Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR)

Microsoft took to stage at MWC 2019 in Barcelona to demo their new HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset. The HoloLens 2 offers 2x the field of view and 3x the comfort of the previous generation while bringing more interactivity and collaboration to holograms. Microsoft is opening up the platform to all developers and is making it easy for businesses to create and deploy MR apps. HoloLens 2 is still focused on the enterprise but the next generation could possibly have a more consumer-centric approach.

The first images of the upcoming Microsoft HoloLens 2 have leaked online just hours before launch. While not much information is known about the new device, we are getting to see that Microsoft has focused on the ergonomics and a possible new menu tapping gesture. The new HoloLens might also be made available for consumers at sub-US$1,000 price points.

Microsoft and its CEO, Satya Nadella, will be in attendance at MWC19 in Barcelona, and it is rumored that the company’s new HoloLens 2 AR smartglasses will be revealed. However, at least 50 Microsoft employees have publicly objected to the tech giant’s US$480 million contract with the U.S. Army that involves the augmented-reality headset.

UPDATE: Newegg has the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and 1660 Ti AMP listed for US $279.99 and $289.99, respectively. The listings have detailed information on the cards' specifications. ZOTAC announced its take on the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti today in the form of two new graphics cards. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a relatively compact card (145 mm or 5.71 inches) that ZOTAC claims can fit into 99% of systems available today. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce GTX 1660 Ti AMP is a fair bit larger (209.6 mm or 8.3 inches) but has larger fans and will be factory overclocked. ZOTAC has yet to announce pricing and availability.

Samsung also devoted some of its latest launch event to 5G and its potential in the future of telecommunicatons and online life in general. This led to the unveiling of the Galaxy S10 5G. It has an extra 3D-sensing module on its rear panel, in addition to the three cameras also found in the S10 and S10+.

The Helio P90 is an SoC that could bring augmented and mixed reality to some mid-range devices in the future. Today, MediaTek added AI to that list of possibilities. It has announced support for Google's ML Kit in conjunction with the P90. This could allow the processor to harness its APU to produce an enhanced AI experience.

The next Oculus VR headset to be released is rumored to be called the Rift S. The latest leaks on this device suggests that it will come with its own onboard tracking cameras, rather than rely on USB-connected sensors. It may also fix the original Rift's problems with the appearance of 'god rays' on the lenses, and adjust for room lighting with 50-to-60Hz modes.

The Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday in the US, and all authorities from the FBI to the FAA have prepared themselves for disruptions and threats from drone pilots. No-fly zones have been set up, and new radar technology and drone interceptors will monitor the stadium.

The new Intel RealSense Tracking Camera T265 was designed for applications such as robotics, drones, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR). This US$199 piece of hardware uses proprietary visual inertial odometry simultaneous localization and mapping, can be already pre-ordered, and shipments will begin at the end of February.

Anandtech claims to have obtained access to some materials that indicate Intel is planning to release a new, extremely high-end desktop CPU. This processor, the i9-9990XE, is described as having a base clock of 4.0 GHz, 14 cores, 28 threads and a TDP of 225 watts. However, it will be open to OEM bids only.

Lenovo aims to become more competitive in the mobile gaming market with the Legion Y740, the company's latest flagship gaming laptop. The Y740 comes in two sizes, a 15-inch and a 17-inch model. Both variants sport Intel's 8th generation H-series CPUs, up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, and up to a 512 GB PCIe SSD / 512 GB SATA SSD or 2 TB HDD combo. The 15-inch model will come with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, while the 17-inch model gets the powerful GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q. The Legion Y740 is expected to be available next month for $1750 (15-inch) or $1980 (17-inch).

Project Soli is a Google initiative that wants to make in-air, screen-less gestures to control technology a reality. In other words, the user should be able to control their devices through certain hand gestures, which are converted into workable commands by innovative little radar sensors. Google has reportedtly secured FCC approval for this form of hardware.

Mad Dog studios has caused a stir in the console gaming world with the announcement of what it claims will be the most powerful console ever made. Now, the CEO Ian Bell has tweeted some photos of what it will look like when it ships in the next two to three years.

