Extended Reality (XR) - Page 4

Razer's latest peripheral for gamers isn't a keyboard, mouse, or headset but an accessory for the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality and mixed reality headset. The Razer Facial Interface and Razer Adjustable Head Strap System for Meta Quest 3 are designed for comfort and VR gaming, looking to elevate the Meta Quest 3 immersion compared to the out-of-the-box experience.

The Facial Interface component has been designed to improve the weight distribution of the Meta Quest 3 headset while reducing the pressure points for longer gaming sessions. It has also been designed to work with the Meta Quest 3 charging dock, so there are no compatibility issues.

With hypoallergenic materials for the Facial Interface and high-performance nylon in the Adjustable Head Strap System, the design builds on the Australian Good Design Award accessories Razer has created for previous Meta Quest models.

The Apple Vision Pro spatial computer has now been on sale in the United States for three months after it originally debuted in Apple Stores on February 2. Since then interest in the headset has definitely died down from the fever-pitch we experienced then, but it's still being hampered by two things. The first is the high $3,499 asking price. The second is the fact that the headset can still only be bought in the United States. The former doesn't seem likely to change any time soon. The latter? Well, that might be a different story entirely.

Apple has been saying for some time now that it intends to launch the Apple Vision Pro globally before the end of 2024, but it hasn't said when that would happen specifically. It also hasn't yet said which countries will be the first to receive the Apple Vision Pro outside of its home country, leaving everyone in something of a state of limbo. That might be changing soon, however, with the news that Japan has popped up as a potential, and imminent, destination for the hottest mixed reality headset on the market.

Apple hasn't confirmed the news itself, obviously, but the Japanese website Macotakara notes that Apple Vision Pro accessories are now mentioned on the website of a local reseller called Line Shopping. That reseller says that it's running a promotion that includes accessories for a number of devices, including the Apple Vision Pro. The sale isn't available for international customers, but it's running right now and will come to an end on May 6.

Samsung is reportedly set to use an OLED on silicon (OLEDoS) display provided by Sony for its new extended reality (XR) device.

The news is coming from Korean media outlet TheElec, which reports that Samsung's smartphone business has decided to use Sony's display over its own in-house Samsung Display panel. Samsung is working on its own OLEDoS panel technology, with TheElec pointing out that Samsung needs a new person to look over the development of new semiconductor products (and not just consumer electronics, but electronic components, including OLED panels, transistors, and more).

TheElec also points out that Samsung's smartphone business should've used Samsung Display technology over Japanese competitor Sony, "if there had been close collaboration between the Samsung affiliates in the first place".

The Apple Vision Pro is only available in the United States right now, with prices starting from $3,499 which is a price that is enough to put a lot of people off. But Apple is thought to be working on a new, cheaper version, and a fix for the limited availability is also thought to be on the way. According to a new report, Apple is working on a global launch in China soon.

We've heard that Apple wants to ship the headset to new countries before the end of the year, and Apple says as much on its own website. But the company has so far refused to say which countries will be included nor when the launches will actually happen. Now, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that Apple intends to launch the headset in China in the very near future.

China is one country that had previously been rumored for an imminent launch and there are others on that list, but China is the only country mentioned in the Bloomberg newsletter. That could mean that China will be on its own on a list of the next release countries, but we can surely expect others to arrive in due course.

The Apple Vision Pro first went on sale in February, offering the headset to customers across the United States both online and in Apple Stores. But the headset has remained only available to those in the United States, although a global launch is expected to happen at some point before the end of 2024. However, a global launch isn't going to deal with one problem that Apple seems to be struggling to fix - the price.

Those who are looking to buy an Apple Vision Pro will have to spend at least $3,499, with that price getting buyers a 256GB model while a headed with 512GB of storage and a 1TB model are also offered for those who need extra breathing room for more apps, games, and media. Apple has long been reported to have plans to find a way to offer the headset for less, and it was expected that Apple was working on a cheaper version. However, a new report suggests that while that is the case, there is one issue within Apple Park - the company doesn't know how to do it.

