 tracking improvements are introducing what Meta says is better hand responsiveness and a few new experimental features that we’ll probably see in Quest 3.

Now rolling out to Quest headsets, Meta says users should notice hand-tracking latency reduced “up to 40%” in regular use, and “up to 75%” during fast movement. Meta says those dramatic gains in fast movement latency are thanks to the introduction of a new Fast Motion Mode (FMM) for more frenetic games, like fitness and rhythm games that require you to punch incoming objects.

Here’s a look at controllers relative to the new Hands 2.2 release:

v56 is also rolling out to Quest Pro, which includes two new experimental features: simultaneous hands and controllers (Multimodal) tracking, and controller-driven hand pose (Capsense Hands).

Multimodal tracking is said to unlock a number of mixed input style, including Hand+controller gameplay, instant transitions between hands and controllers, and improved social presence when using one controller. It’s only available on Quest Pro for experimentation, although Meta plans to add support for additional devices later.

On the other hand, Capsense Hands lets developers show a natural hand model visualization on top of, or instead of, a user’s controller. Check out both in action in the video below:

“Hand Tracking gives your app’s users the ability to engage with their VR or mixed reality environment in a way that is natural and intuitive,” Meta says in a developer blogpost. “These interactions deepen the immersive experience and help people feel more connected to what’s going on around them in-headset. Hands can also provide a faster on ramp for users new to VR. By integrating Hand Tracking in your existing apps, you can give your users more flexibility to tailor their experience and find what works best for them—and thanks to Hands 2.2, you can feel confident knowing your app’s users will enjoy a great experience regardless of whether they play with hands or controllers.”

Meta says we should hear more about its hand-tracking upgrades in the near future, as the company is hosting its annual Meta Connect developer conference on September 27th, which ought to include an info dump (and likely release date) for its upcoming Quest 3 headset, which is bringing much of the functionality of Quest Pro to the consumer price point of $500.

Meta Shows Off Quest Hand-tracking Improvements, Claims “almost as responsive as controllers” Read More »

Meta Appears to be Readying a Quest 3 Charging Dock to Streamline Usage

Meta, Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, quest 3 charging dock, quest 3 dock, VR accessories / Blake Jones / August 15, 2023

A new charging dock from Meta, apparently for Quest 3, has been revealed through regulatory certification. As with Quest Pro’s dock, the goal of the new dock is certainty to streamline headset usage by encouraging users to keep it charged and always up-to-date.

Friction in VR—all of the clunk associated with putting a thing on your head, fitting it, then, going through menus to get to the software you want to use—is a tough challenge the industry has been slowly chipping away at over many years.

One major piece of that friction comes with keeping headsets charged and up-to-date. It’s an all-too-common occurrence for someone to forget to plug in their headset after a session and then realize the battery is dead the next time they have the urge to use it. Worse still, if it’s been a while since they plugged the headset in, it’s likely to need updates to both the core software and specific apps before it’s ready to go.

This is a clear issue, and one that Meta has attempted to address with an official charging dock, first sold alongside the Quest Pro headset. The dock charges both the headset and controllers, making sure everything is juiced and keeping the headset powered on and updated (well, when the auto updates actually work).

It would seem the company was happy with the benefits to retention brought by the Quest Pro dock, as a new charging dock—almost certainly for Quest 3—has been revealed by regulatory certification through the US Federal Communication Agency.

The FCC is tasked with certifying products with electromagnetic emissions to be safe and compatible with regulations. Products utilizing radio, WiFi, infrared, etc. need certification before they can be distributed for sale. Certification by the FCC marks one step closer to the launch of consumer electronics product.

The documentation reveals that the dock includes “wireless charging function for left and right controllers,” apparently up to 2.5 watts. That’s pretty slow compared to what we see from wireless charging on modern smartphones, but may be more than adequate for the Quest 3 controllers which don’t need as much power as a smartphone or the headset itself. The actual Quest 3 headset will continue to charge via direct contact as we can see by the pins revealed on the underside of the headset.

