Meta introduces a more affordable $299 Quest 3S VR headset.

• Meta unveiled the $299 Quest 3S, a new virtual reality headset from its Reality Labs division and a more affordable option than its previous model, the $499 Quest 3.
• The company marketed the headset as a complete computer, thereby challenging Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro headset, which was launched in February.
• Meta unveiled Orion, a prototype of augmented reality smart glasses that won't be available to the public.

The company's Reality Labs division released the Quest 3S, a virtual reality headset that is more affordable than its predecessor.

The Meta Quest 3 VR headset will be available for purchase on Oct. 15, with a starting price of $299, a $200 reduction from its initial price of $499 for 2023. The device can be used for watching movies, fitness apps, and gaming, as announced by Meta at its Connect event in Menlo Park, California. The company positioned the headset as a multitasking computer, competing with Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro headset, which was launched in February.

Meta's previous Quest devices are the bestselling VR headsets, with millions shipped due to heavy marketing and a lower price than competitors. However, these efforts have not resulted in a cultural phenomenon or a mainstream software ecosystem around VR. Since its acquisition of Oculus in 2014, Meta has invested over $65 billion in its hardware initiatives.

Zuckerberg stated that he had been eagerly anticipating this moment for a considerable duration.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has defended the company's expenditure as a strategic move to prevent Facebook from dominating future hardware platforms.

Despite anticipation from VR developers that Apple's market entry would stimulate a surge of new apps and users, Apple has not disclosed sales figures for its headset, and it is reported that sales have been minimal, under 1 million units, partly because of its high cost.

What it does

A Meta representative stated that the "S" in "S-Series" represents "start," indicating the beginning of the virtual reality experience.

The Quest 3S, which the company unveiled on Tuesday for $299, has similar features to Apple's Vision Pro, such as a mode for use on airplanes and a simulated movie theater experience within the headset.

The Quest 3S now has a dedicated button to enable passthrough, a feature that uses cameras and sensors on the outside of the VR headset to display live real-time video inside, making users feel like they are looking through a display and allowing them to interact with the real world while keeping the headset on.

The Quest 3S has been highlighted by the company as a computing device due to its capability to multitask and run apps, rather than being viewed as a game console.

Zuckerberg stated that a general-purpose computer can do all things, and Quest is the complete package.

On Tuesday, Meta demonstrated a device that could run up to four apps simultaneously on floating screens within the headset, including YouTube, a browser, Amazon Music, and Meta's app store. However, the demo experience was not smooth as the Amazon Music app crashed, window controls would disappear, and Meta's controllers would fall asleep after a few minutes if the user wasn't pressing buttons.

Meta announced a price cut for the Quest 3, reducing the price of the 512GB version from $650 to $500. The Quest 3 has more advanced lenses and a superior screen with a higher resolution than the Quest 3S.

Meta has announced that it will discontinue the Quest Pro, its $999 headset that failed to gain much traction.

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