Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D - Page 9

Sony is opening up its niche VR headset in an effort to sell more units.

Since 2013, Sony's game plan put PlayStation consoles at the center of the business. Peripherals like controllers, headphones, and even higher-cost virtual reality headsets all orbited the might PS4 and PS5. That plan appears to have been disrupted by Sony's quest for improved profit margins, and Sony is now open to break platform exclusivity in an effort to sell more products.

While most of PlayStation's accessories are compatible with PC, the PlayStation VR headsets are notorious for not being able to play PC VR games. That's about to change. Sony has officially confirmed that it is experimenting and testing PSVR2 support on PC.

All of the talk in the world of AR/VR headsets might be about the Apple Vision Pro right now, but there is no denying that the Meta Quest products are popular. With prices that make Apple's $3,499 starting price seem so far out of reach that it's a wonder anyone bought an Apple Vision Pro, the headsets are self-contained and powerful. And soon, they could also support a key Apple feature.

That feature is AirPlay, and it could change the way that Meta Quest owners enjoy media on their headsets. AirPlay allows iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to share their displays and the content of streaming apps to other devices. Those devices could be an Apple TV streaming box or a smart TV, while smart speakers are also offered as an AirPlay option for music fans. And if things go according to plan, Meta Quest headsets could be next.

The move, confirmed by Meta's VP of VR Mark Rabkin, would mean that owners of Apple devices could potentially AirPlay content from those devices and onto a Quest device. As Upload VR notes, the state of video streaming apps on the Quest is dire - Netflix hasn't been updated in years and only supports 480p video and the Peacock app is just a link to the website. The Amazon Prime Video app simply does not work.

The Apple Vision Pro is now available to buy and with the 2024 MLS season kicking off today, Apple is trying to make sure that everyone makes the link between the two. The 2024 MLS Season Pass begins with a game between Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake and Apple Vision Pro owners will be able to watch via the TV app on their headsets. But if people want to experience the true future of sports streaming, they're going to want to check out a new film covering the best of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Apple says that this is the first-ever sports film captured in Apple Immersive Video, a move that means that viewers can look forward to watching the footage in 8K3D with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio support. The result should be incredibly impressive, but it isn't yet clear exactly when it will be available to watch.

Instead, Apple simply said that it would be available soon.

The Apple Vision Pro went on sale on February 2 after months of waiting for potential buyers. The mixed reality headset was first announced way back on June 5 2023 during the WWDC event that also saw iOS 17 and other software unveiled but it took months before it would finally go on sale. But that waiting time could turn out to have been a much smaller one than the wait those waiting for a second-generation model could be left with.

That's according to a new report which suggests that potential Apple Vision Pro buyers could have to wait a good long while for a second-gen model, with an 18-month timeframe now being discussed. What's more, that's being discussed as the low-end of the estimation which means that we could wind up waiting a lot longer before an updated Apple Vision Pro goes on sale.

That's according to a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, at least. Writing in his weekly Power On newsletter Gurman said that the updated Apple Vision Pro is probably at least 18 months away, a fact that will definitely not be music to the ears of potential buyers - especially those who are hoping for some big improvements over the model that is currently on sale.

The Apple Vision Pro has been on sale for more than two weeks now and the return window for those who pick theirs up on launch day has now been and gone. That means that a ton of early adopters have already had to make a difficult decision - do they want to keep their new mixed reality headset and put their faith into spatial computing, or not?

With the Apple Vision Pro starting at a whopping $3,499 it's easy to see why some people would need to think long and hard about that decision before making a choice. The headset is, by all accounts, hugely impressive, but whether or not that initial warm feeling lasts is another matter entirely. And when you've just sunk high-end MacBook Pro money on something most people will need to be sure that they want to keep it. A new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman details why some people ultimately chose to return their headset rather than keep it.

Gurman was writing in his weekly Power On newsletter when he shared the details based on discussions with more than a dozen people who chose to return their Apple Vision Pro before their return window closed.

