Meta is again on the spotlight

Good morning everyone!

Meta, Meta, and more Meta! The buzz around Meta has been incessant in the past week, especially with the unveiling of their latest Meta Connect 2023 event. This event shed light on a plethora of new developments and products they've been working on, featuring a new headset, innovative smart glasses, and an entirely fresh AI.

Today’s Topics:

• 🚀 Meta Quest 3 finally unveiled

• 🎁 Meta’s new initiatives revealed at Connect 2023

• 🌍 Microsoft to launch their own Metaverse called Mesh

Reading time: 5min

🤯 Meta showcases it’s crazy R&D projects

It is time to talk about the new Meta Quest 3. Meta's Connect 2023 event showcased the upcoming Meta Quest 3, set to debut on October 10 🗓️ with pre-orders available now.

Details:

• Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, presented the Quest 3 as the inaugural mainstream mixed-reality headset 💡, emphasizing its blend of the physical and digital worlds.

• CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth highlighted key features, including no wires, battery packs, or console connections, a 30% resolution increase, thin profile, even weight distribution, and spatial audio enhancements 🎧.

• Technical specifications include: 4K resolution, Snapdragon XR2 Gen2 chipset, pancake lens, spatial audio, RGB cameras, 8GB DRAM, and support for Meta Quest Link cable and Air Link 📊.

• Priced at $499.9 for the 128GB model and $649.99 for the 512GB model 💰, this mixed-reality headset is hailed as Meta's most powerful, emphasizing the fusion of physical and digital realms.

Our thoughts: The Meta Quest 3 is poised to become the go-to entry-level headset for anyone seeking an affordable mixed reality experience. The alternative is the Vision Pro, which comes at a cost seven times higher, placing it out of reach for many in terms of affordability.

👀 If you want to read about all the details, check the article by Road to VR: here.

🎁 Meta’s new initiatives revealed at Connect 2023

Meta’s news are not stopping. Besides from the Quest 3, Meta’s Connect 2023 showcased many more innovations 🌐, vision and products. These are the highlights:

Details:

Meta Quest for Business

• Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Quest for Business, integrating Microsoft 365, VMWare Workspace, Avanti One, and other productivity solutions, catering to enterprise needs and enhancing productivity offerings 🏢.

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses

• Meta introduced its next-gen smart glasses 🕶️, embedded with Meta AI, offering a multimodal AI upgrade for translation, object identification, and AI-powered issue resolution.

• Priced at $299 💰, these glasses will launch on 17 October 🗓️, incorporating seamless AI integrations.

AI Chatbots

• Meta unveiled its AI chatbots 💬, employing Meta AI Studio platform based on Llama-2 and partnering with Microsoft and Bing Search.

• Meta AI's presence will extend across chat applications, including Quest 3 headsets and Meta's family of apps, adding a 'fun' and task-focused dimension 💡.

Why it matters: We could say that the "Year of Productivity" spearheaded by Zuckerberg has paid off, marked by numerous successful initiatives and a strong performance on the stock market. Additionally, it's worth noting that if you were disappointed by the original Google Glasses, the new Meta Smart Glasses might come as a pleasant surprise.

🌍 Microsoft to launch their own Metaverse called Mesh

Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Mesh, a transformative collaborative metaverse platform, focusing on fostering genuine human connections and relationships while reshaping the work landscape.

Details:

• Microsoft Mesh addresses the challenge of relationship building in remote and hybrid work scenarios, utilizing spatial interactions and 3D virtual environments to foster engagement, co-presence, and togetherness.

• Pioneering major brands like PwC, Accenture, and Telefonica have already embraced Microsoft Mesh, recognizing its potential to connect remote workforces in fully 3D spaces for meetings, events, and team activities.

• Microsoft Mesh allows seamless integration across various devices - smartphones📱, laptops 💻, Meta Quest headsets - ensuring accessibility to a wider audience.

• Features include the ability to create bespoke 3D environments for branded events, training sessions, product showcases, and more 🏗️.

• Interested users can soon join the public preview of Microsoft Mesh through a streamlined process.

Why it matters: Microsoft Mesh isn't just a product launch; it's a strategic maneuver that aims to shape the future of how we interact in digital spaces. By competing in the metaverse arena, Microsoft not only advances its own interests but also contributes to the overall growth and progress of the metaverse field.