Considering how intertwined music discovery is with TikTok, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the company launched a music streaming app of its own. Well, patent filings uncovered by Insider suggest TikTok’s working on just that.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music” in May. According to the filing, the service would let users purchase, play, share, and download music. It would also allow users to create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, as well as livestream audio and video. ByteDance already filed for a “TikTok Music” trademark in Australia last November.
ByteDance already has experience with music streaming. In 2020, ByteDance launched a music streaming app, Resso, in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Resso has some of the same features described in the “TikTok Music” filing, such as the ability to create playlists, share songs on social media, and interact with the app’s community.
ByteDance even uses TikTok to bring existing users to Resso. According to a report from The Information, the TikTok app in Brazil comes with a button that redirects users to Resso so they can listen to the full version of a song they’re interested in, a move that helps keep users within the ByteDance ecosystem.
The Information also reports that Resso had over 40 million monthly users across India, Brazil, and Indonesia as of November 2021, a number that’s likely to grow. Earlier this year, a report from Insider revealed that Resso’s monthly active users grew by 304 percent between January 2021 to January 2022 in India alone, as opposed to Spotify’s 38 percent growth in the country during the same period of time.
It’s unclear whether ByteDance plans on developing a music streaming app based on the Resso framework, or if it will come up with something else entirely. Just like TikTok had a profound impact on the way social media sites operate, it’s possible that a music streaming app with TikTok ties-ins could change the music streaming industry, forcing services to adapt.
Apple's iOS 15.6 is here. Released on July 20, the follow-up to iOS 15.5 is ready to be downloaded to your iPhone. The software update folds in bug fixes -- including for an error that incorrectly showed phone storage as full -- and a new feature for watching live sports in the TV app.
The TV app will now let you restart live sports games already in progress, as well as pause, rewind and fast-forward. iOS 15.6 also includes a lengthy list of security updates for the iPhone.
Here are Apple's release notes from July 20:
iOS 15.6 includes enhancements, bug fixes and security updates.
TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in-progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward
Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available
Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail
Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert back to a previous page
This may be the last update to iOS 15 before the company's next mobile software, iOS 16, gets a wide release alongside the heavily rumored iPhone 14. The next version of iOS, which is available now in public beta, will bring several new features, including the ability to edit and unsend messages, a new customizable lock screen, changes to notifications, as well as updates to Wallet and Apple Pay.
Apple also released iPadOS 15.6, MacOS 12.5, WatchOS 8.7 and TVOS 15.6. In addition to security updates, iPadOS 15.6 and MacOS 12.5 got the same TV app update for live sports as iOS 15.6, while WatchOS 8.7 brought bug fixes, and TVOS 15.6 got performance and stability improvements, according to Apple.
After using the M2 MacBook Air for over a week, I’m excited to share how it stacks up against the M1 iPad Pro. Here’s everything you need to know.
While the M1 iPad Pro is a powerful machine, I have still found myself using a MacBook Air for that 5% of tasks that I cannot easily do on the iPad. However, I still utilize both devices for all manner of tasks from creative work for YouTube and professional work in corporate suites like Microsoft to custom CRM software and much more.
Because of this, I feel I’m perfectly positioned to give some in-depth thoughts on just which “computer” is a better buy for you and your workflow to help you decide between M1 iPad Pro and the brand new M2 MacBook Air.
For comparison’s sake, we’ll be talking about the M1 iPad Pro with 256GB of storage. The baseline MacBook Air will set you back about $1200. That’s with the latest M2 chip, 256GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM. The 256GB iPad Pro has 8GB of ram while also starting at $1200 for the same configuration. To truly be able to compare the M1 iPad Pro and the M2 MacBook Air, we will also need the magic keyboard accessory for the iPad Pro, which will add another $350 to the base price.
Adding that $350 accessory puts the M1 iPad Pro at $1550, and the optional Apple Pencil costs an additional $130. Luckily, there are third-party Bluetooth accessories that are much cheaper and work with the iPad. As with most Apple products, to get the absolute best usability and functionality, you simply have to get the magic keyboard.
