AR

As Microsoft continues its Xbox “reset,” the pared-down Game Pass bundle that arrived recently as a benefit for Discord Nitro is now also included in the 7.99 monthly / $59.99 annually Quest subscription. The starter edition also includes 10 hours of cloud gaming access to try some of the 50-plus games it unlocks before downloading them.

New York state is the latest place to prohibit smart glasses and other recording tech in courtrooms. Says Syracuse.com:

The Xreal Neo video dock-meets-charger has been canceled. The company shared the news on Reddit, stating its decision was based on concerns about its “3rd party dock reliability” and “battery longevity.” Xreal owners hoping to play the Switch 2 through their glasses now have to rely on third-party products, like a battery dock from Viture, a company that Xreal recently sued for patent infringement.

Google enlisted Xreal to bring Android XR to life in a compact set of AR glasses, resulting in Project Aura. They’ll launch in 2026, but Google is already locking down Xreal’s hardware chops for another couple years. It’s now designated as a lead hardware partner for Android XR.

The company formerly known as Facebook has had some trouble making its namesake metaverse become a thing. And rumors are that division of the company is facing massive budget cuts. But things aren’t going so smoothly elsewhere, either. Now word is that the company’s next-gen Phoenix mixed reality glasses are being delayed until 2027, according to Business Insider.

That’s according to app listings that have popped up on Google Play ahead of tomorrow’s launch. Other notable launch apps for the first Android XR headset include Tripp XR, Walkabout Mini Golf, and a new headset-optimized video editor from Adobe.

Another tidbit from Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter further explores the rumor he’s reported about Apple shifting resources from a Vision Pro follow-up to something more like Meta’s Ray-Ban Display:

In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman mentions that Meta has decided that when its smart glasses with a heads-up display debut later this fall, the starting price will be around $800 instead of the $1,000 price range previously rumored.

Mark Zuckerberg and Palmer Luckey have buried the hatchet after Zuckerberg fired Luckey in 2017, so they can build virtual and augmented reality gear for the military. Oculus made, of course, the most successful VR headset and was also a tremendous flop for Meta. Anyway, here’s the WSJ story about their new team-up. Time and money heal all wounds, I guess?

This year’s rumored redesign for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS is also coming to watchOS and tvOS, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. In an April subscriber edition of Power On, he wrote that watchOS would only get elements of the redesign “here and there.”

What do normal people think the Apple Vision Pro is worth? Well, the highest bid was just $1,270 in this clip from a recent The Price is Right episode, posted by Vision Pro enthusiast Justin Ryan.

Android XR didn’t get a lot of screen time at today’s Android Show — apart from confirmation that it’s going to get Gemini AI support — but Google promises that there’s more to come at the full Google I/O event next week.

Ahead of next week’s Google I/O conference, we’re expecting to hear a bunch of news at today’s Android Show. That possibly includes the newly launched Android XR — Google’s new platform for mixed reality, smart glasses, and Samsung’s forthcoming Project Moohan. If you’re curious to learn more, you can always check out my hands-on with Moohan and Android XR from a few months ago.