With already half the smartphone camera market cornered, Sony has unveiled what it thinks will continue to drive OEM interest in its camera sensor technology. It’s new 3D-capable rear camera sensor features the same type of Time of Flight technology found in the front-facing Face ID camera in Apple iPhones with Face ID and it has got Apple interested, reports Bloomberg.

In 2014, ZeniMax sued Oculus VR on allegations that CEO Palmer Lucky had stolen technology that made the Oculus Rift VR headset possible, and it became a 4 year long battle between ZeniMax and Facebook once the latter bought Oculus VR. Finally, the suit has been privately settled for some amount of cash.

AMD will unveil its new version of the Adrenalin drivers for Radeon gaming cards on December 13. The software is thought not to target performance directly, and focus on a variety of novel or improved features instead. For example, it will add a 'tutorial' for Radeon Settings.

Advertised as a multi-screen 5G smartphone with a professional camera and a mobile gaming console, the HubblePhone K3-XR Copernicus is supposed to arrive in about a year, but there are two more models — Cassini and Herschel — that should hit the market in 2020. The pre-orders (roughly 1850 to 4250 USD) can be paid using BC or USDT.

Apple will make minimal changes to its smartphones for the new year, according to an analyst with the bank Nomura. Therefore, they are likely to end up looking much like the iPhone X of 2017...again. The Nomura research report indicates that the new models will have little to distinguish them besides new or improved software features.

The Qualcomm tech summit of 2018 highlighted the company’s strength of conviction that 5G is the future of consumer electronics. It promoted the new radio standard’s ‘near-zero’ latency and increased transmission rates, and the advantages for communications, business and media these properties would bring.

The latest ray trace-supporting and Turing-powered card, the Titan RTX, was launched at today's (December 3, 2018) Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems. With its 24GB in GDDR6 memory, 576 multi-precision Tensor Cores and 72 RT Cores, it is clearly aimed at deep-learning professionals.

The US Army looks set to take augmented reality headsets into battle with a special variant of the Microsoft HoloLens. The US$480 million contract will see Microsoft bring night vision and other state-of-the-art technology to its headset with a view to giving soldiers the edge on the battlefield.

Antlion Audio claims that its ModMic Wireless attachment adds mic capabilities to any kind of headphone. It has the aptX low-energy Bluetooth codec, 16-bit 48khz audio and a USB type A receiver. The ModMic Wireless also has a patented clasp to stay attached to its headphone cup.

LG have filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a camera module that could have as many as 16 lenses, as well as the means of controlling the same via a phone's UI. This development could revolutionize 3D photography and similar functions.

HTC has released the Vive Pro McLaren Limited Edition which is the result of a partnership between the Taiwanese company and legendary British Formula 1 racing team McLaren. In addition to a unique color scheme that matches the McLaren F1 racing car livery, the headset also comes with two McLaren F1 VR software experiences.

The recent 'crypto crash' may have resulted in a large-scale dumping of slightly older cards onto sites like eBay. Consequently, this may drive down the prices others with the same GPUs (e.g. gamers) can ask for their listings. In addition, this is the season to grab cash for upgrades.

A Korean IT news outlet claims that Samsung is developing three-dimensional time-of-flight (3D TOF) modules for next year's phones. 3D TOF is linked to improved depth-sensing and AR capabilities. The Galaxy S10 line may be in line for these next-gen sensors.

Google Glass was the search giant's first attempt at smart glasses, and could clip onto transparent spectacles to deliver info and shots from its camera via an eyeball-level LED. It was not a popular release, not least because of its ultra-high price tag. Nevertheless, Google is developing second-gen Glass, which is to target corporations rather than consumers.

A feature in the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Let's GO, may get you to load up your game of Pokemon GO on your smartphone. Pokemon that trainers have captured in Pokemon GO can be transferred to Pokemon Let's GO on the Switch. There are a few caveats, but almost every pokemon in Pokemon GO can be transferred.

