Experience

Mark Zuckerberg says realistic avatars are Facebook’s next big VR bet

Facebook’s future virtual reality headsets should capture users’ facial expressions for more realistic digital avatars, says CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a podcast interview for The Information, Zuckerberg expounded on the next decade in virtual and augmented reality, including future Oculus VR devices. “One of the things that I’m really excited about for future versions is… Read more

The DIY issue

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Rescuing discarded fabric for designer bow ties

Nisha Blackwell is CEO of Knotzland, a Pittsburgh-based company that makes bow ties from upcycled textile waste. Giving wasted material a new life Nisha Blackwell remembers wearing a lot of hand-me-down clothes as a kid and sorting through things to try on with her mother and grandmother. Thrifting was just a thing everyone did, long… Read more

Logitech’s Circle View Doorbell is the closest thing we have to an Apple-made doorbell

Logitech Circle View Doorbell. There are a lot of video doorbells on the market. You can get one from Amazon’s Ring, Google’s Nest, Arlo, Eufy, August, or countless other companies. But none of those video doorbells will natively work with Apple’s HomeKit platform. For a long time, if you wanted a video doorbell and you… Read more

Apple and nonprofit Common Sense Media team up to provide kid podcast recs

Apple is making it easier for parents to find podcasts to listen to with their kids. The company is teaming up with nonprofit Common Sense Media, which specializes in age-based content reviews, to curate various collections that’ll appear in the Apple Podcasts app in the US and online. The initial four themes focus on narrative… Read more

StreamPi: The Raspberry Pi Stream Deck App for Online Gamers

Home News (Image credit: StreamPi) Streaming online doesn’t have to cost a fortune with DIY systems like StreamPi. Using a Raspberry Pi, you can create a custom stream deck experience totally catered to your streaming needs. It’s a cross-platform, open-source application designed to integrate with common platforms used by streamers, and it’s triggered with touchscreen… Read more

Apple mixed-reality headset likely coming sometime in 2022, analyst predicts

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts in a new research note that Apple will release a “helmet-type” mixed reality headset next year, augmented reality glasses in mid-2025, and an AR contact lens product by 2030-2040, according to MacRumors. “We foresee that the helmet product will provide AR and VR experiences, while glasses and contact lens types… Read more

AMD Suggests Possible Fixes for Ryzen USB Connectivity Issues

Home News (Image credit: Fritchenz Fritz) News of intermittent USB connectivity issues on AMD Ryzen systems broke a few weeks ago, and the company has since announced that it is investigating the widespread reports to identify the root cause. AMD has not yet produced a full fix for the issue, but in the interim, its… Read more

A Silicon Valley school is using virtual escape rooms to evaluate prospective students

Applying to an elite middle school sounds like a stressful experience, and I’m sure COVID-19 doesn’t help. With things like open houses, campus tours, and in-person interviews off the table, applicants have fewer chances to experience their prospective schools — and admissions offices have fewer chances to meet their prospective students. One San Jose private… Read more

Realme 8 Pro may have surfaced at the FCC with a 4,500 mAh battery and 65W SuperDart Charge

CEO Madhav Sheth already revealed that the Realme 8 will have a 5,000 mAh battery with 30W Dart Charge, so you’d expect the Realme 8 Pro to go faster. And this could be the proof – FCC documents detailing a Realme RMX3081 have surfaced, which appears to be the Realme 8 Pro 4G. The docs… Read more

Apple clarifies Siri feature that asks users to pick a music app

Earlier this month, we reported about a new feature that was discovered in a Beta version of iOS 14.5 that seemingly allowed users to set a third-party music or podcasting app as the default for Siri voice commands. It wasn’t clear how it worked, and it didn’t always ask the user which app they wished… Read more

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra gets certified in Indonesia, one step closer to launch

If you thought last year’s Mi 10 Ultra was an insane (in a good way) smartphone, the upcoming Mi 11 Ultra wants to one-up its predecessor with a crazy screen on its back – so that you use the (also insane) main camera array for selfies and vlogs, we assume. Anyway, the Mi 11 Ultra… Read more

Take-Two is not interested in “simple ports”

Mustafa Mahmoud 1 day ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming During a recent media conference, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the company’s philosophy on remasters and remakes, saying that they are not interested in making “simple ports.” As transcribed by VGC, Strauss Zelnick was asked about Take-Two’s strategy when it comes to remastering/remaking their… Read more

Guilty Gear Strive has been delayed

Mustafa Mahmoud 1 day ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming, Tech News Recently, Guilty Gear Strive had an open beta period allowing fans to get an early look at the upcoming fighting game. While initial impressions were positive, it seems the game isn’t quite yet ready for prime time, as Guilty Gear Strive has… Read more

Here’s why it’s important to audit your Amazon Alexa skills (and how to do it)

Amazon has always tried to push its Alexa-enabled smart speakers as a platform, boasting about the number of third-party “skills” available (more than 100,000 in the most recent count). In our experience, the majority of these skills are useless gimmicks; one-note jokes you install and forget about. But it turns out they might pose a… Read more