Writing in the weekly Power On newsletter Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that Apple is indeed trying to figure out a way to take the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro headset and make a cheaper version that can ship before the end of 2026. That's the window that Apple's roadmap suggests Apple intends to aim for when releasing a second-generation model, apparently, but actually making a cheaper model is proving problematic. Apple's reportedly flummoxed as to how it should make the $3,499 headset cheaper. The question over which features, sensors, and displays Apple could remove or tweak is a question that appears to be causing a problem inside Apple.

The Apple Vision Pro has now been around for a few months after it first went up for sale on the Apple website and Apple Stores across the United States in February. There's no sign of when the headset will ship globally yet, but Apple has already confirmed that it will do just that before the end of the year. We also don't know which countries the headset will arrive in, either. Now, a new report has suggested that those waiting for a new, second-gen model should probably just pull the trigger on the current model.

It already made a ton of sense that Apple would plan to launch an upgraded model with tweaks and improvements over the previous headset. But a new report suggests that it won't be ready to launch the headset any time soon. Writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the Apple Vision Pro roadmap does not currently have a second-gen model ready to go and it isn't on the roadmap until the end of 2026 at the earliest. That could mean it will be 2027 before the headset will go on sale.

Long before any of that will happen, however, Apple will give current Apple Vision Pro owners something new to look forward to. The visionOS software that powers the Apple Vision Pro is set to be updated to visionOS 2 this year, and it's expected that Apple will announce it at the WWDC event on June 10. However, Gurman says that the update isn't expected to be a big one, saying that it won't be a game changer. The report goes on to say that the next big thing for Apple is the expansion of the rollout to a new country, with China thought to be on the list for a release very soon. Time will tell which other countries the Apple Vision Pro will launch in, but Apple's website simply says that a global launch will take place in 2024.

The Apple Vision Pro went on sale in February and now the man who led the marketing for the spatial computer, Frank Casanova, has reportedly left the company. Casanova had worked at Apple for 36 years across a number of different roles including leading the expansion of the iPhone to new carriers.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Casanova left the company last week to retire. He was named Apple's first head of marketing for augmented reality in 2019 before taking the lead on the headset, Gurman says. His role involved attending the release of Apple's new spatial computer at the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles alongside Apple's services head Eddy Cue. Dan Riccio, currently the executive who oversees Apple Vision Pro development, is also nearing retirement.

The Apple Vision Pro was heavily rumored for years before it was finally announced in June of last year and then we had to wait until February for it to finally go on sale. However, the Apple Vision Pro is only currently available to buy in the United States although a global launch is expected to happen before the end of the year. Apple hasn't yet confirmed which countries will receive the Apple Vision Pro this year, however, nor has it offered any hard release timeframes, either.

If you're an Apple Vision Pro owner you can expect to be able to download the visionOS 1.2 software update in the near future, with Apple currently testing the third beta release with developers. Those who are registered developers can now download and install the software on their Apple Vision Pro via the usual Settings and app, although they will of course need to be signed into the relevant Apple ID account in order to be given the option to do so.

This release is expected to be made available to the public within weeks and comes just a week after the arrival of the second beta. It isn't yet clear just how many more betas we can expect to be released, but it normally doesn't reach too high of a number.

The Apple Vision Pro's visionOS 1.2 software update isn't expected to bring with it too many changes, and there are no big new features anticipated either. However, there are some tweaks to the Personas, EyeSight, and other features built into this current beta and it's possible that more tweaks could be made before the update rolls out to the public.

Xbox has been toying around with the idea of entering the VR gaming space for years. When it was on the cusp of launching the Xbox One X console (codenamed Project Scorpio), the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, touted it as powerful enough to handle VR gaming. At the time, Sony had the PlayStation VR, a niche but successful add-on for the PlayStation 4.

Fast forward to 2024, and Xbox is more than a console platform, with cloud gaming, PC Game Pass, and the new owners of Activision Blizzard and all of its PC and mobile properties. Although Sony released a PlayStation VR2 refresh for the PlayStation 5 console, it has failed to meet sales expectations or reach the heights of the original.

In many ways, outside of PC and the success of the Meta Quest 2 and the SteamVR platform, virtual reality is not on the minds of all gamers. So, with news that Xbox is finally getting in on VR gaming, how it is doing so is not what you'd expect. Instead of a dedicated headset for console and PC, Xbox is partnering with Meta to launch "a limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox."