– – — – –

Wireless charging is an interesting change from the Quest Pro dock which exclusively relies on direct-contact charging. One reason for this change is likely that the current method of docking the Quest Pro controllers is quite awkward—sometimes leading to the controllers not charging when it looks like they should be. The headset itself is much easier to place in the proper location.

The Quest Pro controllers must be angled somewhat awkwardly to make proper correct contact with the dock for charging | Photo by Road to VR

A Quest 3 dock with wireless controller charging could create more tolerance for mispositioned controllers, leaving less room for user-error.

One big question is whether or not the dock will be included with Quest 3.

Considering Meta’s goal to keep the sticker price of the mainline Quest headsets low, we’d guess it will be made available as an optional accessory. But there’s a chance that Meta deems the dock important enough to the overall user experience that they opt to include it right in the box.

If it did come in the box, this would be the first time the company included rechargeable controllers in its consumer line of VR headsets. All prior consumer headset controllers from Meta have required AA batteries, though it’s always been easy enough to add recharging to the controllers through inexpensive rechargeable AA batteries.

The Quest 3 dock will unfortunately almost certainly not be compatible with Quest 2 controllers because the newer headset is using a new controller which the company calls Touch Plus.

The new controller does away with the tracking ring that has always been present on the company’s consumer VR controllers, and will likely include the hardware necessary for wireless charging.

Meta Appears to be Readying a Quest 3 Charging Dock to Streamline Usage Read More »

Meta’s XR Revenue Down 39% “due to lower Quest 2 sales,” as Quest 3 & Vision Pro Loom

apple vision pro, Meta, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, meta reality labs, meta revenue, meta xr revenue, News, Quest 2, quest 3, reality labs, reality labs q2 2023, reality labs revenue, VR Industry / Mike M. / July 28, 2023

Meta’s latest quarterly results show its Reality Labs XR division is again reporting an operating loss just south of $4 billion. Now, for its Q2 2023 results, the company says Reality Labs’ revenue was down by 39% due to lower Quest 2 sales, making for the worst quarterly performance in the past two years.

Meta has been clear about its plan to spend aggressively on XR over the next several years, so it’s again no surprise we’re seeing operating budgets in the billions with only a fraction of that coming back in via Quest 2 hardware and software sales.

In fact, Quest 2 sales play such an important role in Reality Labs’ quarterly performance that Meta has reported $276 million in revenue in Q2 2023, or 39% lower than last quarter.

Meta reported that Reality Labs expenses were $4 billion, which was up 23% since the same period last year. The company says this was due to lapping a reduction in Reality Labs loss reserves and growth in employee-related costs, bringing the XR division’s operating loss to $3.7 billion for Q2 2023.

Meta says it expects continued operating losses in the future, saying losses will likely “increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in AR/VR and our investments to further scale our ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, the company is preparing to launch Quest 3 in late 2023, the $500 follow-up headset that integrates many of Quest Pro’s mixed reality capabilities. Meta’s $1,000 Quest Pro has also reportedly been discontinued, however (without substantiating that particular claim) Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth implied earlier this month that a Quest Pro 2 isn’t off the table.

Apple’s Vision Pro is also looming, set to launch sometime next year. As rising tides lift all boats, hype around Vision Pro could actually benefit Meta in the short term. Apple’s $3,500 XR headset has attracted new attention to the space, however Meta’s consumer-friendly pricing and extensive game catalogue for Quest 3 may be well positioned this holiday to capitalize on that Apple-adjacent cachet.

Meta’s XR Revenue Down 39% “due to lower Quest 2 sales,” as Quest 3 & Vision Pro Loom Read More »

Meta CTO Rebukes Report Claiming Cancellation of Quest Pro Line

andrew bosworth, bosworth, boz, Meta, meta quest, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, meta quest pro 2, News, quest, Quest 2, quest 3, Quest Pro, quest pro 2 / Ryan Harris / July 22, 2023

According to a recent report from The Information, Meta is allegedly spinning down Quest Pro alongside a broader move to cancel the future ‘Pro’ line of XR hardware altogether. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says however, “don’t believe everything you read.”

Meta has reportedly stopped ordering new components for the Quest Pro from its suppliers, The Information maintains. While it’s thought Meta will continue selling its $1,000 Pro-branded mixed reality headset as long as there is enough stock, the report alleges the entire Pro line has been suspended, putting a second-generation Quest Pro distinctly out of the question.