See table below for a full price comparison:
M2 MacBook Air
M1 iPad Pro (Wifi Only
Price
Storage
RAM
Price
Storage
RAM
$1,199
256 GB
8 GB
$1099
128 GB
8 GB
$1,399
512 GB
8 GB
$1199
256 GB
8 GB
$1,599
1 TB
8 GB
$1399
512 GB
8 GB
$1,999
2 TB
8 GB
$1799
1 TB
16 GB
$2,399
2 TB
24 GB
$2199
2 TB
16 GB
Comparing the M2 MacBook Air directly to the M1 iPad Pro is unfair given that the tablet needs a little extra hardware to be considered a “computer” in the same way – think keyboard and Bluetooth mouse.
The iPad Pro has a few hardware features that might justify the price hike depending on how you use the tablet. First is the 12.9-inch miniLED display. The 120Hz ProMotion display has a base 1000 nit brightness level and a peak brightness level of 1600 nits. Because of this, you don’t have to worry about using the iPad Pro in bright or sunny environments. What’s more, the miniLED screen on the iPad Pro is still the cheapest way to get to Apple’s Pro Display XDR Level of quality. This puts the display in a league of its own.
Comparatively, on the M2 MacBook Air, you get a 13.6-inch LED IPS Retina display. In its own right, it’s great. When compared directly to the iPad Pro’s display, you will easily notice the 60Hz refresh rate and 500 nits maximum brightness.
M2 Macbook Air left, M1 iPad Pro right
When discussing cameras, the iPad Pro easily takes the win. While you might not use the dual rear cameras, you still have access to capable photo and video sensors. Even if you do not initially intend to use the rear camera setup, it’s there as an option and is more than capable if you need to use it.
Obviously, the M2 MacBook Air doesn’t have rear sensors. The new MacBook Air does have a brand new, upgraded 1080p webcam, and while it’s a fine upgrade, the selfie camera on the iPad still runs circles around the MacBook Air’s camera. On top of that, the iPad has Center Stage built in. For security, the iPad benefits from FaceID, but the M2 MacBook Air does include Touch ID. Both biometric security options are very fast, but FaceID is passive, and it doesn’t require an action from the user to get the device unlocked.
Listen for yourself in the video below, and you can hear that the iPad speakers are fuller, louder, and provide more base than the MacBook Air. They technically both have a quad-speaker system but the iPad is just a better speaker system.
If you value ports and expansion, the M2 MacBook Air is the obvious choice. Apple has reintroduced MagSafe back on the MacBook Air, and that frees up an additional Thunderbolt port. This means that you can have two devices or accessories plugged in, while on the iPad, you only have access to one port. This has to be shared with power and data passthrough but can be expanded with compatible USB-C hubs.
If you pick up the Magic Keyboard, it’s worth noting that there is a port for power. However, it is only usable for power access and cannot be used as an extra iPad Pro access or expansion port. Even though there are two ports, the MacBook Air still only supports one external display up to 6K resolution. The same is true with the iPad Pro, thanks to the addition of Stage Manager with iPad OS 16.
iPadOS 16: Stage Manager
When discussing charging, the battery life is one area where you will notice the largest difference. The MacBook Air is an absolute champion when it comes to battery longevity. Apple’s website claims that the M2-powered laptop has a maximum of 18 hours of lifespan. In our testing, we haven’t managed a full 18 hours, but after a full day of heavy use with third-party apps like Google Chrome and Microsoft Suite apps, the MacBook Air has zero issues. With this use case, we were still able to end the day with around 50% battery remaining. In our opinion, you can take this for a weekend of heavy use and not need to bring a charger.
Sadly, the iPad Pro cannot compete here in the lifespan stakes. Under heavy use with the Magic Keyboard, we regularly manage five to six hours before needing to seek out the charger.
