The third annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase presented us today with a slew of game updates and the debut of several new titles. As a virtual reality and gaming enthusiast, I must say that while some of the games are indeed expensive, they also look outstanding.
The WWDC 2023 keynote is just a few days ahead, but that doesn't stop the usual leaks from coming in. This time, it is reported that Apple's upcoming developer-focused event will not just be about the updates to its several software platforms. But the company could also launch some hardware, including the rumored full-sized Mac desktops powered by the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chipsets.
The Apple iPhone 15 is among one of the first devices to support the Qi2 wireless charging standard, with the lineup likely to arrive in September. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel 8, which is only expected to be unveiled alongside the Pixel 8 Pro a month after the new iPhones are announced, could arrive without support for the new charging standard based on the latest certification spotted.
Nothing announced that the Phone (2) will receive a similar software update support as the original Phone (1) — by having up to three years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates. The next transparent phone is planned to be unveiled in July.
Garmin announced today updated versions of its high-end sports smartwatches. Targeting slightly different market segments, both the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro and Garmin Epix Pro upgrade existing models with support for more than 80 sports and activities, and better navigation features, while keeping multiweek battery life of up to 37 days in the Fenix 7 Pro.
Affordable standalone VR glasses such as Meta Quest 2 and Pico 4 are becoming popular in the consumer market, contrasting with high-end models like Meta Quest Pro and the forthcoming Apple's Reality Pro. The upcoming Meta Quest 3, a budget-friendly all-in-one VR/MR headset, was recently given a pre-release test-run by a chosen editor!
Apart from its floundering battery life, the Google Pixel Watch is a phenomenal smartwatch that could go toe-to-toe against the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy watches. A new report shed light that the Internet search giant is serious about improving the battery in the upcoming Pixel Watch 2, and this could involve fitting it with the latest Snapdragon wearable chipset.
Just like clockwork, ARM announced its new generation of CPU cores. All of its major mobile cores received updates but the highlight is a more flexible core layout and the new ARM Cortex-X4 CPU promising double-digit performance gains for next year’s high-end processors.
Google released Android 14 Beta 2.1 last week and the minor update was supposed to fix numerous bugs in the previous build. While the firmware indeed squashed most of the bugs, another major one arose for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 (review), where the Google Camera app on these phones crashed with still no official fix in sight.
OnePlus is tipped to unveil the budget flagship known as OnePlus Ace Pro 2 sometime between July and August, which will most likely be rebranded as the OnePlus 11T in other regions. Apparently, the initial set of clues of its specifications point to shared hardware with the Oppo Reno 10 Pro+.