Meta surprises with new handheld AI device called Meta Charm

MENLO PARK, California — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a small handheld gadget called Meta Charm for using its new Muse AI assistant in a surprise announcement at its annual device event on Wednesday. Meta said Charm would be ready to ship for holidays in December, but did not give a price. The AI device is about the size of an Apple AirPods case. The social media giant also unveiled virtual-reality glasses to use with a VR console and a pair of camera-free smart glasses for daily use, designed to ease the growing privacy backlash against AI devices that can take videos and pictures of people without consent. Priced at $1,299, the Meta VR Glasses aim to match the capabilities of bulkier and costlier rivals such as Apple's Vision Pro in a device that weighs about as much as a deck of playing cards, a design made possible by moving the battery and processor into a separate puck. They will launch in spring 2027. Meta is betting the VR device, which looks like a pair of dark wraparound frames and responds to eye, voice and hand gestures, can finally take to the mainstream a category lo