- The new OnePlus 10 Pro, which we gave a 7/10, is already on sale in the US and Canada, but there’s a new configuration with much more memory and storage arriving on June 15.
- Microsoft announced Thursday that it will be bringing its cloud gaming feature of Xbox Game Pass to Samsung’s 2022 line of smart TVs on June 30.
- While Microsoft seems keen to hang onto its hardware, it seems like the days of the console are numbered.
“Hardware is hard,” as the old adage goes. In the metaverse, this is especially true.
Meta (formerly Facebook) has delayed its pursuit of augmented reality spectacles as reported by Wired.
Metaverse endeavours
Meta had hoped to deliver the headset in 2024, but it was still years away from becoming a reality. Those plans now appear to be on hold indefinitely. This news comes just a few weeks after Meta revealed it had spent more than $10 billion on its metaverse endeavours.
It’s not the only piece of hardware that Meta has put on hold. Portal, the contentious videoconferencing device with an object-sensing camera that tracks your movements, will also be produced in limited quantities. Meta will no longer produce Portals for consumers and will instead focus on business users. According to reports, the corporation has also halted the development of a smartwatch with cameras that had been in the works for a few years.
But, hey, the person who invented the metaverse is now interested in NFTs, so maybe it’s all still true.
Lens Crafters
In fact, they’ve remained fundamentally unchanged for years.
But the company Metalenz is moving camera tech-forward by developing optics that capture more data while lying flatter than standard lens elements.
Flat optics are easier to stack, which makes for better lenses in a smaller package—so small that a smartphone designed around Metalenz’s camera tech could eliminate the external bump on the back of the handset.
On Thursday, Metalenz announced a partnership with the semiconductor company STMicroelectronics that should accelerate Metalenz’s entry into the consumer market.
The same sensor can also provide depth-sensing abilities to VR headsets and autonomous robots.
Tesla Troubles
On Wednesday, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will dig deeper into its investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot features after a series of crashes last year.
Last August, the NHTSA started looking into 11 accidents since 2018 in which Teslas in Autopilot mode ran into vehicles at emergency scenes where first responders were present.
The expanded investigation will examine the Tesla vehicles themselves and attempt to assess whether the autonomous systems were wholly at fault, or just made human error worse.
OK, so I guess when Tesla crashes its car into an ambulance late at night it gets “investigated,” but when I do it I get “arrested on the spot.”
OnePlus 10 Pro Gets More Pro
When the Chinese company OnePlus announces new phones, they don’t get quite the same splash that iPhones or Samsung’s Galaxy phones do.
Still, we tend to like OnePluses (OnesPlus?)
The new OnePlus 10 Pro, which we gave a 7/10, is already on sale in the US and Canada, but there’s a new configuration with much more memory and storage arriving on June 15.
The new version of the phone will have 12 GB of RAM, up to 256 GB of internal storage, up from 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage on the original version.
The beefier config starts at $969 and is only available in black.
Xbox Games Without the Xbox
The time is nigh to kiss the console goodbye—if you bought yourself a brand-new Samsung smart TV.
Microsoft announced Thursday that it will be bringing its cloud gaming feature of Xbox Game Pass to Samsung’s 2022 line of smart TVs on June 30.
That’s more than 100 Xbox games streamed right to your screen, no console required.
Microsoft says it plans to expand to other smart TVs in the future.
Xbox Game Pass has already smoothed out some boundaries between gaming platforms, letting people play across consoles and PCs.
Tales From an In-Person WWDC
In case you missed it, Apple held its WWDC event this week.
During the keynote event (aka outdoor prerecorded screening) on Monday, Apple laid out its vision for the next iterations of iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS.
It also showed off a couple of different MacBooks, though clearly, one was the favourite child.
This week on the Gadget Lab podcast, WIRED product reviewer Brenda Stolyar comes on the show to talk about the important takeaways from the event, and what it was like on the ground at Apple headquarters.
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: Wired
