Technology - Google News

Hands-on at home with Microsoft's HoloLens 2 - CNET
Oppo announces Find X3 Pro flagship with microscope camera - The Verge
WatchOS 7.4: New features coming to your Apple Watch - CNET

Hands-on at home with Microsoft's HoloLens 2 - CNET

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PST

Microsoft recently invited me to join mixed reality pioneer Alex Kipman, the company's technical fellow for Windows mixed reality, in a one-on-one chat. The difference was it wasn't on Zoom, or Teams: It was gathered around a virtual table that sprouted up in my home office.

A holographic cartoon version of Kipman hovered in my space, and I walked around him. The only thing I needed to connect was a self-contained visor I wore over my face: the Microsoft HoloLens 2. My test-drive of the HoloLens 2 at home, for the first time ever, showed me where AR glasses are likely to head. And, also, the challenges that have yet to be solved. Microsoft Mesh, a technology promising a way to beam people into the same shared virtual space, shows amazing promise. But the hardware that will make the most of it hasn't quite arrived.

Now playing: Watch this: Meeting with Microsoft's Alex Kipman in the HoloLens...

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The HoloLens 2 has been around for over a year, but not to you or to me. It's sold as an enterprise device, meaning it's a $3,500 headset that's intended for people in workplaces that can afford it. Unlike VR headsets, it's not really designed to play games. And Microsoft never sent review units of the HoloLens 2 out before this: My demos were always in controlled spaces, for limited amounts of time. When Microsoft offered to send a loaner HoloLens 2 out as part of its mixed-reality software announcement, I was extremely intrigued. It's still a really new device to me.

Bear in mind that this is an AR headset, not a VR headset: Its lenses are transparent. The HoloLens 2 overlays glowing virtual objects that seem to exist in the real world. The only other headset like it is the Magic Leap One, also a business device (which I once got to try in my office for a week or so). It's not about entering a virtual space, but about being in my own space and putting stuff on top of it. All those Marvel and Kingsman and Star Wars dreams about holograms you can interact with, well, that's Microsoft's goal. As Qualcomm and Facebook and maybe Apple (and others) work on AR headsets, the HoloLens 2 looks like the prototype for what's next.

The HoloLens 2 isn't quite at that goal, but no one is. Still, it may come closer right now than anything else.

hololens-2-oculus-quest-2 — HoloLens 2, Oculus Quest 2: both standalone, both easy to start up. One's AR, one's VR.
Scott Stein/CNET

It reminds me, oddly, of the Oculus Quest 2

The headset is surprisingly compact and about the same size as (though it feels lighter than) the Oculus Quest 2, Facebook's self-contained VR headset. While the Quest 2 is $300 and the HoloLens 2 is more than $3,000, there's a spiritual similarity to both. They're both standalone devices that don't need PCs or phones to use. They both fit easily over my head and fit over my prescription glasses.

The self-contained and easy-to-use feel of both serves a similar purpose: get people into VR (or AR) fast and without cable tangles or weird interfaces.

That's where the similarities end.

Look, no controllers

The Oculus Quest and HoloLens 2 both allow hand tracking, but Facebook uses it as an alternative to the Quest's controllers. Hand tracking on the Oculus Quest works surprisingly well, but the HoloLens 2 has no controllers at all: Everything is done with your hands. That's where the HoloLens 2 shines... and has awkward moments, too.

To touch virtual things, like buttons or keyboards, I reach my fingers out and tap them. To grab an object, I pinch the edge. I open the HoloLens menu by looking at my wrist and tapping a button that appears there, glowing. To control far-off things, I open my hand and cast a beam like I'm Vision. There's a feeling of having supernatural powers that flows through the HoloLens interface.

On my own, I try playing a game called Roboraid on the HoloLens 2, where things pop out of my walls -- I tried a variation of this game many years ago at an E3 demo, but at home, I use my hands to play. Pinching and pointing and tapping my fingers together is a lot of what HoloLens 2 requires. The arm gestures can get tiring. I'd like simple shortcuts. And also, a controller would be nice. I can't get any feedback like vibration, which is where a wristband or ring or neural input tech down the road, like what Facebook has planned, comes in. Some sort of controller could help make gestures more minimal and even let me feel what I'm doing.

Even with the limits of the HoloLens' smaller-than-desired display, I can draw in 3D in my room, scribbling lines from my bookshelf and annotating actual objects. I put virtual objects alongside real ones. The virtual, glowing ones stay in place, and when I come back later, HoloLens 2 on, they're still there.

hololens-2-lens — The HoloLens 2's flip-down lenses. The headset can also track my eyes.
Scott Stein/CNET

Eye tracking: A technology waiting in the wings

The HoloLens 2 also has eye tracking, something that current non-business VR headsets don't. Eye tracking is subtle, but it allows me to look at an object -- like an open app window across the room -- and say "close app," and it knows which one to close. For moments where I talk to people in AR, they could potentially see my virtual avatar eyes moving because the eye tracking is noticing where I'm looking.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants eye tracking on future VR and AR headsets for that same purpose, to map facial expressions and eye movements to realistic avatars. Microsoft's tech, however, being business-focused, contains the use of that eye-tracking data to specific, secure instances. In mainstream headsets and glasses, how will that data be used and shared? We don't yet know.

A floating virtual desktop full of windows

I demoed Microsoft's software and also tried a few other apps. I sat down and tried opening web browsers, then played a game or two (yes, there are a couple). What really struck me was how windows could pop up and float on my desk, or in whatever formation I wanted. I could get up and they'd stay pinned there. They'd even be there the next day.

Qualcomm's AR smart glasses are designed to be connected displays for phones and PCs. What I'm seeing on the HoloLens 2 feels like a preview of those glasses and what they'll eventually be able to do.

