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In the past, the biggest AR/VR event of the year has been known alternately as Oculus Connect and then Facebook Connect. But whatever the name, Meta's fall event its primary showcase for the company's latest and greatest achievements in the virtual reality and mixed reality space. Much like last year, we can likely predict the biggest news coming out of Meta Connect 2024 with just two acronyms: AI and AR.
Like every other big tech firm this year, Meta will be desperate to demonstrate how it plans to stay relevant in a future powered by AI. And now that we're seven months beyond the launch of Apple's Vision Pro, which arrived alongside a short-lived spike in interest in augmented reality (AR), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is likely eager to show off his own plans to make AR a reality.
While Zuckerberg isn't as hot on the metaverse as he was when he renamed his company, the union of AI and AR is one way he can still make the dream of persistent virtual worlds come true. It might look less like Ready Player One, but if AR glasses actually take off, they could still let Meta control another piece of our digital world. And to help get them there, delivering an updated inexpensive VR headset couldn't hurt.
With all of that in mind, here are a few things we expect to see at Meta Connect 2024, which kicks off virtually tomorrow — September 25 — and runs for two days. The show starts with a 1PM ET livestream, which is expected to run about an hour.
Orion AR glasses
After reportedly killing
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Alienware debuted its Pro Mouse and Keyboard in January at CES 2024, and now the company is introducing the Pro Headset as part of the series. As with the mouse and keyboard, Alienware worked with more than 100 esports competitors and streamers for their input before combining it with its technical knowledge. The result after 18 months of testing is a headset boasting up to 75 hours of battery life.
That's an impressive figure, but it's not the whole picture. The headphones last 75 hours if you use them without active noise canceling and connecting via Bluetooth. The maximum battery life drops to 35 hours while using a 2.4GHz connection with ANC enabled. If you intend to use the microphone, battery life is 35 hours with ANC off; with it on, it drops to 25 hours.
Alienware's ANC is effective at blocking out sounds, but users can turn Transparency Mode on if they need to be aware of their surroundings. In transparency mode, users can also adjust how much they want background noise attenuated.
Alienware didn't stop there, as the 50mm drivers are coated with graphene to reduce distortion commonly found at higher frequencies. These drivers also work great with vertical and 360-degree audio. With clear audio, players can instantly pinpoint where enemies are when they make sounds.
The microphone is detachable and can be stowed away if not needed. It has two mics, and both are capable of AI-powered noise cancellation, ensuring only your voice is transmitted to teammates.
Besides beefing up the audio quality and mic capabilities, Alienware made sure it woul
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 Since 2022, Amazon has held a second Prime Day of sorts in October and that sale event is coming back this year, too. Prime Big Deal Days returns on October 8 and 9, but we're already starting to see some decent deals pop up across Amazon's site.
As per usual, most of the deals we expected to see on October Prime Day will be exclusively for Prime members — and some of the early Prime Day deals we're seeing now have followed suit. If you don't have a Prime membership, don't fret too much — there are always a few discounts available for all shoppers. However, if you pay the $139 annual fee for Prime, now's the time to put it to even better use. These are the best early Prime Day deals we've found ahead of Prime Big Deal Days. We'll be updating this post regularly in the lead-up to October Prime Day, so check back for the latest deals.
Prime Day deals on Apple gear
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
While it'd be wishful thinking to see discounts on the new AirPods or Apple Watch Series 10, there are still some decent Apple deals you can snag right now on iPads and accessories, plus some Beats gear.
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There's never been a better time to get a smart speaker, especially if you're a music fan. When voice assistants first started infiltrating these devices, hands-free controls were really the star of the show. Even now, one of the most common ways that people interact with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant is through a smart home speaker. But now you have dozens of options to choose from, and most of them sound much better than the first smart home products did. Sonos recently entered the game with its own voice assistant on its stellar-sounding speakers, and even lower-end models like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini have better audio quality than their first iterations did. If you're struggling to pick the best smart speaker for your needs, we at Engadget can help. We've outlined our top picks below, plus all of the things you should consider before buying a smart speaker today.
Picking an assistant: Google vs. Alexa
The first thing most people should do is decide what voice assistant they want to use. Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa are both well-supported options that are continually evolving, with new features added at a steady clip. A few years ago, Alexa worked with more smart home products, but at this point, basically any smart device worth buying works with both.
It's mostly a matter of personal preference. If you're already entrenched in the Google ecosystem and own an Android phone, it makes sense to stick with that. And if you have multiple Google-based smart devices in your home, you can use Google Home to easily control and navigate your devices. But while Alexa isn't quite as good at answering general knowledge questions, it syncs just fine with things like calendars from your Google account. And it works with perhaps the widest variety of smart home products as well. If you've never used
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