DJI is putting a number of its drones, including the Mavic Air and Spark, on sale for the Black Friday season. This sale also includes the Osmo 2 Mobile and Racing Edition Goggles. This promotion is starting later this month.

The first Lenovo Lecoo Unmanned Store is located in Beijing, at the company's tech campus. Its goal is to help Lenovo test its facial recognition, electronic payment, IoT, AI, and AR technologies. The catch is that Lenovo tablets are being used instead of the human staff one would expect to see in a store.

After numerous delays, the RED Hydrogen One will finally go on sale at Verizon and AT&T this Friday, November 2. Despite the initial hype built around the device last year, the steep price tag and disappointing feature set threaten to kill the Hydrogen One at launch. The device will be available for $1295.

Snap Camera is a freshly-launched desktop app that adds Snapchat Lenses to webcam feeds for vlogging or Twitch streams. Like all similar things Snap, it relies on facial mapping to super-impose a range of effects on a video's subject. Snap Camera is available for download now

Lyft, the second most popular ride-sharing business, announced its first acquisition centered around autonomous cars. The company will purchase Blue Vision Labs, an AR startup, for US $72 million (with an additional $30 million option). This marks Lyft's first major push into self-driving cars, a space currently ruled by juggernauts Uber, Tesla, GM, and Ford.

KRY, a company that describes itself as a "digital healthcare provider", is the world's first group to offer treatment for public-speaking phobias in VR. This form of therapy is to be made available to adults of 18 and older. It involves doing therapeutic 'exercises' using a VR headset worn at home.

Facebook and RED have launched the jointly developed Manifold 360-degree VR camera. What sets the camera apart from the competition is its ability to create fully immersive content with full 6DOF support.

The next update to Windows 10 may be rolled out in the next month. In fact, some leaks claim that this will commence on the same day on which the new Surface products are to be launched. However, for that to pan out, it leaves Microsoft with a lot of work to do in a very short space of time.

The OnePlus 6T is on a short list of upcoming smartphones mentioned in the ARCore 1.5 APK. This app supports up-to-date Google-provisioned features such as Lens. This feature is also to be included in the Nokia 9, as well as two as-yet unnamed Huawei phones.

Back in 2009, Alienware opened up the gates of its first retail store in the US. In the meantime, the brand's network of brick-and-mortar locations expanded all over the world and even got to China. Now, the time has come for a new Alienware flagship store and Frank Azor is flying there for the grand opening.

Samsung has a sequel to the Odyssey Windows 10 Mixed Reality headset released in 2017. As confirmed in a new Bluetooth certification, the new device will be called the Odyssey+ and it will be headed to store shelves soon.

Professional camera maker RED has created a lot of hype around the launch of its first smartphone, the Hydrogen One. The new device features what the company claims has a display capable of displaying 3D holographic images that work without the need for glasses. After first being teased last year, the device now has an official launch date.

Recently AMD designed an SoC for ZhongShan Subor's new console the Z+. While previous console SoCs used Jaguar CPU cores which were based on AMD's previous generation of architectures and mid range Polaris GPU cores, this new SoC uses Zen and Vega cores and is the latest console SoC from AMD. Now more details are available about the console and the processor itself.

Turing is back with a futuristic concept that might get launched in 2020, but most likely will not because the company has already filed for bankruptcy. The new HubblePhone would integrate all sorts of advanced technologies, including dual flexible OLED displays, one of which can swivel around to facilitate shooting videos and pictures.

A single USB Type-C port may be all that's needed for a PC VR experience. VirtualLink 1.0 will define a new 'Alternate Mode' standard over the familiar USB port to hopefully reduce cable clutter associated with popular virtual reality headsets.

Apple has teamed with Black Magic Design on a new eGPU enclosure to accompany its new MacBook Pro line. The enclosure is fitted with an AMD Radeon Pro 580 desktop GPU with 8GB of GDDR5 RAM and also acts as a Thunderbolt 3 dock.

Google is currently offering its Pixel 2 XL models at US$100 off their regular price. The sale also includes other products in its hardware lineup and runs until July 17 while stocks last.