When it comes to raw battery longevity, the M2 MacBook Air is a clear winner. Also, the iPad Pro’s max charging speed is rated at 33W compared to the MacBook Air that can charge up to 67W through MagSafe.
The iPad Pro with optional Magic Keyboard combo makes the iPad heavier and thicker than the MacBook Air. Although heavier it’s hard not to look toward the iPad Pro, at least in terms of the versatility and overall portability. Not only is it a tablet for entertainment purposes, but it’s also starting to become a powerful workhorse tool for many.
In many ways, the iPad is still the “must have” device on the market. Having owned the iPad since 2018, I personally made this decision based on aesthetics. It’s incredibly light, thin, and powerful. In many ways, it still seems too good to be true. Sure, the new MacBook Air design is amazing in its own right, but something about the iPad when paired with the Magic Keyboard — and its unique floating hinge design — feels like a better package.
So from a pure hardware perspective — price aside — I feel that the iPad Pro has the edge. With great versatility, better onboard cameras, and an arguably better display, it’s a top-of-the-line piece of tech, and that’s why Apple dominates this section of the market.
In conclusion, which device is right for you is still solely based on preference and price. In my opinion, I would opt for the iPad Pro due to its portability, usability, and the fact it’s generally more fun to use. You have millions of apps on the App Store to choose from, so you’re always able to find something useful or entertaining. It’s simply more versatile – it’s a tablet, a digital notepad, a computer, and a game console all in one.
It’s hard to argue with the fact that many people just want a laptop that is familiar, works with everything — from work to productivity — is useable on a daily basis, and has great battery life. For this group, I would usually recommend the MacBook Air purely from a cost to performance and familiarity ratio.
If you can afford both, then the M1 iPad Pro and M2 MacBook Air complement each other perfectly thanks to features like side car, universal control, and Apple’s ecosystem.
Even though the M1 iPad Pro is a great choice for me, if I had to recommend a computer to use exclusively for the next five years, then it would be hard to look past the M2 MacBook Air. It offers powerhouse desktop-level performance in a portable chassis, with real desktop applications, a great keyboard, touchpad, and external display support without compromise.
You can find AI that creates new images, but what if you want to fix an old family photo? You might have a no-charge option. Louis Bouchard and PetaPixel have drawn attention to a free tool recently developed by Tencent researchers, GFP-GAN (Generative Facial Prior-Generative Adversarial Network), that can restore damaged and low-resolution portraits. The technology merges info from two AI models to fill in a photo's missing details with realistic detail in a few seconds, all the while maintaining high accuracy and quality.
Conventional methods fine-tune an existing AI model to restore images by gauging differences between the artificial and real photos. That frequently leads to low-quality results, the scientists said. The new approach uses a pre-trained version of an existing model (NVIDIA's StyleGAN-2) to inform the team's own model at multiple stages during the image generation process. The technique aims to preserve the "identity" of people in a photo, with a particular focus on facial features like eyes and mouths.
You can try a demo of GFP-GAN for free. The creators have also posted their code to let anyone implement the restoration tech in their own projects.
This project is still bound by the limitations of current AI. While it's surprisingly accurate, it's making educated guesses about missing content. The researchers warned that you might see a "slight change of identity" and a lower resolution than you might like. Don't rely on this to print a poster-sized photo of your grandparents, folks. All the same, the work here is promising — it hints at a future where you can easily rescue images that would otherwise be lost to the ravages of time.
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Sony says it's increasing production of PlayStation 5, and is "working to bring forward more supply into the year-end holiday selling season."
During its latest earnings results, Sony explained that both software sales and gameplay engagement have dropped year-on-year – not a huge surprise given the huge increase in gaming during COVID-19 lockdowns.
"Taking this situation into account," Sony explained, "we intend to take action to increase user engagement in the second half of the fiscal year, during which major titles including first party software are scheduled to be released, primarily by increasing the supply of [PS5] hardware and promoting the new PlayStation Plus service."
