xr
Latest
Meta partners up with LG to ‘expedite its extended reality ventures’
Meta and LG have teamed up to “expedite” the former’s extended reality (XR) business. Neither company has said exactly what the partnership would entail, but it could have to do with LG’s displays.
Apple Vision Pro teardown uncovers pixels the size of red blood cells
iFixit continued its Apple Vision Pro teardown and focused on the screens. The publication said that each pixel is the size of a red blood cell.
Meta Quest 3 hands-on: A proper successor to the most popular VR headset
On Wednesday at its annual Connect event, Meta announced its latest mainstream VR/AR headset in the Quest 3. It starts at $499 and features a bunch of upgrades across the board that make it a worthy successor to the best-selling headset on the market.
Tencent reportedly abandons VR hardware plans
Tencent is allegedly dropping its plans to produce VR hardware as the company faces a shift in financial strategy.
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival projects we're still thinking about
Another Sundance Film Festival has come and gone, and with it we've gotten a close look at some of the films and interactive experiences that'll be the talk of 2022.
Oppo Air Glass is a modernized Google Glass for China
Following last year's Oppo AR Glass concept, the Oppo Air Glass will become available to Chinese consumers in Q1 2022.
SXSW in VR just made me miss the real world even more
SXSW 2021 was surprisingly lonely in VR -- it just made me miss the real show even more.
Qualcomm has a new reference headset to help fast-track AR development
Qualcomm pulled back the curtain on a mixed reality headset design based on its high-powered XR2 chipset around this time last year, but it still isn’t done with the processor that precedes that one. The company announced today that it will release a new, XR1-powered headset reference design, and usual, you’ll probably never be able to get your hands on one of these things. It’s being distributed to “select partners” right now, and the next batch of XR hardware developers will be able to claim theirs in the coming months.
HTC's Vive XR Suite is now available for VR collaboration
Following HTC's official announcement of Vive XR Suite in June, today it is finally available to all. Subscription starts at $30 per seat per month, or $250 per seat per year.
HTC's Vive XR Suite lets people work together even if they're not all in VR
Today’s announcement is all about Vive XR Suite, which is an upcoming subscription package consisting of five VR applications that cater to various work and social needs. More importantly, these apps can also be viewed on a PC monitor and even a modern smartphone.
Former HTC CEO Peter Chou reveals his next project: a social 5G VR headset
XRSpace’s Mova is a hugely ambitious VR headset, at a time when the sector has struggled to truly breakthrough to the mainstream. The result is a new VR headset aimed at regular consumers with intuitiveness and a social-first approach.
HTC's expanded Vive Cosmos family may help lure more VR users
HTC's Vive Cosmos is positioned as a high-end VR kit that's easier to use, and we liked it, but one concern we had was its $699 price -- a notable jump from Oculus' $400 offerings, tethered or otherwise. The good news is that according to Engadget Chinese, the company plans to release a more affordable version dubbed Cosmos Play, along with the more advanced Cosmos Elite and the experimental Cosmos XR. Best of all, these variants share the same core headset, meaning Cosmos Play owners can later upgrade with other faceplates to suit their needs.
Qualcomm's new chipset promises better AR and VR anywhere
We still haven't gotten to the point where everyone and their mothers routinely strap on extended reality (or XR) headsets, but Qualcomm seems convinced that's what the future should look like. So far, the company's processors and components have wound up in more than 30 VR and AR headsets, so it's little surprise that Qualcomm announced some new hardware to further its extended reality ambitions at its Snapdragon Summit today.
Samsung's Galaxy S10e isn't the start of a cheaper flagship revolution
The Galaxy S10e is one of the more interesting announcements to come out of Samsung's Unpacked event. Not that it was a surprise, with rumors as far back as October signaling its existence. Nor is it actually that unexpected. Product prices are inflating, sales are slowing down and meaningful innovations are few and far between. But none of this is news. The most notable thing about the S10e is Samsung's acknowledgment that it's once again time to mix things up -- that the S10 and S10+ won't meet everyone's needs.
