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Meta’s Planning to Launch Four New VR Headset Types Over the Next Two Years

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If Meta wants to see its metaverse vision become a reality, it needs to get more people into VR headsets – because the majority of the examples that we’ve seen of Zuck and Co.’s imagined metaverse thus far involve fully immersive virtual reality, and digital spaces that enable an endless range of interactions.

In line with this, Meta is reportedly planning to release four new VR headsets over the next two years, according to a new report from The Information based on Meta’s plans.

As per The Information:

Meta’s planning to release Project Cambria, a high-end VR and mixed-reality headset that it’s billing as a device for the future of work, around September, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cambria was originally supposed to come out last year but its launch was delayed by supply chain and other pandemic-related issues.”

Indeed, Meta provided a first look at the Cambria headset late last year, which appears to be a more enclosed type device.

The Cambria headset will reportedly include high-resolution image quality, for more granular applications, while it will also enable the wearer to view their real-world surroundings using outward-facing cameras, which could facilitate all new mixed-reality experiences.

Cambria will also be the first of Meta’s headsets to include eye-tracking and facial expression recognition features, which will provide even more capacity to engage within the digital environment.

It seems, at present, that the more advanced model is aimed at professional users, with a specific focus on facilitating remote meetings and collaboration, while also enabling more general use VR applications at the same time.

Following the launch of the first iteration of Cambria, Meta’s also planning another, even more advanced VR headset type, currently slated for release in 2024, while it will also release two new versions of its popular Quest headset in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

At the same time, Meta’s AR glasses, currently titled Project Aria, are tentatively scheduled for retail release in 2024, and will essentially expand upon its Ray Ban Stories initial smart glasses release (Note: Meta’s now also referring to its AR glasses as ‘Project Nazare’, which could mean that there are also two variations of these in development as well).

The timeline will see Meta making a big push on VR, in alignment with its metaverse shift, which will ideally both accelerate VR take-up, and help Meta make more money faster from its next-level digital environments – because right now, Meta shareholders are understandably a little uneasy about Meta’s decade out timeline for seeing any major returns on its metaverse efforts.

As part of its Q1 earnings report, which Meta shared last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the company’s long term vision, and how many of its projects currently in development won’t pay off for some time:

“We’re now basically funding product teams to be building our future products, two or three versions into the future. Because when you’re designing hardware, these are multiyear plans that you’re building and kind of figuring out all the pieces that are going to go into that […] It’s not going to be until those products really hit the market and scale in a meaningful way and this market ends up being big that this will be a big revenue or profit contributor to the business. So that’s why I’ve given the color on past calls that I expect us to be later this decade, right? Maybe primarily, this is laying the groundwork for what I expect to be a very exciting 2030s, when this is sort of more established as the primary computing platform at that point.”

So Meta itself is under no illusions about this being a long-term strategy, with the metaverse set to take on many iterations before it becomes the fully-functional, immersive engagement experience that the company envisions (take note, for all those peddling their NFT projects and similar, claiming that the metaverse is already here).

But that also means that company’s shareholders will need to hold tight for some time, as costs and expenses continue to rise, in the hopes that Zuckerberg’s grand vision does actually come to fruition.

Which it seems like it will, but even so, the market is generally not a patient environment, which is why Meta is now looking to reduce costs where possible to improve its bottom line, while also pushing out new products to boost VR adoption, and start generating real money from that element of the business.

Which is happening. Quest 2 sales are steadily rising, while Meta says that people have already spent more than a billion dollars on Quest store content.

The opportunity here is clearly evolving, and Meta’s now keen to push that momentum, with the launch of its first retail store, focused on VR unit sales, and this new effort to launch new VR headset types to appeal to different use cases.

Combine that with its growing list of VR titles and you can imagine that Meta’s headsets will be in big demand once again this coming holiday season, ahead of the next big push into the metaverse environment.

Which is where these new devices will come in, with its AR glasses also feeding into the broader metaverse push, and potentially becoming a key connective device for consumers looking to tap into the rising activity in the space.

Which is what Meta really needs. It’s one thing to be touting the next-level of engagement, but if there’s nothing overly engaging there, in the VR space, no one will care how about technologically advanced these new headsets might be.

That feels like the situation at present. VR worlds exist, and there’s a steadily growing range of options available in Meta’s digital environment, but really, it’s not a hugely compelling option, while motion sickness and itchiness from the headset are also factors that can limit the time that people will spend in VR in any one session.

Really, Meta needs some more compelling apps and tools in there, and maybe Horizon Worlds, its VR creation platform will become that, while VR versions of popular games like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil could also help boost word of mouth, and see even more take-up.

There are also mental health considerations within that, and hopefully Meta is also factoring this in as it ramps up its push, with the more enclosed VR environment set to be even more damaging than current social media platforms.

Meta’s also launched a creator funding program for VR to help fuel more innovative, next level experiences, but all of this will take time, and it’s hard to see VR becoming a ‘must-have’ option till there’s a really strong, critical mass-type reason to log in every day.

I suspect that it’s coming, but we haven’t seen it yet. But when it does come, you can expect VR adoption to rise very fast – and for Meta’s share price to rise with it.