Sony says it still expects to meet its forecast of 18 million units sold during this financial year, and is seeing positive signs for supply after lockdowns lifted in Shanghai, a major components production hub. As a result, Sony now believes it can bring forward production and sell many of those units during the holiday season, a boom-time for sales.
Sony has previously promised to ramp up production this year, but supplies have remained constrained, with new units selling out almost immediately. In a Q&A session, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said, "We want to produce more units as soon as possible."
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him onTwitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email tonewstips@ign.com.
A new Status feature has started appearing for some Twitter users that lets them assign one of several pre-written labels to their tweets. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the limited test in a statement given to TechCrunch, while Twitter users have been sharing screenshots of the feature in action.
“For a limited time, we are testing a feature that allows you to add a status topic from a predetermined list to your Tweets to provide more context for your followers,” the Twitter spokesperson said. “So whether you are about to drop a hot Tweet thread, share your shower thoughts, or have a bad case of the Mondays, your Tweets can better convey what you are up to.”
I don't know how twitter managed to release a more embarrassing and unusable feature than cotweets in the same month but here it is. these are all the statuses you can use. no custom statuses allowed pic.twitter.com/2BPwku1qi1
From the screenshots of the feature, it looks as though many of the statuses are designed to replace the titles and emoji that Twitter users often put at the start of their tweets and Twitter threads. There’s an “A thread” status that includes the Spool of Thread emoji, “Spoiler alert” with a Warning Sign emoji, or “AMA” with a microphone. In theory, being able to put this information in a Status should save users valuable characters in their tweets.
The in-development feature was previously discovered in Twitter’s code by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. At the time Statuses could be posted to either a tweet, or an overall profile, but this latest test only appears to let users attach them to specific tweets. You can click a status to discover other tweets containing those same words.
If the feature reminds you of the old LiveJournal or AIM statuses of old then we wouldn’t blame you. But more interesting is the roots the feature has in Twitter’s own history. In a blog post from over a decade ago, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone highlighted how the platform was originally conceived as a “mobile status update service” designed to let people share what they were up to at any point in time. But, as of 2009, Stone said Twitter had outgrown this original purpose, and was serving as more of a general purpose information network. The new Status feature doesn’t look like it’s going to reverse that trend, but it revives a little of Twitter’s old purpose.
There’s no word on if, or even when, the Status feature might get a wider rollout. It’s part of a growing list of in-development features at the social media network, which also include mixed-media tweets that could let you add both images and video to a single post, a downvote button, and the option to give awards to tweets.
Article From & Read More ( TikTok vs. Instagram Reels vs. YouTube Shorts: Who Will Win the Short-Video Race? | WSJ - Wall Street Journal )
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Technology
Samsung Electronics Co. said it is aiming for sales of its foldable phones to surpass its now-discontinued Note series of smarpthones as it looks to boost profitabiltiy for its mobile division.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Samsung is hoping to take its foldable phones mainstream, saying Thursday that it's aiming for sales of such devices to exceed its popular Note series of handsets.
The South Korean electronics giant is looking to push sales of its folding handsets to boost the profitability of its mobile division, which has been hit by rising materials costs and waning consumer demand.
Samsung first launched the Note smartphone model in 2011. It found success over the years due to its larger screen size in an era where its rivals had smaller displays.
But as smartphones continued to get bigger, including Samsung's flagship S series of devices, the Note was eventually discontinued. Instead, the company's Galaxy S Ultra model filled the void. The Note 20, released in 2020, was the final phone in Samsung's series.
Samsung's first folding phone, the Galaxy Fold, was launched in 2019 after some technical issues. Since then, the company has released a number of other models.
But foldable phones are still a niche portion of the overall smartphone market. Samsung is hoping to turn them "mainstream," according to its earnings statement released Thursday, with the view of boosting profitability for its smartphone division.
"In the second half we will continue to maintain the sales momentum of our S series and also use the new foldable series that will be launched in order to deliver sales volume that are above the sales volumes we used to report using the Note series," Sung Koo Kim, vice president of the company's mobile experience division, said on a conference call on Thursday.
