Month: February 2021

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Technology News

Unity Ditches OpenVR Support In Surprising Snub To Valve

unity-drops-official-support-openvr-valve-working-replacement

One of today’s most popular game engines, Unity, is ditching support for OpenVR in a surprising snub to Steam creators at Valve. The company announced the move earlier today, clarifying that it will also be ending support for Samsung’s GearVR and Google’s Daydream virtual reality platform as part of the same decision aimed at improving its operating efficiency.

Valve already confirmed it is working on a replacement for Unity’s lack of official support for its platform that wasn’t expected to affect OpenVR seeing how that particular technology ecosystem is still in active development and hasn’t been effectively abandoned by its creators like Daydream and GearVR were. For reference, OpenVR is the same technology that powers SteamVR, one of today’s most widely used VR APIs and a direct rival of Facebook’s Oculus solutions.

The decision appears to have been rooted in technical reasons, however, as Unity has so far offered support for the aforementioned VR systems through a plugin system that has since been abandoned in favor of more universal support for extended reality headgear. None of the older tech really fits the bill and so Unity Technologies is pulling the plug on them altogether, leaving Valve to figure out how to extend the support moving forward.

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Google’s Tilt Brush Just Got Ported To PS VR

Google's Tilt Brush

Tilt Brush, Google’s award-winning tool for creating works of art in a virtually real environment, is finally available on the PlayStation VR platform – and PS4, by extent – as of today. Google and PlayStation said this port is something fans of both companies have been clamoring for years.

They did not, however, reveal what made them finally pull the plug on the porting project right now, i.e. why haven’t they done so much sooner. Regardless, Tilt Brush is now here for everyone to download and enjoy for a one-time fee of $22.99. This is the same price attached to the PC version of the app. And in case you don’t have a PSVR setup ready to go, then a new PS Move Motion Controller Two-Pack & Tilt Brush Bundle are here to facilitate your entry point into the world of VR art.

Furthermore, if the PC platform is anything to go by, expect Tilt Brush to be regularly available on the PS Store at a discount. Apart from a PSVR headset and two PS Move motion controllers, the app also requires a PS Camera, and a PS4 console, ideally the PS4 Pro in order to function properly, though it should also be supported by the upcoming PS5.

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GoPro HERO9 Black Debuts As The Cheapest Mainstream 5K Camera In The U.S.

GoPro HERO9 Black news

GoPro today unveiled the HERO9 Black, which is the stylized name associated with its latest action camera; one that is debuting as the convincingly most affordable mainstream option for 5K video capture for virtually every consumer demographic in the United States.

Of course, this is still a device designed primarily for recording extreme sports and other such adrenaline-filled situations, yet at $499 and given its newly improved stabilization features and new lens modules, it certainly looks like a tempting proposition for even much tamer circumstances.

GoPro, for its part, appears to have gotten this year’s messaging spot-on, as the HERO9 Black is advertised alongside a memorable tagline promising “more of everything.” And it is pretty straightforward to see what exactly its marketing was going for, which is more than what could have been said of many past GoPro product launches, so we are more than eager to give credit where it is due right now.

If you happen to be a GoPro subscriber, you can even slash off an extra $100 off the HERO9 Black price, the company confirmed. Both GoPro and its nationwide distributors are now accepting HERO9 Black orders, though it may be a few more weeks until the entirety of the new camera’s accompanying lens portfolio also makes its way to the market.

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LG K92 Lands In The U.S., Offering Affordable 5G

LG K92 Lands In The U.S

LG’s latest Android smartphone, simply called the LG K92, is available to buy in the United States starting from today. Its very name already reveals its mid-range ambitions, but no single model number can do justice to the value proposition LG has in store for us this fall.

Namely, the K92 retails at only $359, thus being one of the cheapest avenues toward the fifth generation of mobile networks currently available stateside. The only device that seemingly outclasses it in terms of pricing is the Galaxy A51 5G released by its largest domestic and global rival Samsung. But that particular handset is a decisively entry-level contraption and, therefore, one that is just as likely to frustrate tech aficionados as impress them with 5G.

The LG K92, on the other hand, uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 690 SoC, which is a known quantity only a step below the Pixel 4a 5G, LG’s closest 5G-ready mid-range competitor which is about $150 more expensive to acquire right now.

Combined with 128GB of flash storage, 6GB of RAM, a 4,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 4.0, and a quad-camera setup centered around a 64-megapixel sensor, the LG K92 should make for a truly great 5G-enabled gift this holiday season.

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Global smartphone chip shortage is imminent, Qualcomm warns

A global smartphone chip shortage is imminent but will hopefully be resolved come summer, industry giant Qualcomm warned as part of its latest quarterly earnings report.

Which manufacturers are most at risk?

In other words, the effects of all of the unexpected logistical challenges arising from 2020 are still going strong. And despite its undisputed status as an industry leader in terms of both turnover and volume of high-end chipsets, Qualcomm anticipates the incoming shortage will affect it as much as anyone. Not least because it still depends on foundry businesses from TSMC and Samsung to manufacture its acclaimed system-on-chip designs for mobile devices. Ultimately, smaller smartphone players such as Sony and OnePlus might be the most affected by the shortage. As their chip orders weren’t a priority, to begin with. Ditto for LG, which was reportedly pondering exiting the smartphone market completely even before supply issues over key components seemed as certain as they do now.

Lost business is lost business, however, which is a large part of the reason why the mood at Qualcomm is far from celebratory, even as it just reported a massive 62% revenue increase over the final three months of 2020. In total, Qualcomm generated in excess of $8.2 billion, with approximately $2.45 billion in profit. The latter figure is even more impressive as it illustrates how Qualcomm managed to keep bolstering its profit margins in an aggressive fashion. The chip giant attributed this achievement to strong momentum in the 5G segment that smartphone manufacturers were rather eager to embrace in recent times. As for this year’s chip shortage, San Diego said anticipates things to return to normal in the second half of the year.

Source: Qualcomm.com