The latest Meta Quest 3 update brings 4 useful upgrades, and takes away a feature

‘Tis season for a Meta Quest update, with new features, and even a performance boost, coming to your Oculus Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro VR headsets via update v60. Unfortunately, the update also means the removal of a feature – so long, phone notifications.

Per the announcement on Meta's blog, which change is the most impactful is a toss-up depending on which headset you own. For Meta Quest Pro users it’s likely going to be the mixed-reality performance boost that’s coming exclusively to your headset. Meta is enabling higher clock speeds for the Pro’s CPU and GPU that it says will result in a 34% and 19% increase in performance for these components respectively.

This boost won’t improve the passthrough video quality, just the rendering and responsiveness of the virtual objects in your MR space though – so it might not be enough to convince you to try more MR apps if you haven't already. 

If you don’t own a Quest Pro, the best upgrade coming in v60 is to the number of rooms your Quest device can remember. If you opt in to share your point cloud data, your VR headset will gain the ability to store information for more than one play space at a time – meaning you should be able to move your play space between rooms more easily, without having to redraw the boundaries every time.

Hamish interacting with objects in VR while wearing a Meta Quest 3. They stand in front of a plant while someone watches on.

You can now enjoy your Quest 3 in multiple rooms more easily (Image credit: Meta)

As we mentioned above, however, users are losing access to one feature – phone notifications will no longer show on your headset.

It’s not clear exactly why this tool is being taken away – our guess is that it has something to do with the feature not being popular enough – but those who do rely on it will notice a downgrade. You’ll now need to remove your headset every time you want to check why your phone has pinged, unless you have a Meta Quest 3; as we noted in our Meta Quest 3 review, this headset’s mixed-reality passthrough is a major leap forward, and it’s good enough for you to be able to make out what’s on a real-world screen. 

A new Horizon (Home)

A few other changes coming in v60 include new Meta Horizon Home environments – the Blue Hill Gold Mine, Storybook, and Lakeside Peak (which you can see in the GIF below). These visually distinct spaces will not only give you a nice space to load into when you boot up your headset, but a more personalized space that you can invite your VR friends to, to hang out and watch Meta Quest TV content together before jumping into a multiplayer experience.

The scene shifts between a pristine storybook world, a wild west saloon at night time, and a stunning mountain view

(Image credit: Meta)

Your profile is also getting a power-up. Now, unless you keep the info private by changing your account preferences, people who look at your profile can see more details about your shared VR interests, including the apps you both use and your mutual friends.

Neither is super-impactful right now, but as the metaverse becomes more social these sorts of minor tweaks will help to make the experience a lot more seamless, so they're certainly appreciated.

As with previous updates, v60 is gradually rolling out now, so if you don’t see the new features yet don’t panic – you shouldn’t have long to wait until the update installs and they unlock.

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iCloud gets a makeover with a revamped look and quality-of-life upgrades

Following updates to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, it’s now iCloud’s turn as Apple is redesigning the website as well as introducing a variety of new features.

It’s not a complete overhaul for iCloud mind you, as the quick-glance widgets from last year’s update are still here. The difference this time is users will be able to do more with them. You can now “customize what you see in Tiles”, from choosing a specific folder from the Notes app on your iPhone to picking out your favorite photographs. It’s even possible to have multiple layouts of the same tile displayed on the front page. 

ICloud's new layout

(Image credit: Future)

Quality-of-life changes

Next, Quick Actions are being added, allowing you mark reminders as complete or flag a particular email among other things. You can perform these by hovering over your files on iCloud then selecting the three dots that appear to reveal the menu. Apple states “on a touch device” just swipe left. Also, if you’re a PC user, you’re now able to receive Mail and Calendar notifications for incoming emails or event invitations.

Everything described so far has been for the homepage. You see more once you start delving into each of iCloud’s tools.

Most of the changes are nice quality-of-life upgrades that make your life a bit easier. For iCloud Mail, you’re now able to attach files to messages directly from your storage and you can unsend recently sent emails before they reach the recipient’s inbox. 

The Calendar isn’t changing much, but it is getting Identity Control for hiding the email addresses “others see in event invitations”. Additionally, Apple is letting people use their Custom Email Domain to combine their “Calendar and Mail identities” into one.

New image tools

For Photos, you get two new ways to enjoy your pictures. There’s the Memories tool that’ll go through your images in a full-screen view, similar to what Google Photos has on its platform. And you have Slideshow, which, as the name suggests, lets you view a selection of images in a slideshow format.

Finally, Notes is receiving several changes. The more notable two are Shared Folder for collaborating with others on a specific file of notes and Enhanced Search. The latter lets you narrow search results “against categories like shared notes” or tags.

That’s pretty much it for the major upgrades. The update is currently live. All you have to do is sign in, and iCloud will then take you through a brief tour of the revamped layout.

If you’re looking for another service to save important files, we recommend checking out TechRadar’s list of the best cloud storage for 2023.

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Still on Windows 11 21H2? Forced upgrades are coming as Microsoft reminds us it’s on life support

Windows 11 21H2 is about to run out of road for support, so if you’re still on this version of the operating system, then you need to upgrade very soon.