It is unclear what timeframe Samsung is referring to for foldables to take over Note sales, given that the latter device is now discontinued. Samsung was unable to clarify when contacted by CNBC.
For reference, Samsung shipped 190 million Note devices over the phone's lifetime, according to IDC. So far, Samsung has shipped over 10 million foldable phones.
Samsung shipped about 12 million Note 20 phones, the last of the series, and about 14 million Note 10 devices. That compares to 8 million Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 devices, the latest Samsung foldable phones.
The company is gearing up to release new foldable devices next month.
"It makes sense for Samsung to place its bets on foldables: it's a premium and high margin product that drives average selling prices, and differentiates Samsung from the competition," Bryan Ma, analyst at IDC, told CNBC.
"Even if the Note line still has dedicated fans, it's also a decade old now, so putting the company's ambitions on foldables keeps the company ahead of the curve."
Indeed, profitability in its smartphone division is the main focus for Samsung. In the second quarter, earnings in the mobile business fell quarter-on-quarter due to higher costs and "adverse currency effects," Samsung said. However, revenue rose year-on-year due to increased sales of premium models such as the S22 smartphone and Tab S8 tablet series.
Samsung's Kim expects the smartphone market to remain flat or grow slightly in the second half of the year. Foldable phones will be a key part of Samsung's drive to boost profitability.
The company said it will "secure solid profitability by targeting sales of foldables that surpass those of the Galaxy Note-series and fully mainstream foldables via delivering a differentiated consumer experience enabled with global partnerships."
Article From & Read More ( Samsung aims for foldable phone sales to overtake those of its now-dead but very popular Note devices - CNBC )
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To mark this week’s ninth anniversary of the Chromecast line, Google has announced that the Chromecast with Google TV is finally getting support for watching live video feeds from the newest Nest Cam devices.
This covers the almost one-year-old Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery), Nest Cam (indoor, wired), Nest Cam with floodlight, and Nest Doorbell (battery). This has been a glaring ecosystem and compatibility oversight that the company has been working to correct since last year. It comes as Amazon Alexa picked up support in May. The workaround has been to use the mobile apps or Nest Hub and other Smart Displays around the house.
Google offers the following instructions, and there does not appear to be any setup process:
Chromecast Voice Remote: Simply use your voice remote to say which device you want to stream the live feed from. For example, just say “show me the front door camera” to see your doorbell feed.
Google said this feature is rolling out “starting this week” and means that now “all Nest Cams and Nest Doorbells will be supported.”
The Chromecast with Google TV was the only set-top box named today, but Nest Cam streaming hopefully encompasses all Android/Google TV devices.
Looking ahead, the Google Nest team promised that a desktop web portal is coming sometime in 2022 to see video feeds and history on devices other than mobile ones.
Article From & Read More ( Chromecast with Google TV finally supports streaming live video from new Nest Cams, Doorbell - 9to5Google )
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Technology
You’ll definitely want to know how to use Stage Manager on iPad, because it’s easily one of the biggest upgrades in iPadOS 16. Stage Manager gives you a new way of multitasking and staying on top of everything you’re working on, without anything getting lost in the shuffle.
Stage Manager works by bringing whatever you're working on into the center of your display, relegating your other open apps into a pile of tiles on the side of the screen. These tiles are relatively small but stay visible, helping you stay focused on what you're working on while keeping an eye on everything else. The tiles in Stage Manager are even capable of live updates, so you can see when something changes — if you get a new text message in Messages or an email in Mail, for example.
While Stage Manager is pretty straightforward, there are a few minor details and configuration options that you need to know about to make the most of this handy new feature. That's why we've compiled this simple guide to how to use Stage Manager on iPad.
How to use Stage Manager on iPad
Stage Manager is only available on iPadOS 16 on iPads with an M1 chip, namely the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air. Ourhow to download the iPadOS 16 public betaguide provides a step-by-step guide through the process of installing it, if you haven't already done so.