Speaking in an Instagram Stories post yesterday, Bosworth rebukes the claim that a potential Quest Pro 2 has officially been cancelled for good, saying that his team is developing multiple prototypes in parallel for all of its projects. Notably, he doesn’t address whether it’s spinning down the current version of Quest Pro, however he implies that the report of Quest Pro 2’s demise was the result of a disgruntled employee whose project was cut.

Here’s Bosworth’s statement in full:

“I have to explain this every year. There is no Quest Pro 2 headset until we decide there is. What I mean by that is there are lots of prototype headsets—lots of them—all in development in parallel. Some of them, we say, “that’s not the right one,” and we shut it down. Some of them, we say, “that’s the right one,” and we spin it up. What you need to understand is, until it goes out the door, it doesn’t get the name. So, there might be a Quest Pro 2, there might not be. I’m not really telling you, but I will say don’t believe everything you read about what’s been stopped or started. A lot of times it comes from someone who’s unhappy their particular project got cut when there are other projects that did not get cut.”

Still, it’s clear there’s been some turbulence in how Quest Pro was handled from the get-go. Originally launched for $1,500 in October 2022, Meta decided only a few months later it would slash Quest Pro by $500, putting at its $1,000 price tag today. Meanwhile, Quest 2 has seen multiple price changes, ranging from $300 to $400 for the same 128GB variant.

Fluctuating prices aside, Quest Pro’s raison d’être has never really been clearly defined, as the company has nebulously pitched it to professionals as a would-be workstation. In practice, Quest Pro has been more of a developer kit for studios hoping to build consumer apps for the cheaper Quest 3, coming in Fall 2023 at $500. Meanwhile, Quest Pro users have reported a host of usability issues since launch, decidedly making it feel a little less ready for prime time than the company probably hoped.

Whatever the case, Quest Pro 2 would need a much clearer value proposition—provided whatever prototypes Meta has waiting in the wings also don’t also get cut.

Meta CTO Rebukes Report Claiming Cancellation of Quest Pro Line Read More »

Meta CTO Says Quest 3 Announcement Timing Had ‘Nothing to do with Vision Pro’

andrew bosworth, apple vision pro, boz, Meta, News, quest 3, VR Industry / Mike M. / July 13, 2023

Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said this week that the announcement of Quest 3, which came just days ahead of Vision Pro reveal, had nothing to do with the timing of Apple’s first public foray into XR.

“People won’t believe me, I don’t care—I’m telling the truth, you can believe me or not, that’s up to you […],” Bosworth began in a Q&A hosted on Instagram this week in response to a question about the curious timing of Quest 3’s announcement, which came just days ahead of the reveal of Apple Vision Pro. He continued:

What we found out… especially last year… is that when we announce a new headset in September/October, a lot of people—especially when you already have headsets out in market—a lot of people have already made buying decisions in the summertime, or they’re kind of committed to a path, so you’re not capturing the full holiday season.

So we sent a note to [Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg] long before we even knew about WWDC timing or substance, saying ‘hey for Quest 3 we want to announce it early, so that people know it’s coming, so they can plan well in advance of the holiday season what they want to do’.

So that was our plan from a long time ago, and the timing worked out unbelievably well [laughs]. I’m not mad about it… I’m not saying I’m mad about it, I’m just saying that was the plan that we developed in terms of go-to-market, and it had nothing to do with [Vision Pro].

The announcement of Quest 3—which came four days before Apple’s Vision Pro reveal—was certainly curious as far as the company’s prior patterns. Compared to the kind of formal announcement we’ve seen, the new headset was first teased and then revealed on social media through Mark Zuckerberg’s feeds. Even when more formal information was shared shortly thereafter, the company didn’t share the headset’s full specs, instead promising more details to come at the annual XR event, Meta Connect, which wouldn’t be held for nearly four more months.

Regardless, Bosworth maintains the Quest 3 announcement was decided well before the company knew what Apple would reveal or when.

Bosworth, who heads Meta’s XR division, Reality Labs, also answered some other questions about Apple Vision Pro during the Q&A.