Bleeping Computer highlighted an end-of-servicing announcement Microsoft issued pertaining to Windows 11 Home, version 21H2 (and Pro versions, too, including Windows 11 Pro Education).

Microsoft reminded us: “These editions will no longer receive security updates after October 10, 2023.”

What does that mean? Feature updates are one thing – upgrades that add new capabilities and refine the interface of Windows 11 in one way or another – but security updates are the really important bit.

They patch up vulnerabilities that have been discovered in Windows 11, and if not fixed, could be exploited by attackers to compromise your system in some way (usually with dire results).

If you’re still running Windows 11 21H2 – which is the version of the OS from 2021, as the name suggests – then you need to upgrade to 22H2, and do so before October arrives.


Analysis: Get going on that upgrade

Upgrading to Windows 11 22H2 is an easy process. Just head to Windows Update (in Settings), and click the ‘Check for updates’ button, whereupon the upgrade should show up with the option to install it.

Not sure what version of Windows 11 you have? You can find out simply by typing ‘winver’ into the search box on the taskbar and clicking on ‘Run command’. Winver stands for Windows Version and will pop up a panel telling you if you are currently running Windows 11 21H2 or 22H2 (or whatever flavor of Microsoft’s OS you’ve got for that matter, if it’s another).

Windows 10 users have already seen their 21H2 version pushed out of support, which happened last month – the June cumulative update contained the final round of security patches for that incarnation of the OS. That means Windows 10 users should already have upgraded to 22H2, and indeed Microsoft is forcing the upgrade on folks (to ensure they stay protected).

Microsoft has also been forcing upgrades to Windows 11 22H2 for the same reason over the course of 2023, and as the final October deadline for 21H2 support approaches, more users are going to get an automatic upgrade coming into play, again to ensure their PC continues to receive security fixes.

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This Windows 10 version is officially dead – and Microsoft is now forcing upgrades

Windows 10 version 21H2 is no longer officially supported by Microsoft, so those still running that incarnation of the operating system need to act now.

As of yesterday, the last security update was released for Windows 10 21H2, namely the June cumulative update.

That’s the final bunch of fixes for vulnerabilities that’ll be provided to users still on 21H2, hence the need to upgrade in the next few weeks, before July’s round of patching happens (and you miss out if still on 21H2).

In a release health update, Microsoft informed us: “On June 13, 2023, Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations editions of Windows 10, version 21H2 will reach end of servicing. The upcoming June 2023 security update, to be released on June 13, 2023, will be the last update available for this version.”

At this point, PCs still running Windows 10 21H2 will have a forced update initiated before too long.

Microsoft explained: “Windows Update will automatically initiate a feature update for Windows 10 consumer devices and non-managed business devices that are at, or within several months of reaching end of servicing.”


Analysis: Enforced upgrades are a necessary evil

That forced update will push users to Windows 10 version 22H2, but of course, that has to happen. When the rug is pulled for support on an older version of Windows, and security updates are no longer provided, you shouldn’t keep the OS on your PC (unless you’re not going to connect to the internet at all).

Staying online with vulnerabilities present on your system (which is bound to happen in time, as new security flaws are discovered and not patched) is a foolish thing to do.

So, your choice is an upgrade to 22H2, or as Microsoft would prefer, you could make the leap to Windows 11. If, of course, your PC is capable of running Windows 11, which it may not be (if you have an older CPU, or your computer lacks TPM support – there may be ways around these problems, but such hardware upgrades can be fiddly, naturally).

As you may be aware, Windows 10 will not get any new features going forward – Microsoft is only supplying security updates now (and maybe the odd very minor feature tweak here and there, but nothing of any substance). All of this is part of Microsoft’s not-so-subtle pushing to get you to upgrade to Windows 11, an OS which has struggled with its pace of adoption compared to Windows 10.

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Wix upgrades website creation with Editor X feature

Website builder Wix has launched a new design tool called Editor X geared towards professional web designers and creators. 

The new service looks to offer designers more flexibility and control over the websites they build, featuring advanced designing tools to help create a professionally designed website catering to their clients’ requirements. 

Editor X will be available within the existing business solutions that Wix offers, with a closed beta open for applications from today.

Empowering

Some of the key features that Editor X offers are:

·        Option to stack and scale media: This helps in a uniform website design regardless of the screen size

·        Docking: This will allow locking the design element on the website in a specific position

·        Sizing control: Modern CSS elements help designers define any element as fluid or fixed

·        Flexible Canvas: This will enable designers to instantly see the web layout as it appears on different screen sizes

·        Drag and Drop: All advanced tools will now have an option to drag and drop

·        Flex layouter: This smart will tool automatically recognize content when the screen is resized

·        Wix Design system: A collection of pre-designed responsive sections which matches the colour palette used on the website

“We understand the evolving needs of designers and their clients, and we innovate to address their sophisticated demands and diverse requirements,” said Wix Co-founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami. 

“Editor X is the solution for these users with more complex design needs.”

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