1. To activate/deactivate Stage Manager, swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPad’s screen to bring up Control Center. The Stage Manager icon is located at the bottom.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
2.Click the Stage Manager button, which looks like a screen with 3 dots beside it, to turn it on. Pressing the button again disables Stage Manager.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
3. With Stage Manager enabled, apps you’re currently using will move to the center of the screen. Unused apps are moved to the left-hand side. You can switch between apps by tapping on them. The app you select will then move to the center, while the last used app moves to the left.
(Image credit: Future)
4. You can swipe down from the top right corner to bring up Control Center where you can disable or disable Stage Manager whenever you want.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
That's pretty much it! You should now be a master of Stage Manager, which is one of the best multi-tasking tools available for both iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura.
It's a great tool on both devices, but you can truly unlock Stage Manager's potential when using a Mac and iPad side by side. In this way, you're able to have up to eight apps open across both machines and keep tabs on them at a glance. If you enable Universal Control, you could even use your Mac's mouse and keyboard wirelessly with your iPad, taking your productivity game to the next level.
Did you know that Verizon sells game consoles? The carrier has stocked the PlayStation 5 on its online store at times, and today, it announced a partnership with Microsoft that will see Verizon offer both the Xbox Series X and Series S through the All Access monthly financing program.
Both will be available starting July 28th, and Verizon is offering deals like 50 percent off an Xbox Elite 2 controller to sweeten the somewhat strange notion of buying an Xbox subscription from your phone company.
To Verizon, none of this is strange at all. If you’ll mostly be playing from the couch, the company says its home internet offerings — Fios and 5G Home — are the perfect solution for multiplayer gaming. And if you want to take advantage of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and pick up the action on your phone or tablet, Verizon is happy to sell you on its 5G mobile data plans and promote the lower latency and faster speeds that they provide. Verizon also sells various accessories and gamepads (including those that attach to your phone).
It’s a sensible move, but Verizon’s press release goes just a little too far by proclaiming “today’s announcement that we’re joining forces with Microsoft builds on Verizon’s promise of 5G growth and innovation across multiple platforms, including mobility, nationwide broadband and the most popular consumer offerings.” I’m not sure signing people up for a financing program is consequential for the progression of 5G.
Plenty of retailers sell Xbox All Access, and like many of them, Verizon is using Affirm to handle the monthly payments, which start at $24.99 a month for 24 months. There’s really nothing different here, nor is All Access integrated with your monthly Verizon bill. Maybe that’s a good thing since carriers keep finding ways to increase those as is. Xbox Series X / S consoles will be available online and also in “select” Verizon retail locations on July 28th.
Despite the fanfare surrounding the Exynos 2200 chip that features an AMD GPU, the Galaxy 22 models with Samsung's in-house chip failed to impress. In fact, they were heavily criticized for limiting the performance of the S22 flagships to prevent overheating. Recent reports indicate Samsung is rethinking its chip strategy and according to Business Korea, an ex-Apple employee could be a part of the efforts.
Per earlier rumors, Samsung has created a 1000 members strong Dream Platform One team to develop a chip solely for its own Galaxy phones. The company's previous strategy was to design chips that it would be able to sell to other Android phone makers such as Google and Xiaomi.
Because of that approach, there was apparently a buy and sell relationship between its chip-making wing and mobile unit. Samsung has now allegedly decided to copy Apple's methodology of making chips, meaning the Exynos SoCs will now be made exclusively for Galaxy phones. The revamped chip is expected in 2025.
Samsung nabs Apple expert
Per today's report, Samsung has appointed ex-Apple employee Kim Woo-pyeong as the director of the recently established Packaging Solution Center which is in the Device Solution America (DSA) headquarters. Kim seemingly hails from South Korea and worked at Texas Instruments and Qualcomm before moving to Apple in 2014 where they worked for nine years.