It might be all too easy to think that the only VR headset that matters is somewhere in the Meta Quest lineup while the Apple Vision Pro is a different beast entirely. But Meta is looking to change things by expanding the world of virtual reality headsets to include those from other manufacturers - and it wants its Meta Horizon OS to be the software that powers it all.

In a press release detailing the move, Meta said that the Meta Horizon OS is what currently powers the Meta Quest headsets and that it combines the core technologies powering current mixed reality experiences. Now, it wants other companies to produce headsets that can run the same software.

As part of that new generation of hardware Meta sees the rising popularity of gaming, entertainment, and fitness experiences as a key factor in bringing other companies to the market. Some companies are already working on new devices that are powered by Meta Horizon OS, Meta says, with ASUS ROG at the top of the list. It's developing an all-new performance gaming headset, Meta says, adding that Lenovo is also going to develop mixed reality devices for production, learning, and entertainment.

When Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro to the public in February it was the hottest thing in town, and it remained that way for a few weeks. But as is so often the case with these launches, once the dust settled, interest was already starting to wane. Now, a new report claims that demand for the high-end spatial computer has been so low that Apple has had to take drastic action.

That action, according to the normally well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, comes in the form of cutting its 2024 shipments to somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 units which is considerably down on the market consensus of anything up to 800,000 units - and potentially even more.

Kuo points out that Apple cut the orders even before launching the Apple Vision Pro in new markets. Right now it's only available in the United States and it's thought that demand has fallen so sharply in the United States that Apple is taking a more conservative view of the demand it can expect when the headset finally starts to ship to other countries.

The Apple Vision Pro captured the internet briefly when it finally became available to the public, but then it seemingly quietened down in the consumer market as many users found the headset lacked critical features.

However, that doesn't mean it isn't being used in the business, or commercial space, which is exactly what a surgeon from Brazil has done. According to reports, doctor Bruno Gobbato used a Vision Pro headset during a shoulder arthroscopy surgery, which the surgeon said aided him in his process throughout the operation.

The above video shows the surgeon using the Vision Pro to display a live camera feed of the camera that has been inserted into the shoulder joint. The heads-up display of the Vision Pro also provided the surgeon with X-rays, notes, and additional information that originally wasn't readily available by simply looking up to a region of space in the operating room.

the Apple Vision Pro has been on sale for almost three months now and while it's fair to say that the excitement has definitely started to die down somewhat, there's no denying that it is still the hottest piece of tech around right now. It launched with a ton of apps in the visionOS App Store in February but the number of actual Apple Vison Pro apps was surprisingly small - many were just iPad apps enabled to run on the headset. But more apps are coming all the time and now Microsoft has announced that it's brought one of its best to the spatial computer as well.

Microsoft OneNote is the go-to note-taking app for a ton of people, especially those who find themselves living in the Microsoft ecosystem. Its availability on the Apple Vision Pro was perhaps to be expected, but it's always surprising when Microsoft launches something on an Apple platform, whether it should be, or not. And from what we're reading in the announcement blog post, there's plenty to like about this release.

Microsoft says that Apple Vision Pro owners can make use of the OnteNote app's infinite canvas in a spatial computing environment alongside other apps like Word and Excel via multitasking. The company says that the OneNote app now means that people can stay productive no matter where they are, and there are tons of features already available with more on the way.

Premium and high-end Virtual Reality headset maker Pimax was one of the first companies to deliver a 4K VR headset, and later this year, it's set to launch one of the most impressive PCVR headsets to date.

With a per-eye resolution of 3840 x 3840 (which is more than 4K!) and a wide 150-degree field of view with a whopping 29.5 million pixels across its QLED displays, the Pimax Crystal Super is shaping up to be a beast of a VR headset. It has been designed primarily for PCVR, and its pixel counts are higher than those of the Apple Vision Pro (23 million) and the Meta Quest 3 (9.1 million). It's considerably lighter than the existing Pimax Crystal headset without standalone VR hardware.

Pimax announced the new flagship during its recent Frontiers 2024 event, where it also announced the more affordable Pimax Crystal Light, which removes the XR2 chip to present the popular Pimax Crystal headset in lightweight standalone PCVR form.

