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Apple Vision Pro may not fully launch until March alongside new iPads
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The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro headset is going to be a little later than anticipated as rumors state it’ll come out sometime in March 2024.

Industry insider Mark Gurman claimed in his recent Power On newsletter that the original plan was for January 2024, but for reasons unknown, things had to be pushed back a couple of months. Forbes in their report suggests two possible reasons for the delay. One: Apple may want further “advanced device testing” before the big day. Two: the tech giant is still hashing out the logistics of how it plans to distribute the Vision Pro. The idea so far is Apple will release the VR headset in the United States first with an international launch to certain countries later on in 2024. We currently don’t know the full list of global regions that’ll receive the Vision Pro although Gurman has said in the past that the United Kingdom and Canada are two possible locations.

According to 9To5Mac, Apple is expected to “sell the device by appointment only” at one of its in-person stores or online on its digital storefront. The company will not partner up with third-party retailers as it aims to “carefully curate the rollout”.

The Vision Pro is slated to offer differently-sized headbands as well as prescription lenses so all users can enjoy the mixed-reality experience. Doing so would’ve required retailers to stock up on hundreds of accessories for a headset they might not be familiar with. It appears Apple would rather do everything itself in order to avoid any errors.

Alongside new iPads

It is disappointing to learn about the delay for the Vision Pro although it does make sense. Not just because Apple wants to do more testing, but also so it can line up the launch with the release of other products. Spring can be a busy time for the company and this upcoming season looks like it won't be an exception. Gurman stated back in October that there will be new iPads in March; however, it will simply be a minor refresh. What constitutes a “minor” upgrade is unknown.

If you want a more substantial upgrade, you may have to wait a bit longer. Other rumors suggest Apple will launch an iPad Pro sporting an OLED screen in 2024. It'll be available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch models. From there, Apple will reportedly continue updating its hardware, such as the iPad Air and MacBook Pro, with OLED tech in the following years. As always, take this information with a grain of salt. Things could change at the last minute.

Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of best iPads for 2023.

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Samsung’s Apple Vision Pro rival tipped to land alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6
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The Apple Vision Pro has become a massive talking point in the tech world, and it promises to become one of the best virtual reality headsets when it's released next year. Now, Samsung wants to get in on the action with a headset of its own, and it could be revealed alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in 2024.

We already know that Samsung is working with Google and Qualcomm to launch an extended reality (XR) headset at some point in the future (extended reality is a catch-all term that covers VR, AR, and MR or mixed reality). While Samsung hasn’t given any indication of a launch timeframe, Korean outlet JoongAng (translated version) claims it will launch by the end of 2024.

Specifically, it says the headset, supposedly codenamed ‘Infinite,’ will be produced by December of next year, and we’ll get our first peek at it during one of Samsung’s Unpacked events. Samsung usually hosts two of these shows every year, but JoongAng’s source says the headset will be revealed at the event held during “the second half of next year,” which is when the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is widely tipped to make an appearance.

The headset might have launched sooner, JoongAng says, but for delays caused by “product completeness” issues. Now, though, it looks like Samsung is closing in on a firm release date.

Seriously limited production

A VR headset cla in black plastic with a simple strap and six visible cameras on its faces

(Image credit: Vrtuoluo / Samsung)

Numerous reports have suggested that Apple has seriously cut back production of its Vision Pro, from around one million units to just 400,000 headsets a year. Yet even that dwarves the number of XR headsets Samsung is set to produce.

According to JoongAng, Samsung will initially limit production of the device to just 30,000 units. This is due to the company wanting to gauge the response to its device, and assess how the industry looks after launch. In other words, Samsung wants to play it extremely safe without having to dedicate itself to a niche device in a fluctuating market.

Part of the reason for Samsung’s uncertainty might be the price. JoongAng’s report didn’t quote an expected launch price, but stated that Samsung aims to engage in a “fierce battle for leadership” in the XR space. If that’s the case, it might be planning a high-end device with a costly price tag to match. And if that’s the case, it may want to see how the industry develops before committing too heavily to its headset.

Either way, it looks as though the XR headset battle might be about to heat up, with both Samsung and Apple working on challengers to the existing incumbents like the Meta Quest Pro. Whether it will be enough for these devices to break through into the mainstream, though, is anyone’s guess.

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Facebook Reels launches worldwide for iOS and Android alongside new features
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Similar to Instagram Reels, Facebook is launching its own take on the feature first influenced by TikTok, outside of the USA from today (February 22), rolling out to 150 countries, including the UK.