Qualcomm built a chip to power AR and VR headsets
Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips have powered devices from smartphones and laptops to VR headsets, but the company is doing away with repurposing mobile processors for mixed reality devices. The company just released the Snapdragon XR1 -- its first "dedicated Extended Reality (XR) platform," and it's a chipset designed specifically for AR and VR headsets. XR1 is meant to offer better experiences on mainstream devices by enabling high-quality visual and audio playback, as well as 3-DoF and 6-DoF interactive controls. Qualcomm also announced that companies like Meta, Vive, Vuzix and Pico are already working on devices using the XR1 chip, and those products could potentially be ready as early as this year, depending on each partner.
Tobii's EyeCore will make next-gen VR experiences even more immersive
VR and AR may be the next big thing immersive experiences, but so far, their user interfaces have been anything but intuitive. Conventionally, head-mounted displays have operated under the assumption that its users are owls: their eyes are locked in their skulls, facing forward requiring them to use their noses as VR cursors. Tobii is working to change that by integrating eye tracking into the next generation of head-mounted displays.
Another firmware update grants Roku owners USB channel, MKV containers come along
If you have a Roku player with a USB port, like the XDS above, you've been able to play media directly from USB storage for some time now using third-party channels. For whatever reason it's taken Roku this long to get an official USB playback channel on there, allowed in the latest firmware (2.9 build 1529) and finally available for download in the Channel Store. We're told that MKV playback has also been added, which might make watching those downloaded Top Gear episodes a little easier. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Roku drops new firmware in time for the holidays, XR gets 1080p, Hulu optimization for all
If you're an owner of one of the early Roku XR units and have been left on the 720p bench while the newer models step up to full HD, it's time to get in the game. Roku has released a firmware update (2.9-b1509) that unleashes the necessary pixels on the XR, also including some niceties for those models that can already do 1080p. The full list is at the source link, but look for improved performance for viewing Hulu along with a suite of bug fixes. Leave your box running and it'll update itself, or if you want it now you can grab it manually under "Settings," "Player Info," "Check for Updates." Yeah, you know you want to.
Apple TV vs. the competition -- how does it stack up?
Although it's only just been revealed and won't actually go on sale for four long weeks, Apple's new hockey puck is far from the only media streamer on the market -- and with Sony's Netbox and the Boxee Box on the way, the sub-$200 set-top box market is exploding with options. So let's line up the revised Apple TV against the (post-price cut) Roku HD-XR, Popbox, and even an LG Blu-ray player in the same price range and see what you're actually getting -- and more importantly, getting access to -- on each device. Oh, and there's some choice words from Roku after the break. Update: You asked for them, so we added the PS3, Xbox 360 & WDTV Live as well, after the break. Device: AppleTV Roku XR Pop Box LG BD550 Price: $99 $99 $129 $130 - $150 Form Factor/Size: 3.9 x 0.9 x 3.9 5 x 5 x 1.75 8 x 1.4 x 6 inches 16.9 x 1.8 x 7.9 Available Content: HD TV shows from ABC & Fox ($0.99), HD Movie rentals ($4.99/$3.99), Netflix, iTunes, YouTube Netflix, Amazon VOD (now with $0.99 HD TV show purchases from Fox & ABC), MLB.tv, UFC, NBA GameTime, YouTube, Pandora YouTube, Revision3, Blip.tv, h.264 / XviD / MPEG-4, MKV / AVI / WMV Blu-ray discs, VUDU, Netflix, CinemaNow, YouTube, Pandora, Napster Apps / SDK: N/A Roku Channel / SDK available Popapps Store / SDK available NetCast widgets Connectivity: WiFi N, Ethernet WiFi N, Ethernet Ethernet, optional WiFi adapter Ethernet, Disc Video Quality: 720p, 5.1 audio 720p (1080p upgrade coming soon), 5.1 audio 1080p, 5.1 audio 1080p, 7.1 audio, DTS-HD MA / Dolby TrueHD audio
Sony's camera and camcorder lineup spotted at CES (video)
We swung by Sony's gloomy CES booth to check out their new camcorders and cameras for 2010. Fresh on the Handycam menu were the SDHC-loving CX and XR series camcorders (pictured above), and we saw some nice demos of their Optical SteadyShot (mesmerizing video after the break) and wide angle G lens. The tapeless AX2000 professional video camera was also present further down the table, sporting dual memory card slots. On the other table we encountered the Bloggie and the rest of the 2010 Cyber-shot lineup in several colors. Aww, what a sweet family. %Gallery-82133%
