Social media giant Facebook's parent company, Meta, will be opening a retail store in the San Francisco Peninsula offering hardware for the virtual reality space. In a Monday announcement, Meta said it would be opening a retail store in Burlingame, California on May 9 aimed at providing interactive demos for the company’s hardware products, including virtual reality headsets, video communications displays and smart glasses. The store, which will be located on Meta's Burlingame campus — its headquarters is in Menlo Park — will feature a wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what users see using Meta headsets. “The Meta Store …

Metaverse skeptics fear the prospect of unprotected data and large-scale user surveillance on a scale never seen before. Ironically, the largest company pushing the Metaverse, Meta (previously known as Facebook), has faced its own fair share of privacy scandals in the internet’s current iteration, culminating in Mark Zuckerberg being infamously hauled before the United States Congress to answer for Facebook's inability to combat hate speech and data privacy violations. In a U.S. Senate committee hearing, whistleblower Frances Haugen accused Meta of prioritizing “profit over the well-being of children and all users” when it came to creating manipulative algorithms that tap …

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. In the year 2022, we no longer need to ponder how many stars there are in the sky — Yale astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit has already established that humans can see about 9,096 from Earth with the naked eye. Now that we are past that, we might as well start pondering how many metaverses there are on the internet, and oh boy, are those plentiful. When …

You’ve probably already heard of the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) craze as these colorful, almost cartoon-like pictures. And, when you think of the Metaverse, you already see a bright and virtual world viewed from your avatar. With NFTs, most people think of Bored Ape Yacht Club or the famous CryptoPunks. But, what we all want to know: How to get metaverse photos? Or, maybe you’re wondering how to get NFT images? Here’s how to brighten up your virtual life. Do you want to buy, download or create metaverse images? First of all, you need to decide if you want to download …

Meta has announced plans to charge 47.5% on each item sold on its new Meta Quest app store, including nonfungible tokens (NFT) when they are available. The Meta Quest app store sells apps and games on the Horizon Worlds platform which Meta, formerly Facebook, is using to build its part of the Metaverse. CNBC reported on April 13 that the store is also expected to sell NFTs. The fee is broken down as a hardware platform fee of 30% per transaction plus a 17.5% usage fee on Horizon Worlds. Potential customers aren't pleased with what is seen as an outrageously …

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has taken aim at Meta in a new interview, suggesting that its version of the Metaverse will simply repeat all of its past mistakes. In an interview with Politico, Haugen said: "They've made very grandiose promises about how there's safety-by-design in the Metaverse. But if they don't commit to transparency and access and other accountability measures, I can imagine just seeing a repeat of all the harms you currently see on Facebook." In 2021 Huagen leaked thousands of internal documents from Facebook to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal. Her experience working …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and the Metaverse are three of the hottest trending topics in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and each is helping the world slowly move toward the mass adoption of blockchain technology. One project looking to capitalize on these trends is CEEK VR (CEEK), a entertainment and creator-focused platform aiming to use virtual worlds to connect music artists, athletes and digital content creators with their fans. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since trading at a low of $0.289 on March 15, the price of CEEK has gained 123% to hit a daily high …

It is hard to resist the vision spun to us by Meta (formerly Facebook) and other virtual world platforms. A digital utopia that can transform lives in multiple ways — whether how we socialize, work or even stay healthy — is a hard one to refuse. This is especially true when considering that these platforms are being described as the biggest technological disruption to human life and a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for businesses. However, there is skepticism from some that this is all too good to be true — at least for now. The technological architecture that would allow this …

Social media giant Facebook’s parent company Meta is reportedly planning to introduce virtual currency named after CEO Mark Zuckerberg as well as lending services to apps it owns, which may include Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. According to a Financial Times report on Wednesday, the move toward tokens and virtual currency is aimed at exploring alternative sources of revenue as interest in Facebook and Instagram drops. Meta’s potential virtual currency, which employees have reportedly dubbed ‘Zuck Bucks’, will be aimed at use in the metaverse. Facebook owner Meta targets finance with ‘Zuck Bucks’ and creator coins https://t.co/IcK6oAM0J7 — Financial Times …

Billionaire co-founder of crypto venture capital firm A16z Marc Andreessen may be leaving the board of directors of Meta due to his firm’s investments in the Web3 space. Business Insider reported on Mar. 25 that a source familiar with the situation said “it would not surprise me even remotely” if Andreessen exited the board in the next few months. Andreessen could leave as soon as May when the board has its next re-election. Andreessen has not made a public statement regarding his future with the Meta board. Meta has begun to build or acquire several Web3 projects related to the …

Meta, formerly Facebook, has filed eight trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, relating to blockchain technology and its proposed metaverse. The applications and their fields of interest are as follows, organized by serial number: 97320155: Online social networking and dating services, including a specific branch tailored for networking between cryptocurrency investors. 97320153: Design and development of computer hardware and software relating to Web 3.0, including gaming, e-commerce, blockchain transactions, etc. 97320149: Entertainment and electronic publishing services, partly within virtual reality. 97320147: Telecommunication services for electronic assets held on its platform. 97320146: Financial transaction processing …

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) to the Federal Court, alleging that the firm and its Irish branch engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by publishing scam celebrity crypto ads. Some users have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sophisticated and long running scams tied to the ad. The spotlight on Meta has heated up in Australia since the start of February, with Cointelegraph previously reporting that the ACCC was investigating the firm over allegedly fraudulent crypto ads. Aussie mining billionaire Andrew Forrest also took legal action against the …