Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, counts more than 3 billion monthly users across its family of apps. Now, it’s trying to build the next generation of services in virtual reality and the metaverse through Meta Quest headsets and Horizon Worlds — all while dealing with antitrust pressures, privacy concerns, and younger users shifting to other platforms.
Presumably, that tab will show you all of the images and video someone has posted, which is how the Media tab works on X.
The potential new feature was discovered by developer and frequent feature-finder Alessandro Paluzzi.
Because we often wonder how much a CEO actually knows about the goings on of their company—particularly when a large company like Meta has is being sued by dozens of Attorneys General over its policies around underage users.
It turns out Zuckerberg may have had a very direct hand in crafting policies that targeted children and exacerbated issues with body image on Meta’s platforms, at least according to a new report from the New York Times
[The New York Times]
Meta forms new Wearables group and lays off some employees
Meta’s Reality Labs is undergoing its biggest restructuring in years by separating into two orgs: Wearables and Metaverse. A small number of employees have been laid off as a result.
Called the Logitech MX Ink, it will work on the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and can be used to draw in 2D on surfaces or 3D using “full 6DoF positional tracking,” according to UploadVR.
The MX Ink will have haptic feedback, pressure sensitivity, multiple buttons, and will support a double tap feature. Users will reportedly be able to seamlessly switch between it and Quest Touch controllers.
Following the introduction of live NBA scores, Threads will have live MLB scores “starting today,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced. You can see MLB scores by searching for a game while it’s happening or within one day of when it ends, according to spokesperson Alec Booker.
The company plans to “continue expanding live scores to cover more sports and leagues,” Mosseri said.
Update, June 13th: Added new details and an image from Meta.
Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity — the first VR title in this popular dancing game series — will be available on October 15th for the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, and Meta Quest 3.
Ubisoft says the game supports up to six dancers, and features customizable avatars, 25 songs, and a new social hub called “Dancity” where global players can interact with each other.
The platform’s “tag” feature is different than traditional hashtags — users can tag phrases, not just words, and the # symbol disappears once the tag is added.
App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi reports Meta is experimenting with displaying the # symbol. It’s a small change, but could potentially help when crossposting to the fediverse, which currently breaks the added Threads tag.
Meta is hosting its Connect event on September 25th and 26th, where it will share announcements related to AI and mixed reality. This means we could get a look at the Quest 3S — a potentially more affordable version of the Quest 3 headset that Meta briefly listed on the Quest Store.
Two people from Malaysia both say they used Microsoft Image Creator to produce the graphic in support of Palestinians.
It’s been shared over 50 million times now, and now NPR has spoken to both of them: Zila Abka, who months ago posted the version found by 404 Media on Facebook, and Amirul Shah, who shared the now-viral Instagram template.
The Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) Promoter Group, will work to create an open standard to help AI accelerators “communicate more effectively” within data centers and boost performance. Other members include AMD, HP, Broadcom, and Cisco — but not Nvidia, which has AI chip-linking tech of its own.
Meta’s platform is prepping a new settings menu item called “Early access to features” according to a screenshot posted by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzio.
The company mentioned the tier in an internal post viewed by The Information, but there’s no word on included features or cost. The post also suggested that Meta is working on an AI tool for coding, something the Microsoft-owned GitHub and Amazon already offer.
[The Information]
Bloomberg reports Meta and Google met with major Hollywood studios to license content for their AI video generation platforms. These meetings come after OpenAI reportedly spoke to several Hollywood studios about using its AI video generation model, Sora.
Meta has been working on its AI video generation model Emu since last year. Meanwhile, Google unveiled Veo during Google I/O this month.
According to Bloomberg, Meta has established a new advisory group that will periodically meet with Meta’s management team to provide guidance on the company’s advancements in artificial intelligence. The (noticeably all white, male) council: Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, and former Microsoft exec Charlie Songhurst.