This week, the tech industry saw Apple unveil the Vision Pro's latest feature – Spatial Personas, which allows users interact with the virtual avatars of others users.
Elsewhere, Spotify is readying to raise its prices yet again, having already implemented a higher price point in a handful of countries.
Rounding out this week's tech headlines comes two new Beats collaborations. Beats unveiled its collaboration with Alo Yoga with a campaign fronted by Tyla, while news of an upcoming collab with fragment design also surfaced.
Below, Hypebeast has rounded up the top tech stories of the week so you can stay up to date on trends in the industry.
fragment design x Beats Tease New Collaboration
Long-term collaborators fragment design and Beats teased a pair of signature Beats Studio Pro headphones.
The matte black headphones feature fragment design’s thunderbolt logo in white next to the Beats insignia.
Housed in a square, co-branded black and white case, the collaborative Studio Pros join the duo’s archive of past projects including Beats Solo headphones, a Beats Pill, Powerbeats, and a pair of Beats Fit Pros.
Further details still remain under wraps.
Apple Vision Pro Users Can Now Interact with Each Other’s Virtual Avatars
After initially revealing Spatial Personas – a feature that allows Vision Pro users to interact with one another in the virtual realm – at last year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, the technology is now available.
Spatial Personas captures a 3D image of the user’s head and hands and puts it into visionOS, where the user is then able to take their avatar into the virtual space and meet other avatars of other users.
Users are able to watch movies via SharePlay, play AR games and even work on presentations together all in real-time.
The feature is then enabled via FaceTime. To activate Spatial Personas, users need a Vision Pro with visionOS 1.1 or later.
Spotify Is Reportedly Hiking Its Prices for the Second Time in Less Than a Year
After raising its prices last July for its Premium subscription – bumping it up from $9.99 to $10.99 – Spotify is reportedly planning to increase its prices again.
According to Bloomberg, Spotify is planning to raise the Premium pricing by anywhere from $1 USD to $2 USD per month. The new price points are already in place in the UK, Australia and Pakistan.
Spotify is also apparently introducing a new “basic” plan that is slated to run for $9.99 a month. This will include music streaming and podcasts but not audiobooks.
Beats x Alo Yoga Unveil Special Edition Fit Pro Earphones
In other Beats-related news, the audio outfitter partnered up with Alo on a pair of Fit Pro wireless earphones. Arguably more notably, Tyla fronted the campaign.
Dipped in a glossy black color way, the headphones are polished with a chrome finish. “Active Noise Cancellation,” “Spatial Audio” features are all available.
Also, through the inclusion of Apple’s H1 chip, the earphones are compatible with Apple features including “Hey Siri.” A Beats app is available for Android users as well.
The Beats x Alo Yoga Fit Pro Earphones run for $200 USD and are available now.
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