Meta

The Meta Quest 2 may not be Meta's latest and greatest virtual reality headset, but it remains a strong value for those who want to give VR a try without spending a ton of cash. Now, it's even more affordable: A new deal has dropped the headset down to $199 at several retailers, including Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Meta's own online store. That's $50 below the device's standard going rate (after a permanent price cut earlier this year) and the largest discount we've seen.Photo by Devindra Hardawar /…

The U.S. House passed a bill that would ban third-party data brokers from selling the user data of Americans to geopolitical adversaries like China and Russia. And while it still needs to pass the Senate to become law, it’s a step in the right direction as recent headlines mostly focus on a potential ban on TikTok in the U.S.Mourning the Loss of Addison Rae’s Debut Album | The Meme MachineThe Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, H.R. 7520, passed unanimously on Wednesday, 414-0, and would ban data…

Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Elon Musk's X and Match Group on Wednesday joined "Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games' protest that Apple has failed to honor a court-ordered injunction governing payments in its lucrative App Store.The technology companies, which developed some of the most popular apps in the App Store, said Apple was in "clear violation" of the Sept. 2021 injunction by making it difficult to steer consumers to cheaper means to pay for digital content.Apple declined to comment specifically on the accusation,…

Mark Zuckerberg began testing a horizontal swiping feature on Wednesday for his pet project, Threads, the app whose main purpose seems to be trolling Elon Musk. The feature appears to be something Musk tweeted about two weeks ago, noting that he’s wanted to add it to X for the last year. Threads Needs These Five Missing Features to Be a Twitter Killer“Swipe right to reply, left to favorite, tap & hold for all other actions. Very clean,” said Musk in a tweet from Mar. 7. “I’ve been dying to do this for a year.”Zuck…

Several notable names have joined in taking a stance against Apple's decision to charge a fee for iOS payments made outside of the App Store. Meta, Microsoft, X and Match Group filed an amicus brief in the case, as reports. That lends some heavyweight backing to Epic's cause.Apple was forced to enable third-party payments on iOS due to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) and a court ruling in the US. It also has to on iOS in the EU. The company takes up to a 30 percent cut of App Store purchases. Perhaps…

Threads has to help users improve the algorithm that populates the For You feed. It’s reportedly called Algo Tune as, well, it helps people tune their algorithms. It’s pretty rare when any social media site, particularly one run by Meta, allows users to adjust the parameters by which the great and powerful algorithm operates, so this feature is definitely worth keeping an eye on.It works a lot like Tinder and other dating apps. If you don’t like something on your feed, you swipe left. If you like a post and want to see…

Justice Paula Feroleto of the Erie County Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the more than 40 plaintiffs could try to prove that Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, Reddit, Google’s YouTube and other platforms were designed to addict and radicalize users like the shooter, Payton Gendron.The plaintiffs included relatives or representatives of people who died in Gendron’s racially motivated mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14, 2022, as well as store employees and customers who witnessed it. Gendron was 18…

Meta Platforms has offered to almost halve its monthly subscription fee for Facebook and Instagram to EUR 5.99 (roughly Rs. 540) from EUR 9.99 (roughly Rs. 900), a senior Meta executive said on Tuesday, a move that aims to address concerns from privacy and antitrust regulators.The price cut follows mounting criticism from privacy activists and consumer groups about Meta's no-ads subscription service in Europe, which critics say requires users to pay a fee to ensure their privacy.Meta launched the service in November to…

The Meta Quest 3 is the latest and greatest VR headset from Meta, but it's quite expensive at $500. If you're new to the world of VR (or just want to save a bundle of cash), opting for the more affordable Meta Quest 2 is a better option, as it plays many of the same games and offers impressive visuals thanks to its Snapdragon XR2 Gen1 processor. The last-gen headset is more enticing than usual right now, as you'll find it bundled with an accessory set for just $218, down from its usual $310 (h/t Wario64).…

Sharks are circling TikTok after House lawmakers last week passed a bill that if signed into law would essentially ban the app in the U.S. — unless China-based owner ByteDance sells it to a company without ties to the Chinese Government. Should the ban take effect, three of TikTok’s competitors stand to benefit the most: Meta, Alphabet, and Snap Inc. These companies could see a bump in engagement on their short-form video platforms and get a split of billions in revenue, Wall Street analysts said. “Given the…