In a blogpost, Facebook is also announcing features to help creators earn money from the reels that they create, alongside reels that can last for up to 60 seconds, and more features to come.

Facebook Reels launched in the USA back in September 2021, with users being able to access short videos from friends and pages, all in one section.

But the elephant in the room is to wonder where Instagram fits in this, and whether Facebook Reels has a place alongside TikTok, Snapchat and others.

New features also arrive

Alongside the ability to create 60-second reels, you can also create remixes of existing reels that others have created. This works similar to duets on TikTok, where you can use an existing video to showcase your reactions or respond to the original video.

If you're midway through making a new Reel and you need to pause, a new 'save to draft' option can help you pick off where you left off later in the day.

There's also going to be ways to share your Reels through Stories, alongside a dedicated Reels label at the top of the Facebook app to make it easier for users to find other videos.

Finally, ways to monetize Reels are slowly arriving, such as an upcoming feature called Stars, which is a way to 'tip' creators while a live Reel is ongoing.

Facebook Reels in action on iOS

(Image credit: Meta)

Reels looks to mimic what's made TikTok so successful so far. Instagram Reels has seemingly done well for Meta, but Instagram Stories is still its shining jewel.

Time will tell whether having two types of Reels from Meta will be worth having, but for now, better features with a worldwide rollout could help Facebook pivot to video in a better way, compared to its previous efforts of Facebook Live and Facebook Video feeds.

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AMD plans next-gen GPU launch alongside refreshes of current Navi cards in 2020
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AMD has revealed some fresh details about its incoming graphics cards for this year, and it seems that the plan is to unleash a high-end next-gen GPU, alongside refreshes of current Navi products.

These revelations come from the very top, namely AMD’s chief executive, who was quizzed about a number of things in an earnings call following the company’s latest financial results for Q4 (which were very healthy indeed, with revenue up 50% year-on-year, one of the big drivers being Ryzen CPUs, unsurprisingly).

As Anandtech reports, when questioned on GPU plans for 2020, CEO Lisa Su stated that: “In 2019, we launched our new architecture in GPUs, it’s the RDNA architecture, and that was the Navi based products. You should expect that those will be refreshed in 2020 – and we’ll have a next generation RDNA architecture that will be part of our 2020 line-up.

“So we’re pretty excited about that, and we’ll talk more about that at our financial analyst day.”

The above information is, however, somewhat open to interpretation. It’s clear enough in stating that current Navi graphics cards will be refreshed this year, and that a next-gen RDNA GPU will be part of the release schedule for 2020.

Monster GPU inbound?

The guessing begins in terms of latter presumably referring to Big Navi, the high-end graphics card which has been much-rumored of late, and is designed to take on Nvidia’s top RTX offerings.

This GPU will purportedly be built on RDNA 2 (although note that RDNA 2 isn’t mentioned by name, it’s just called next-gen – so it could potentially be RDNA+), and that will come with hardware ray tracing acceleration to go up against the RTX cards.

We definitely know that a high-end graphics card is going to arrive at some stage in 2020, as Lisa Su already made this known in no uncertain terms. From what we’ve heard on the graphics grapevine, it could be a truly monster GPU, and might be in line for a Computex 2020 launch (in June – a mid-year release has previously been rumored).

The other comment concerning current Navi-based GPUs presumably means that these will be refreshed alongside the new launch, so we will get beefed up versions of RDNA cards, as well as the fresh high-end RDNA 2 offering(s) later this year. Although we obviously have to be careful here, as that’s not exactly what Lisa Su said – just what we’re reading into it.

Given the amount of spillage going on right now about AMD’s upcoming graphics cards for 2020, with a number of comments coming from the GPU maker itself, we probably won’t have long to wait to find out – and we can guess (or perhaps hope) that a high-end launch is coming sooner rather than later this year.

AMD’s most recent shot from the hype cannon is that it intends to push out a high-end GPU to disrupt 4K gaming in a similar manner to what Ryzen did in the processor world. Although whether the firm has the financial muscle to push its GPUs as hard as its CPUs – while maintaining that momentum with processors, in order to keep that lead over Intel – is another question, of course.

Let’s hope the eventual next-gen Navi product lives up to the hype, although if it doesn’t launch sooner rather than later, it may run into much tougher competition from Nvidia’s own next-gen GPUs (which the rumor mill also expects to debut in 2020).

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