Facebook is making a big bet on the “Metaverse” by changing the name of its parent company to Meta and going on a hiring spree, for better or worse. But the company doesn’t expect those moves to pay off for years.
In the meantime, the company does continue to offer the most popular VR headset around, likely due to a combination of strong features and affordable pricing. But that pricing? It’s about to go up. Meta has announced it’ll raise the starting price of a Meta Quest 2 VR headset to $400 starting August 1, 2022.
I guess the good news is that the price hike is a pretty good indication that the Meta Quest 2 will stick around for a while, which means if you pick one up for $299 this week, while you still can, it’ll probably be supported for years to come, even as Meta prepares to launch a pricier, more powerful headset aimed at professional users later this year.
In other recent tech news from around the web, Dell is giving up on offering software that allows you to connect a smartphone with your PC (but Microsoft has Android users covered, and Intel may have an Android & iOS solution on the way). Details about the cameras on the upcoming Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel Tablet have leaked. And MangoPi’s crowdfunded single-board PC with a RISC-V processor is beginning to ship.
The price of a Meta Quest VR headset will go up by $100 starting August 1st, bringing the cost of a 128GB model to $399 while a 256GB version will sell for $499. https://t.co/oNayXArRXM https://t.co/zwyl1y0KZb
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 26, 2022
Dell is discontinuing Mobile Connect, its app for synchronizing iPhones and Android phones with a Windows PC. It first debuted in 2018 and will fade away by early 2023. But Microsoft’s Phone Link app offer similar functionality for Android users. https://t.co/kDTUE6TOlT
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 26, 2022
A developer dug through Android 13 Beta code to find info about the cameras on the upcoming Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel Tablet, unannounced Pixel foldable, and an unannounced Pixel 7 premium device (which may be for internal testing only). https://t.co/NwsCFBZj7B?
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 26, 2022
Pop!_Pi is a new(ish) version of the Ubuntu-based Pop!_OS Linux distribution from @system76 that’s optimized for Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 400 computers. Version 22.04 is now available as a tech preview. https://t.co/RukY3WtBFF
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 26, 2022
Firefox 103 is out with improved performance on monitors with 120Hz or higher refresh rates, support for changing subtitle size in PiP windows, improved macOS performance, and highlighting of required fields in PDF forms. https://t.co/5Y7d0iH3uo
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 26, 2022
These #RISCV-powered MangoPi boards are neatly packaged up and heading to our warehouses. Backers should be getting them in their mailboxes soon! https://t.co/vip1EjOai0
— Crowd Supply (@crowd_supply) July 26, 2022
Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.
Is Meta trying to build an “Experience Machine”? Spending time in those is a literal waste of time (you could argue that the existing internet is also a waste of time).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_machine
So why are you wasting your time if that’s your stance on the internet (that’s why you mentioned it)?
No, I doubt it’ll ever be possible to build such a device as described. I think they just want to create more spaces to put ads, and by ads I mean orders that they’re better off if you follow than if you don’t.
Possibly eventually developing into orders that you’re better off if you follow than if you don’t, if some of their ad customers get their way.