GoKawiil
Tech News
Meta demonstrated a new device called Meta VR Glasses, a $1,299 folding, glasses-shaped VR visor set to launch next spring. The hardware uses eye-tracking and hand-pinch controls, displays sharp passthrough video of the surrounding room, and can run immersive 3D content such as concert footage and sports broadcasts. Unlike Meta's Orion prototype, these are VR rather than AR glasses, though they share some design traits.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the company's next-generation Meta VR Glasses at Connect, a sunglasses-style headset paired with a wired external computing pod. The device runs Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite (XR2 Gen 3) chip, features a 5K 120Hz micro-OLED display with a 70-degree field of view, hand-tracking cameras, and launches with over 75 games plus compatibility with existing Quest titles and Touch Plus controllers.
At Meta Connect in Menlo Park, Mark Zuckerberg introduced new hardware including Meta VR Glasses, a headset five times lighter than the Meta Quest 3 that resembles goggles rather than a strapped helmet. The company also launched Ray-Ban Meta Audio, a camera-free smart glasses model, alongside a third-generation Ray-Ban Meta and plans to bring its Muse AI agent to the smart glasses platform.
Meta has introduced a new VR device shaped like glasses rather than a strapped-on headset, weighing about 100g compared to the Quest 3's 515g. The glasses rely on a separate wired 'puck' that houses the Snapdragon Reality Elite processor, 128GB storage, 12GB RAM, and battery, offering up to three hours of media playback. The device uses a 5K MicroOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate for watching video, gaming, and multitasking across virtual screens.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple has spent months investigating a screenless wearable, testing prototypes with a fabric band and sensor module built by the team behind the Vision Pro headset. The company has not decided whether to actually launch the product, though executives Tim Cook and Eddy Cue are said to be interested. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with Clique TV, Apple's John Ternus reflected on being asked by Tim Cook to take on the CEO role, describing the moment as unexpected and humbling. He also spoke about lessons learned from Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, emphasizing a focus on future innovation, and shared enthusiasm about generative AI's potential to enable products once thought to be science fiction.
Apple's new hardware chief John Ternus discussed Vision Pro's slow sales during an interview with French outlet Clique TV, comparing the device to the earliest days of personal computing. He noted surgeons and film production crews are already finding practical uses for the headset, similar to how early Macs found niche applications like desktop publishing before becoming mainstream.
Swedish company Flow Neuroscience has launched a prescription-only wearable device in the US designed to treat depression through daily brain stimulation at home. Worn on the forehead for 30 minutes a day and paired with a companion app, the headset delivers low-intensity electrical current to the brain's left frontal lobe, an area linked to mood regulation. The device received FDA approval in December and joins a growing category of consumer neurotech products that read or stimulate brain activity.
Analyst Mark Gurman says Apple's newly unveiled iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, could spawn variants like a Duo Max, Duo mini, or Duo SE in coming years. He argues Apple deliberately picked a short name to leave room for such suffixes, mirroring its Air and Pro naming conventions.
Apple has released iOS 27 with the new Siri AI assistant, but access depends on several conditions. Users need an iPhone 15 Pro or newer (with some features locked to iPhone 17 Pro), a compatible Apple silicon Mac, iPad with A17 Pro or later, a compatible Apple Watch, or Vision Pro; Apple TV and HomePod are excluded. The feature also requires an English-language device setting, is restricted to users 13 and older, and is unavailable in the EU and China.
Apple has begun rolling out visionOS 27 to all Vision Pro headsets, including both the original M2 model and the newer M5 version. The update introduces an AI-enhanced Siri and standalone Siri app, a new Thórsmörk Environment, the ability to convert panoramas into spatial scenes, and Visual Intelligence for asking Siri about objects in view. Other additions include extra-small widgets, sharper screen recording, curved windows, eye-based notification expansion, a redesigned Control Center, and accessibility tools like wheelchair control and Vehicle Motion Cues.
The Verge's review details weeks of testing Valve's new $1,059-$1,299 Steam Frame, a wearable PC positioned as more than a VR headset—an attempt at a full spatial computing device for playing flat Steam games alongside VR titles. The reviewer praises its comfort and lightweight design but reports frequent crashes, disappearing controls and audio, and full power failures during use.