Q: Thoughts on Apple’s decision to have attached battery pack rather than all-in-one headset?

A: At some point these headsets are a physics problem. You can spend your thermals and your weight one way, or another way, but at some point the equation has to square. [Apple’s] headset, I think, is roughly in the same ballpark of weight as our headsets, and they wanted to have this battery life, so they wanted to go external with [the battery]. It doesn’t matter who you are, what company you are, who you work for… physics is a uniform belligerent to this space. We’re making progress hand-over-fist as an industry; I think Apple’s entry is going to help with that a lot. But yeah, you have to square the circle somehow, and they had to do it with an external battery pack and a cord.

Q: How does the Vision Pro change Meta’s roadmap?

A: Andy Grove—famous Intel CEO and kind of godfather of Silicon Valley—always used to say “only the paranoid survive,” and we try to embody that. You try to approach your work with a lot of humility. Whenever a great competitor comes out, whether it be the Pico, whether it be Apple Vision Pro, certainly; you’re trying to look and see, what did they do differently, and why? What did we miss? Did we get it wrong, or did they figure something out? So you try to learn from it. And then be humble about it. At the same time, you can’t constantly be chasing every competitor because then you’re getting thrown off your own game. You’re getting thrown off what you can uniquely do and what you’ve done right, and that they need to learn from. In our case I think we’ve got a great ecosystem, we’ve got a great set of devices, we’ve got a great price point. So it’s a balance to try to learn from them and not over-rotate on that. Nothing that we hadn’t looked at before […] we were focusing on gaze and touch for AR as well—it’s a natural AR interaction—is that something that needs to get more priority in VR? Not sure yet. So we’re looking at it… we’re not sure yet.

Meta CTO Says Quest 3 Announcement Timing Had ‘Nothing to do with Vision Pro’ Read More »

Meta Reportedly in Talks With Tencent to Bring Quest to China

china, Meta, meta in china, Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, tencent, tencent vr, VR in China / Ryan Harris / July 8, 2023

Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China since 2009, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to get back in that country with Quest, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report maintains that Meta has held discussions with several Chinese tech companies, making the most progress with massive entertainment conglomerate Tencent.

The Meta-Tencent talks reportedly came to a head late last year, with Tencent Chairman Pony Ma deciding to proceed with the negotiation first and “see what deals they could reach,” WSJ reports.

Undoubtedly the most complicated bit of the talks would revolve around VR content distribution, and how it’s moderated for Chinese markets. It’s said a portion of Meta’s global offerings could be on offer alongside Tencent’s own apps and services.

In 2009, Facebook and Twitter were banned in China after breaching Beijing’s notoriously strict censorship laws; the ban is thought to have been a direct effort to quel the July 2009 Ürümqi riots that took place in the country’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

More recently, Chinese executives were allegedly worried that Zuckerberg isn’t seen as “friendly to China” due to lingering tentions over prior accusations of technology theft by companies such as ByteDance, maker of TikTok.

A Meta spokesman declined to comment on WSJ’s report. Tencent didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time Meta VR hardware has made a splash on the Chinese mainland. In 2018, Meta (then Facebook) penned a deal with Xiaomi to release a Chinese variant of Oculus Go, sold by Xiaomi as the ‘Mi VR Standalone’. At the time, this was something of a quid pro quo, as Xiaomi was tasked with manufacturing Oculus Go, giving it exclusive rights to the mainland Chinese market as a result.

No such manufacturing deal is in place with Meta Quest 3, which is coming this Fall for $500. In the end, Meta’s current strategy seems less about getting its subsidized hardware into the country, and more about driving a wedge into the Great Chinese Firewall so it can once again tap into the world’s fastest-growing economy.

Meta Reportedly in Talks With Tencent to Bring Quest to China Read More »

Meta Launches Monthly VR Game Subscription Service for Quest

Meta, meta quest, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, meta quest plus, Meta Quest Pro, News, quest, Quest 2, quest 3, quest game subscription, quest plus, Quest Pro, quest subscription / Ryan Harris / June 27, 2023

Meta today announced a new VR game subscription service that will give you access to two hand-picked Quest games per month, priced at $8 per month, or $60 annually.