The Apple Vision Pro has only been on sale since February this year, which means that it's now only a couple of months old. But that hasn't stopped Apple from forging ahead with new software updates and the company has today released another update to the public in the form of visionOS 1.1.2.

This visionOS 1.1.2 update arrives just a month after Apple released the visionOS 1.1 software to the public, although this release isn't one that appears to bring with it any big new features. Instead, Apple's release notes simply say that the update brings with it bug fixes and that it is recommended for all Apple Vision Pro owners.

This update comes as Apple continues to test the visionOS 1.2 software with developers. They can install the update if they are signed into their Apple ID although the headset will need to be restarted and taken off in order for the update to be completed. The headset will also display the current progress on the external EyeSight display so users will know when it's finished.

The Apple Vision Pro is the hottest ticket in town right now, but it isn't the only headset that people are talking about. The Meta Quest Pro is a solid mixed reality headset while the Meta Quest 3 is more about that VR experience. All three are impressive in their own rights, and it's always interesting to know what they look like on the inside. What makes them tick. And now we know after Lumafield put all three headsets through a CT scanner to get a non-intrusive look at their innards.

The video that you can see below shows off all of the headsets in their various glories and most attention will no doubt be on the Apple Vision Pro. The headset is a minimalist design on the outside, but things definitely get serious on the inside.

The Apple Vision Pro makes the most of its internal space by using a flexible PCB ribbon and moving all of the various electronics around so that they are positioned at various angles so every last inch of space is used to its fullest. Notably, the Meta headsets chose to stack the elements instead, an approach that is more akin to phones, tablets, and laptops.

The Apple Vision Pro has been on sale for a couple of months now and the visionOS App Store has plenty for you to download and try. But there could always be more apps, and a new report suggests that Apple's own policies are getting in the way.

The concept of the App Store rules getting in the way of app developers building the products that they want isn't something that's new to Apple, but this latest report suggests that it's the company's focus on privacy that is getting in the way here. The report claims that developers are not able to build all the apps they want to because Apple won't offer access to the cameras that are on the outside of the Apple Vision Pro.

According to the report Apple is concerned about falling into the trap that befell the Google Glass smartglasses. While undoubtedly ahead of their time, the glasses proved to be an issue because people didn't like that they could be recording at all times. That is thought to be partly behind Apple's refusal to give developers access to raw camera data.

Those who are lucky enough to own the Apple Vision Pro spatial computer can look forward to some new content to enjoy on it after Apple announced a new episode of its Prehistoric Planet Immersive series.

The new episode, which will be Immersive Video for viewing on the Apple Vision Pro alone, will be available in the Apple TV app starting April 19, although those who are hoping for anything feature-length are going to be left wanting. It's instead going to last for just six minutes.

On a more positive note, the new episode will give viewers a new look inside Triceratops Forest where a baby triceratops will learn about family bonds, according to the blurb.

When Apple announced the Apple Vision Pro during the WWDC event in June last year one of the big features it showed off was the spatial video feature that allows people to capture videos and then watch them in 3D on the headset. Later in September, it was confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max would be able to capture the videos, as well as the headset itself. However, there was a limitation.

Apple's Camera app does indeed support capturing spatial videos but only at 1080p and 30fps. The limitation was a disappointing one, and with the videos only playing in standard 2D on everything other than the Apple Vision Pro it led some to have to choose which videos to capture in 3D and which to record in the standard 2D but a higher resolution and frame rate. Now, that decision is easier.

The Spatialify app was already capable of recording spatial videos like the official Camera app, but now it's gained additional functionality with a version 1.3 update.

The Apple Vision Pro went on sale in February but only in the United States. We're expecting the company to unveil the headset in new countries later this year and Apple's own website has confirmed that it intends to take the spatial computer global in 2024. However, it hasn't been more specific than that and we still don't know for sure which countries Apple has in mind. However, we have seen various hints.

Recent indications have suggested that Apple has a few countries that it is leaning towards including Australia, Canada, the UK, Japan, and others. Now, there is more indication that Apple is going to launch the Apple Vision Pro in France sooner rather than later.

That's after a WatchGeneration report noted that Apple has been inviting employees from its retail stores in France to a special Apple Vision Pro training program this summer.