Technologies

Meta Completes Acquisition of VR Fitness Company Within

The held-up acquisition has gone through, adding a major fitness platform to Meta’s toolkit.

As the VR headset race heats up in 2023, Meta has been slowly acquiring many of the bigger developers in the field. Now it finally has a fitness platform that it’s been trying to acquire for two years.

Meta announced Wednesday that it closed on the acquisition of Within, maker of the subscription fitness app Supernatural. Meta originally announced its intent to acquire the developer back in 2021. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to stop the deal last year on grounds of Meta building a «virtual reality empire,» but it was reported last week that Meta had won approval for the acquisition.

«Today marks an exciting new chapter for Supernatural, as we officially join Meta,» Within CEO Chris Milk said in a statement. «We’re elated for the opportunity to bring joy, awe, wonder, and a happier, healthier life to more people around the world.»

Supernatural pairs with smartwatches to measure heart rate, and uses video scans of trainers overlaid in game-like training settings to create workouts that can feel like a VR version of Peloton. Fitness has been a major interest of Meta for the future of its VR and AR platforms, along with subscription services. Supernatural looks like a building block to fill both needs. CNET’s Joan Solsman has given it several in-depth tests over the last few years.

The closing of the deal happens amid a number of other VR headsets arriving in the next year, including the PlayStation VR 2, HTC Vive XR Elite and Apple’s expected mixed reality device.

The bigger question is whether Meta enables Supernatural to work across other VR headsets and platforms, and whether the app as it currently exists will change significantly now that it’s officially part of Meta.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed by Meta.

Technologies

AT&T Says It’s Pumping $250 Billion Into New Infrastructure Improvements

Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.