Welcome to HYPERLINKED, where we run you through the biggest stories of the week in the tech space.
THE META QUEST PRO HAS BEEN REVEALED
Meta (Facebook) has revealed the long rumoured Meta Quest Pro overnight. It’s set to release on October 25th with pre-orders available now, and it’s priced at $2,450. We knew it’d be expensive, but didn’t expect quite that big of a jump from the Meta Quest 2.
This is a very high end mixed reality VR headset and one that Meta says is being aimed at productivity with Meta having the vision that it will replace computers and tablets. Basically the headset is a mixed reality headset with full colour pass through that will let you play existing Meta Quest games as well as view a virtual work station (or apps) right in your home space.
The headset is much slimmer and lighter, has full high resolution colour pass through, crisp LCD displays, eye tracking and the ability to provide natural face expressions through its high quality cameras. You can expect 37% more pixels than the Meta Quest 2 which makes tasks such as reading text or making games even better. There’s also a 75% in contrast in the display.
The new self tracking controllers are called the Meta Quest Touch Controllers and will be compatible with both the Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2. They feature in-built batteries and wireless charging and no longer need the rings to be tracked as they’re tracked with three sensors in each controller which will make for even better tracking. Similarly, to PlayStation VR2 they have TruTouch Haptics built in so that you can feel the haptics in the controllers. The controllers will be available included with the Meta Quest Pro or available separately for $299 USD (~$476 AUD).
GOOGLE’S NEW PIXEL PHONES/WATCH HAVE DROPPED
Google has released the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Google Pixel Watch.
The Google Pixel 7 starts at $999 and has a 6.3″ FHD 90Hz display which is 25% brighter than last year’s model. It’s running on the new Tensor G2 chip and it’s technically a smaller and lighter device than the 6. Face Unlock is back in the device and as far as cameras go, there’s a redesigned, smaller bump that houses its dual camera system (a wide lens and an ultrawide lens). It has a 50MP wide camera and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. New photography features include a Cinematic Blur.
The Google Pixel 7 Pro starts at $1,299 and has a 25% brighter 6.7″ QHD+ LTPO OLED 120Hz display. The display is now far less curved than the 6 Pro and it’s running on Google’s brand new Tensor G2 chip. Face Unlock is back and the new triple camera system now is far less raised on the back. There’s a brand new 30x zoom with its 50 MP wide lens, 12 MP ultrawide lens and 48 MP telephoto lens. Macro Focus is a brand new photography feature as well as Cinematic Blur.
The Google Pixel Watch starts at $549 and comes in both Wifi and LTE variants and there’s over 20 bands of both the silicon, leather and woven variety. It runs a new Wear OS experience that gives you Google on your wrist, FitBit integration, the ability to track your heart and sleep and will obviously pair right with your Google Pixel phone.
THE RAZER EDGE IS RAZER’S NEW PORTABLE
Razer has announced the Razer Edge which is its new gaming handheld. It has a 6.8″ tablet that has a 144Hz AMOLED display as well as a Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 processor as well as a Kishi V2 Pro. The device is designed to run Android games at high speeds as well as Xbox and PC games from the cloud thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The Razer Edge will release in Wi-Fi and LTE variants when it releases in early 2023. The Wi-Fi version is set to cost $399.99 USD (~$643 AUD) with the LTE version not having a price at this moment in time.
IT’S GAME RELEASE GALORE AT THE MOMENT
It’s crazy season if you’re a gamer with a number huge games releasing in the next week:
- A Plague Tale Requiem – October 18th (PS5/XSX/PC)
- Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed – October 18th (PS4/PS5/XSX/XB1/PC)
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves – October 19th (PC)
- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope – October 20th (Switch)
- New Tales From The Borderlands – October 21st (PS5/PS4/XB1/XSX/SWITCH/PC)
- Persona 5 Royal – October 21st (PS5/XSX/XS1/PC/Switch)
- Gotham Knights – October 21st (PS5/XSX/PC)
THE RTX 4080 12GB HAS BEEN UNLAUNCHED
Nvidia announced the RTX 4090 earlier this month which has reviewed insanely well, but it also announced two variations of the RTX 4080, the 16GB which sounded like the true 4080 experience and a 12GB version which was very obviously being released to serve specific business objectives by Nvidia.
This was rightly slammed online as not only confusing, but a likely rebranding of another card that was being served up as a 4080 variant. Nvidia has today cancelled the 12GB version of this card or “unlaunched” it as it said in its blog post. The 16GB RTX 4080 will still be released on November 16th as planned and we’d expect to see the 12GB version back at some point (likely as a RTX 4070 or 4070 Ti).