Called Meta Quest+, the subscription service will be available to Quest 2, Quest Pro and eventually Quest 3 users.

Similar to PlayStation’s PS Plus service, Meta is offering up two specific redeemable titles on the first of each month which you can download and keep for as long as you’re a paid member.

Meta says members can cancel at any time, which would mean you’d lose access to each game you redeemed, although the company says rejoining allows you to gain access to those previously redeemed titles.

The service is kicking off in July with Cloudhead Games’ physical action-rhythm FPS Pistol Whip and the nostalgia-fueled arcade adventure Pixel Ripped 1995 from ARVORE Immersive Experiences.

August is set to have Mighty Coconut’s highly-rated Walkabout Mini Golf and FPS roguelite MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE from Terrible Posture Games.

Meta Quest+ is set to cost $8 per month, or billed for $60 annually, a 37% savings over the monthly charge. You can learn more and also sign up here.

Meta says Quest+ titles are eligible for App Sharing across accounts, although if you happen to already own any of the games on offer monthly, you’ll just have to stick around to see whether something comes up that you don’t already own.

To sweeten the pot, the company is doing a deal for July that reduces the first month’s charge to $1, which is then followed by the regular $8 per month. That specific offer ends July 31st, 2023.

While Quest+ has been the subject of rumors for the past few months, it wasn’t clear which route the company would go—whether it would be a Viveport-style affair that allows you to pick from a pool of eligible games, or what they revealed today, a highly curated system like PS Plus. It’s an interesting route which could signal they’re expecting a substantial raise in new users in the coming months, as the company is set to launch its $500 Quest 3 headset September 27th, 2023, which has come along with a price reduction of Quest 2 to the original $300 price point.

Meta Launches Monthly VR Game Subscription Service for Quest Read More »

Quest 3 Pops up in Best Buy Listing With Clues About Resolution, Release Date

Meta Quest 3, News, quest 3, quest 3 release date, quest 3 resolution, VR Headset / Ryan Harris / June 23, 2023

Quest 3 was announced just three weeks ago, and yet the headset is already listed at Best Buy. Though its resolution hasn’t been officially announced, the page gives us a big clue.

Meta offered a partial reveal of Quest 3 earlier this month, promising that we’d get a more full look at the new headset during the company’s annual XR conference, Meta Connect, at the end of September. The timing of the headset’s reveal came just ahead of the reveal of Apple Vision Pro (and we don’t think that was a coincidence).

Now, just three weeks later, Quest 3 already has a product page at consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, as spotted by XR analyst Brad Lynch.

Quest 3 Resolution

The store page already lists the headset with a model number, SKU, UPC, correct price, and product description, suggesting this isn’t an early fluke, but rather a product page for a soon-to-launch product. These details also suggest that Quest 3 has already passed FCC certification, which is required before it can go on sale.

And there’s a big hint on the page about the Quest 3 resolution, which Meta has yet to confirm.

According to the description, the headset has “a nearly 30% leap in resolution from Quest 2.”

Quest 2 has a resolution of about 3.5MP (1,920 × 1,832 per-eye); a 30% jump should mean Quest 3 has around 4.5MP—probably meaning around 2,160 × 2,160 resolution per-eye.

An Early Release Date for Quest 3?

Prior to its appearance at Best Buy we would have guessed that Quest 3 would launch in mid-October at the earliest—almost four months from now—which would align with both the 2023 holiday shopping season and the same timeframe of the Quest 2 launch.

But with the Best Buy product listing, it’s starting to look like the headset is rearing to go, making it feel like there’s a chance that Meta doesn’t just reveal the headset at its Connect conference at the end of September, but might even make it available immediately thereafter.

But why? Well, it’s clear that Meta has been responding to Apple’s moves now that Vision Pro is out in the wild. Even though the $500 Quest 3 isn’t remotely in the same ballpark as the $3,500 Vision Pro, Meta can already see the writing on the wall. The company may be posturing to protect its early lead in the XR space, trying to get Quest 3 out the door and in as many hands as possible before the Vision Pro’s early 2024 release.