The report is thin on details about Kim's exact role and their expertise and mentions that the appointment is kind of unusual, given that the two companies use each other technologies, some of which Apple says Samsung stole from it. Samsung had previously poached Luc Julia, who worked on the Siri assistant, in 2012.
The report doesn't exactly say that Kim will work on the Exynos mobile chipset. After all, Apple doesn't just make Bionic processors that power its iPhones, but also chips for its Macs and Watch, as well as U1 ultra-wideband chips.
That said, the report does mention packaging technologies, which are employed by chip makers to overcome SoC integration challenges.
Samsung recently began chip production using the 3nm manufacturing technology which it says will offer 23 percent better performance and 45 percent improved power efficiency than the 5nm process.
Facebook parent Meta has raised the price of its Quest 2 virtual reality headset by $100, as the company reckons with inflationary pressures.
Meta announced the price increase on Tuesday via a Twitter post.
Starting Aug. 1, the 128 GB version of the Quest 2 will cost $399, while the 256 GB model will cost $499, Meta said.
The company said it hiked the price of the VR headset "in order to continue investing in moving the VR industry forward for the long term."
Meta added in a corporate blog post that "the costs to make and ship our products have been on the rise."
"By adjusting the price of Quest 2, we can continue to grow our investment in groundbreaking research and new product development that pushes the VR industry to new heights," Meta said.
In the first quarter, Meta's Reality Labs division, which includes VR headsets, reported revenue of just $215 million, compared to Facebook's $27 billion in advertising sales. Meanwhile, Reality Labs recorded an operating loss of $2.96 billion.
Meta is estimated to have shipped over 10 million Quest 2 headsets in 2021 topping other companies that sell VR headsets like Sony and HTC, according to research by analyst firm Counterpoint. The firm said that Quest 2's relatively cheap price of $299 made it more attractive to consumers.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he's pushing the company to the metaverse, a virtual world where he envisions consumers working and playing within the next decade.
Remember when everyone wanted to own your phone and your laptop? Dell’s finally tossing in the towel (via Windows Central).
On a support page, Dell announced that it’s discontinuing Mobile Connect, the program that syncs your phone’s texts, calls, and notifications to your computer. While Dell is stopping downloads on November 30th for users in the US, Canada, and Japan, it will no longer be available to use starting January 31st, 2023. The service is shutting down even earlier for users outside these three countries, with downloads stopping on July 31st and a total shutdown occurring on November 30th.
Microsoft offers a similar feature on Windows 10 and 11 PCs, called Phone Link (previously known as the Your Phone app). Phone Link does everything that Mobile Connect does, letting you mirror notifications on your PC, take calls and texts, as well as transfer files. But the main difference is that Phone Link doesn’t support iPhones, whereas Mobile Connect does.
If you like Mobile Connect, it seems like its capabilities aren’t going away for good. As noted by Windows Central, Intel actually bought the software behind Dell Mobile Connect in 2021, called Screenovate. Intel already showed off its plans to sync your PC with your Android, iPhone, and smartwatch at CES 2022, and the capability’s set to roll out on Intel Evo devices towards the end of this year.
Yes, that sentence you just read didn’t make a lot of sense, but Amazon’s search engine thinks it does! The algorithm has apparently decided that not only do the new charcoal colored earbuds count as a “charcoal grill,” they’ve apparently been the best-selling product in that category for over 24 hours now (via Reddit and Mishaal Rahman) without Amazon doing anything about it.
See for yourself:
In general, I wouldn’t read too much into any badges you’d see on an Amazon product. As another example, did you know the “Amazon’s Choice” badge isn’t a stamp that indicates any sort of quality whatsoever? It’s algorithmically doled out to all sorts of products that you wouldn’t think deserve it.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal wrote about the deluge of random-letter-generator Chinese brands that appear when you look for products. It’s interesting to see how many of them rank in the charcoal grill list, too — including such storied brands as RESVIN, Cecarol, Oilzz, YSSOA, and DOIT.
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