30/09/2024

MONDAY | SEP 30, 2024

23

LYFE

M ETA CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled an affordable mixed reality headset and the prototype of its first augmented reality (AR) glasses last week at the company’s annual Connect conference. The company also showcased a series of features built on generative artificial intelligence (AI) that will come to its devices and social media platforms such as Instagram. Here are some key announcements: Augmented reality glasses Meta introduced Orion, which the company claims to be the most advanced AR glasses in the world and would weigh less than 100g. The see-through glasses allow users to see virtual objects superimposed on their environment. Wearers can access WhatsApp and Messenger, make video calls and retrieve information on things in their line of sight. Meta said Orion is powered by a custom chip and it is working on a consumer version of the glasses. Affordable mixed reality headset Meta unveiled an affordable Quest 3S mixed reality headset, which will be offered in two storage capacity sizes – the smaller one priced at US$299.99 (RM1,233) and the larger at US$399.99. The headset is set to hit the shelves on Oct 15. The company also dropped the price of its 512GB Meta Quest 3 to US$499.99 from US$649.99. Meanwhile, the older Quest 2 and high-end Quest Pro devices are being discontinued. Multimodal Llama 3.2 Meta announced its first open-source multimodal AI model Llama 3.2, which can generate content from image and text prompts. It also announced light-weight versions of Llama 3.2, capable of

Meta’s new products unveiled

o Latest offerings include AR glasses, Quest 3S mixed reality headset

Meta claims the Orion AR glasses is the most advanced in the world. – ALL PICS FROM REUTERS

running natively on mobile devices.

New voice capabilities to Meta AI chatbot Meta AI will now support voice, with an option to select celebrity voices such as those of Judi Dench and John Cena. The capability can be accessed through Meta AI in Facebook,

Meta said it is updating the Ray-Ban sunglasses with AI tool, including video capability and real-time language translator.

Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram direct message. Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses updated Meta is updating Ray-Ban Meta

smart glasses with AI tools for reminders and the ability to scan QR codes and phone numbers with voice commands. The company will also add AI

video capability and the ability to perform real-time language translation later this year, greatly expanding its functions and convenience. – Reuters

A Meta Quest 3s VR headset, controllers and a case.

Ű BY MARK MATHEN VICTOR Elon Musk reveals revamp of X’s block feature

block function will block that account from engaging with but not block seeing, public post,” Musk posted. At the moment, attempting to view the profile of someone that has blocked you will show a “You are blocked” message, along with being completely locked out from seeing their posts, replies, media and

following list. This is set to shift once X’s change goes into effect, which would presumably allow blocked users to see everything on the account of the user that blocked them, with the caveat being the former will not be able to directly engage with the latter. The change is a cause for concern

as it will potentially allow bad actors, such as stalkers, an avenue to continue what they were doing prior to being blocked. Musk had posted last year that blocking public posts (on X) makes no sense in June and block feature is going to be deleted in August. Looks like it is becoming a reality.

X is set to turn everyone’s public posts visible to users that they have blocked. The reversal in how the block feature functions was confirmed in a reply to another user by X owner Elon Musk through his account last week. “High time this happened. The

Musk to shift block policy on X. – XPIC