Quest 3 Pops up in Best Buy Listing With Clues About Resolution, Release Date Read More »

New Quest 2 & Quest Pro Update Brings Performance Boost and New Home Environments

Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, News, Quest 2, quest 2 performance update, quest 2 updates, quest 3, Quest Pro, quest pro performance update, quest pro updates / Ryan Harris / June 22, 2023

Meta says it’s has begun pushing out a software update which will bring some pretty profound performance boosts to both Quest 2 & Quest Pro.

Update (June 21st, 2023): Meta says Quest update v55 is now starting to roll out to Quest 2 & Quest Pro users. The company is promising the update will deliver a significant boost to the devices’ performance which should make the VR experience smoother overall while allowing apps to render at somewhat higher resolutions.

Update v55 also includes a standalone Messenger app and a revamped ‘Explore’ tab (which now shows Reels from Instagram and Facebook, if your accounts are connected). The update also adds multi-touch capability to the in-headset browser for hands-on zooming of web pages.

And last but not least, users will find two new home environments for their headset. The first is ‘Futurescape’, which was the backdrop of this year’s Quest Gaming Showcase; the second is ‘The Great Sand Sea’, which is exclusively available to users who have pre-ordered Asgard’s Wrath 2.

As ever, Meta advises that these updates roll out gradually to the population of headset users, so if you don’t see it right away you might need to wait a little longer.

The original article, which covered the update’s performance improvements, continues below.

Original Article (June 1st, 2023): Meta unveiled Quest 3 today, its next consumer-focused headset slated to launch in fall starting at $500. Quest 3 is going to be more powerful than Quest 2 by a good margin; the company says it has “more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2.”

Now the company says it’s tossing out a software update to both Quest 2 and Quest Pro chipsets that will provide up to 26% CPU performance increase for both. As for the headsets’ GPUS, we’re told to expect up to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro.

“As developers take advantage of these changes, you can expect smoother gameplay, a more responsive UI, and richer content on both headsets,” the company says in a blogpost. “And we’re enabling Dynamic Resolution Scaling for both Quest 2 and Quest Pro, so games and apps can take advantage of increased pixel density without dropping frames.”

The company hasn’t said just when to expect the update, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled on Meta blog and social channels in the coming days. In the meantime, check out all of our Quest 3 coverage so far which has come right ahead of the big Quest Gaming Showcase kicking off today:

New Quest 2 & Quest Pro Update Brings Performance Boost and New Home Environments Read More »

Meta to Reduce Quest’s Minimum Age Restriction to 10 Years

Meta, meta quest, News, Quest 2, quest 2 age, quest 3, quest 3 age, quest age, quest age limit / Ryan Harris / June 20, 2023

Meta announced it’s reducing age requirements for Quest users, bringing the previous 13+ minimum down to 10+. The company says the policy change will come alongside new parent-managed accounts for Quest 2 and the upcoming Quest 3, which the company says will help keep preteens safe.

As anyone who has dipped their toes into social VR apps such as Rec Room or VRChat can probably attest, young kids are broadly already using VR headsets. Now Meta is introducing a scheme that will allow 10, 11 and 12-year-olds to have their own parent-managed accounts for the first time.

Slated to launch later this year, Meta says in a blogpost that its new parent-managed Meta accounts will require preteens to get their parent’s approval to set up an account, giving adults control over what apps their preteens can download from the Meta app store.

These parent-managed accounts will include controls to manage things like screen time limits, privacy and safety settings, and access to specific types of content, which will specify whether apps have a social component.

Additionally, Meta says preteens won’t be served ads, and parents will be able to choose whether their child’s usage data will be shared with Meta. Parents will also be able to delete profiles, including all of the data associated with it, the company says.

That’s a fairly strong policy reversal. At the time of this writing, Meta’s Safety Center portal maintains that Meta VR headsets “are not toys” and that younger children have “greater risks of injury and adverse effects than older users.”

Notably, Meta’s own social VR app Meta Horizon Worlds is also retaining its 13+ age requirement in the US and Canada (18+ in Europe).

Meta to Reduce Quest’s Minimum Age Restriction to 10 Years Read More »