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YouTube Adds New Analytics Cards, Simplifies its ‘Product Drops’ Feature

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YouTube Adds New Analytics Cards, Simplifies its ‘Product Drops’ Feature

YouTube’s making some updates to its Product Drops feature within live streams, while it’s also adding some new analytics cards, and testing a new format for its TV app.

First off, on Product Drops. YouTube’s changing the requirements for Product Drops in live streams so that more creators will be able to include drops to highlight their items.

Up till now, Product Drops have only been available to creators who’ve connected their Shopify stores, or have access to Google Merchant Center, while creators have also had to plan Product Drops in advance, and schedule them via Live Control Room. But now, YouTube’s giving more creators more ways to access the feature.

As per YouTube:

“Any creators who have connected to their first party stores, or are participating in the YouTube Affiliate Program can set up Product Drops in the live control room on YouTube. This means that more creators will be able to use Product Drops to boost sales and engagement on their live streams.”

YouTube will also now enable creators to implement Product Drops at any time during a live stream, eliminating the pre-planned requirement.

“This will give creators more flexibility to react to the moment, and drive excitement in real time.”

YouTube says that many creators have seen good response to their Product Drops, with the interactive, engaging process helping to drive hype, and spark more response from viewers.

Product Drops are available via the Live Control Room in YouTube Studio. You can read more about how they work here.

YouTube’s also updating its Community Posts creation flow, in order to simplify the process, and ideally get more channels posting text-based updated in the app.

Community Posts remain a lesser element, though YouTube’s been working to make them a bigger focus throughout the year, by adding additional engagement elements like pollsquizzesdisappearing updates, and more.

Simplifying the creation process is another step in boosting awareness, and potentially driving more interaction with you YouTube audience.

YouTube’s also adding some new revenue analytics cards, including “Total Members” insights (which includes subscriber data) and “Where Members Joined From”, which will provide more insight into what’s driving channel growth.

YouTube’s also adding new data on why users have canceled their membership within the insights tab in YouTube Analytics.

YouTube analytics cards

As you can see in this example, the new card will show the reasons why people have opted to stop their subscription to your channel, based on responses provided in the cancellation flow.

Finally, YouTube’s also experimenting with a new format for its TV app, which will make it easier to access different elements.

YouTube TV app

As you can see in this example, shared by 9t05Google, the new format will include bigger buttons to access different elements, and further customize your YouTube experience on the bigger screen.

Connected TV is the fastest growing viewer segment for YouTube, with more and more people now looking to consume YouTube content on their home TV set. As such, it makes sense for YouTube to roll out more updates aligned with big screen viewing in order to feed into this usage.

Some handy updates, across various elements, which are worth noting as you go about managing your YouTube presence.

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Musk regrets controversial post but won’t bow to advertiser ‘blackmail’

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Elon Musk's comments at the New York Times' Dealbook conference drew a shocked silence

Elon Musk’s comments at the New York Times’ Dealbook conference drew a shocked silence – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Slaven Vlasic

Elon Musk apologized Wednesday for endorsing a social media post widely seen as anti-Semitic, but accused advertisers who are turning away from his social media platform X of “blackmail” and said anyone who does so can “go fuck yourself.”

The remark before corporate executives at the New York Times’ Dealbook conference drew a shocked silence.

Earlier, Musk had apologized for what he called “literally the worst and dumbest post that I’ve ever done.”

In a comment on X, formerly Twitter, Musk on November 15 called a post “the actual truth” that said Jewish communities advocated a “dialectical hatred against whites,” which was criticized as echoing longtime conspiracy theory among White supremacists.

The statement prompted a flood of departures from X of major advertisers, including Apple, Disney, Comcast and IBM who criticized Musk for anti-semitism.

“I’m sorry for that tweet or post,” Musk said Wednesday. “It was foolish of me.”

He told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin that his post had been misinterpreted and that he had sought to clarify the remark in subsequent posts to the thread.

But Musk also said he wouldn’t be beholden to pressure from advertisers.

“If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money?” Musk said. “Go fuck yourself.”

But the billionaire acknowledged that there were business implications to the advertiser actions.

“If the company fails… it will fail because of an advertiser boycott” Musk said. “And that will be what will bankrupt the company.”

Musk, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel earlier this week, insisted in the interview that he holds no discrimination against Jews, calling himself “philo-Semitic,” or an admirer of Judaism.

During the interview, Musk wore a necklace given to him by a parent of an Israeli hostage taken in the Hamas attack on October 7. The necklace reads, “Bring Them Home.”

Musk told Sorkin that the Israel trip had been planned earlier and was not an “apology tour” related to the controversial tweet.

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TikTok Encourages Creators To Make Longer Videos, With Focus On Ad Revenue 11/30/2023

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TikTok Encourages Creators To Make Longer Videos, With Focus On Ad Revenue 11/30/2023

With a need to expand its advertising business, TikTok is now fully focused on the output of long-form videos.

A new report by The Information shows the company’s recent efforts to convince
creators to put out longer videos in order to provide more room for ad placements.

According to the …



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