The Apple Vision Pro has been out for a few weeks now, and overall early adopters seem to be quite happy with Apple's first-generation product, with only a small handful of buyers now returning the headset.

Despite the overall positive reviews, many buyers have been quick to point out all of the flaws of the headset, such as weight, lack of multitasking capabilities, battery life, price, etc. While these may be flaws or a lack of features in most cases, the Vision Pro certainly won't be the last mixed reality headset from Apple, and we can expect the next generation will come with massive improvements in all the areas that first-generation buyers are complaining about.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple already began working on the second-generation Vision Pro before the first generation was announced at the company's WWDC 2023 keynote, but that doesn't mean the next iteration of the headset is around the corner.

The Apple Vision Pro has now been on sale for a day beyond the two-week return window that would apply to those who bought the headset on launch day which means that people have had to choose whether or not to hand it back. Priced starting from $3,499 there is no doubt that people are unlikely to keep the Apple Vision Pro unless they are sold on it completely, so it was always going to be interesting to see how many people kept it and how many just bought it for launch day clout on social media.

With that in mind, it was interesting to see how many people decided to take their Apple Vision Pro back to the Apple Store before the weekend rolled around while there were plenty of people posting on the X social network, a new report claims that the number of returned headsets isn't as high as you might think.

According to an Apple Insider report, Apple Stores haven't seen all that many new headsets returned before that 14-day return window closed. The report cited sources at 24 mostly US East Coast stores when it said that there doesn't appear to be much in the way of returns. It's "certainly not a cataclysmic flood," we're told.

The Apple Vision Pro is a $3,500 headset that has been making headlines since it was released on February 2, but now we are approaching the two-week mark, and seemingly that glorious Apple shine has begun to wear off for some users.

It should be noted that Apple's policy states any of its products can be returned within 14 of purchase, which is likely why we are beginning to see an influx of buyers of the headset take to social media to announce they are returning it. So, why return the extremely impressive headset? Almost all of the buyers who stated they are now returning the headset regarded their experience with it as impressive but cited a few major problems with either its physical design or software capabilities that were dealbreakers.

One of the biggest problems floating to the top of the list is simply comfort. Apple's headset is quite weighty, with the majority of its weight falling on its front, making it difficult to wear for long periods of time. There is also several reports of users experiencing headaches while using the device, either from the two screens or the unevenly distributed weight. Another key problem is the productivity the headset provides or the lackluster amount that's currently present.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come out with some fighting words about Apple's new Vision Pro headset, comparing it to the Meta Quest 3 and calling his headset the better of the two.

Zuckerberg claims to have tried the new Apple Vision Pro headset, comparing it directly to the Meta Quest 3, claiming that the Quest 3 is 7x cheaper -- he's right about that -- and that Meta's headset is better for gaming, playing Xbox games, watching YouTube, and more. He added: "I'm surprised how much better Quest is better for majority of things".

Apple starts things off with Vision Pro pricing at $3499, while Meta is charging $499 for its Quest 3 headset. Zuckerberg claims that the Meta Quest 3 is a more comfortable headset, but Apple has put some serious engineering into the Vision Pro, so it's one of the many things he said that just doesn't feel right at all.

Huawei is reportedly working on an Apple Vision Pro competitor dubbed Vision, which will reportedly weigh just 350g -- nearly half that of the 600g weight of the Vision Pro -- with Sony micro-OLED 4K panels inside.

Huawei is reportedly developing its own chips for the Vision headset, just as Apple did using its in-house M2 and R1 chipsets inside of the Vision Pro. Huawei's purported Vision headset will lack EyeSight technology, something that Apple does with the Vision Pro, which simulates the wearer's eyes so that people aren't freaked out in person.

The post on Weibo is coming from the previous Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Chinese smartphone maker Meizu Technology, who explained that the Huawei Vision headset would feature gesture space operation with "almost no delay" based on self-developed chips and Sony micro-OLED 4K displays while lacking Eyesight technology and 350g in weight.