Meta announces new Quest Pro headset, Microsoft partnership

Tech reporter Allie Garfinkle details Meta's latest VR headset it showcased in its Microsoft partnership, pushing for at-home virtual workspaces.

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SEANA SMITH: Well, one stock under quite a bit of pressure today is Meta. The stock off nearly 5%. Here, they did, though, announce new partnerships, also products today at its virtual event, Meta Connect. Yahoo Finance's Allie Garfinkle is here with the latest. And Allie, a new VR headset one of the big headlines coming out of this event, which is very, very expensive.

ALLIE GARFINKLE: Yes, it is very, very expensive, Seana. But they're touting it as kind of their new highly advanced headset, right? For instance, they're saying it's going to have better comfort, better visuals, mixed reality opportunities. And there is a huge price gulf. I was looking at an Oculus recently. I was considering buying it. That was for about $400. This is about $1,500. So it's a huge gulf. And they did announce some new partnerships. For instance, Iron Man VR is coming to Meta Quest, too.

However, how they're imagining you using this headset maybe isn't quite what you're thinking. They see it as a key part of the future of work. The future of work that they articulated definitively involves the Quest Pro.

SEANA SMITH: Well, and Allie, we also got some news here about Meta teaming up with Microsoft. A lot of this has to do with just trying to get us immersed in this virtual reality. I guess, what can you tell us about this? And do you think it's going to do the trick?

ALLIE GARFINKLE: You know, Seana, we'll see. I was surprised certainly when Satya Nadella rolled up to Meta Connect. And the thing that the partnership articulated was that all of Microsoft's Enterprise software, things that people use like Teams, Microsoft 365, they're all going to be available in VR now.

And the Quest Pro is set to begin shipping October 25, right? So they're hoping-- there's a sense that they're hoping this will happen sooner rather than later. But it's important to remember that even with this partnership with Microsoft and other partnerships across the board, what I was hearing was that there were a lot of vague statements about next year.

So yes, they partnered with Microsoft. That's great. But there isn't necessarily a clear sense of when some of this stuff is going to roll out. I couldn't help, Seana, but think of a time recently when I was talking to an expert about Meta. And the thing he said is just because they have the name doesn't mean they have the tech. So we'll see. Hopefully, they can roll some stuff out soon. Their stock certainly needs the help.

DAVE BRIGGS: Allie, Dave here. It sounded as though you might be in the market for one of these VR headsets. I'm curious if you spent any time in the Metaverse because the article in "The Wall Street Journal" is a pretty savage review. It sounded, though, employees do not really want to use it, even though they are being encouraged to. That we're seeing notes leak out that they're not really enjoying the experience. Do you have an Allie review?

ALLIE GARFINKLE: An Allie review of the Metaverse. You know, I do. And the thing I can tell you, Dave, is I started bumping into things a lot. I was not particularly good at being in the Metaverse, so at a certain point, my review may be suboptimal. I was running into desks. I was running into my closet door. It wasn't ideal.

To me, the experience clearly still needs a lot of work. But what I will say is Meta's bet its whole company on it. They clearly believe-- and I go back to that thing I said. They weren't necessarily clear about when some of this stuff is going to start emerging, but I am still Metaverse curious, Dave. That's what I would say.

SEANA SMITH: Metaverse--

DAVE BRIGGS: Metacurious.

SEANA SMITH: --curious. OK, not as bad as what we've heard from some out there, although not really a review, I don't think, that's going to get a lot of people to try it for the first time. Allie Garfinkle, thanks so much for that.