On the HoloLens 2, I'm limited to using my hands (although I guess I could pair a keyboard). I'd love to see what it's like for my laptop to suddenly sprout extra windows and monitors hovering in the air when I put my future smart glasses on.

hololens-2-front — The cameras on the HoloLens 2, which can depth-scan my room much like the iPhone 12 Pro's lidar.
Scott Stein/CNET

The displays aren't perfect yet

The HoloLens 2's limited field of view feels like a large window floating in front of me where glowing 3D things appear. But the window isn't wide enough, which means I have to move my head to take in things around the room that I don't know are there.

The display also has a slightly hazy rainbow-like quality. It's not the perfect vivid display I'd expect on a monitor, or even recent VR headsets. If I want to use an AR headset to see movies, or play games, I'd want something more evolved. It's not easy on a transparent lens, but maybe Micro LED tech could help improve things soon.

What will the killer apps be?

Microsoft's HoloLens 2 uses communications and telepresence as its killer apps for business. It could also excel at giving heads-up instructions in the workplace. But what would the killer apps be for AR glasses sold to everyday people? Would it be fitness? Games? Virtual movie glasses? An extra monitor that can go anywhere?

No one's figured this out yet. Companies like Niantic, makers of what's arguably AR's ultimate killer app, Pokemon Go, are exploring what it's like to play on AR glasses using a HoloLens 2. Microsoft's headset isn't meant to go everywhere. It's not great in bright daylight; it looks big and helmet-like; and the battery life isn't long. But it's probably the best prototype I've ever tried for what AR glasses will need to do next.

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Oppo announces Find X3 Pro flagship with microscope camera - The Verge

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 04:15 AM PST

After a drawn-out series of leaks and teases, Oppo has announced its 2021 flagship in full. The Find X3 Pro is a sleek, powerful phone with an unusual design and some unique features to match. It's also an important device for Oppo, which recently overtook Huawei in the Chinese smartphone market and will be looking to capitalize on its rival's troubles this year.

The Find X3 Pro's most arresting visual element is its camera bump, which almost looks organic in the way it seamlessly rises from the same piece of glass as the rest of the phone's back panel. Combined with the finish, which on my unit is aggressively shiny and glossy, the phone looks sort of like it was forged out of Terminator 2-style liquid metal.

The camera system itself is no less unusual. There's a primary camera and an ultrawide that both use 50-megapixel 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX766 sensors, meaning the image quality should be comparable across both, though we'll have to see how that bears out in practice.

There's also a 3-megapixel microlens, which shouldn't be mistaken for the useless macro cameras found in some phones today. Oppo claims up to 60x magnification, and it's more like a microscope than a macro lens — you can take pictures of things like subpixel layouts on screens, and there's even a ring light to illuminate the subject. I'm not sure if this will be a selling point for many people, but in my early testing I can confirm that it's pretty cool. Here's a quick shot of my computer monitor:

You'll notice that the whole shot isn't quite in focus, and that's because depth of field is extremely shallow when shooting this close — you have to get within millimeters. I probably need more practice using the microlens, but my first impression is that it might be more useful for looking at things in real time than capturing them for sharing.

One notable omission is a periscope zoom lens, even though Oppo did more than anyone to popularize the technology. There is a telephoto lens here, but it's just a 13-megapixel sensor with 2x optical zoom over the primary camera. That's not necessarily a downgrade, since it could improve image quality at mid-range shooting distances, but it does mean the Find X3 Pro won't have anywhere near as much zoom reach as its 5x-telephoto-equipped predecessor.

The Find X3 Pro's display is another key feature; it's a 3216 x 1440 LTPO OLED panel with a peak brightness of 1,300 nits and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Oppo is making a big deal out of the fact that it's a 10-bit panel and that it's integrated full-path color management into ColorOS; this means photos and videos captured with the cameras can be displayed with more than a billion colors, as opposed to the 16.7 million colors on conventional smartphone screens.

The Find X3 Pro has typically flagship-tier internals: a Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The 4,500mAh battery can be fast-charged at up to 65W, and Oppo has finally embraced wireless charging on a flagship with a 30W system that can fully charge the phone in 80 minutes. The lack of wireless charging was my biggest knock against the Find X2 Pro, so Oppo's off to a good start here.

We don't have pricing or release details for the Find X3 Pro just yet; Oppo plans to announce that next week. Stay tuned for more information and a full review.

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WatchOS 7.4: New features coming to your Apple Watch - CNET

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PST

apple-iphone-11-watch-5-series-6293 — Angela Lang/CNET

The Apple Watch will make unlocking your iPhone less of a hassle while wearing a mask and brings AirPlay 2 compatibility to Apple's new Fitness Plus workout service. Apple hasn't revealed the official launch date for its next round of software updates, but the public beta of watchOS 7.4 gives us a glimpse of all the new features we can expect to arrive on the Apple Watch in the next few weeks.

Unlock with Apple Watch

With the latest update to WatchOS 7.4 (and iOS 14.5 on the iPhone), you'll be able to opt in to a feature on the iPhone that lets you use the Apple Watch to authenticate Face ID when your face is covered.

To activate the feature, both the Apple Watch and the iPhone need to be running the latest version of their respective softwares and must be password protected.

Toggle the feature on the iPhone under the Face ID and passcode option in the settings and make sure your Apple Watch is unlocked and on your wrist. You may be required to type in your password on the first try, but after this you should be able to swipe up to unlock the iPhone with Face ID.

The Watch will give you an alert and haptic feedback to let you know your iPhone has been unlocked.

Now playing: Watch this: What's new in iOS 14.5?

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Cast Fitness Plus on Airplay 2 devices

Fitness Plus gives you two types of workout recommendations: Either more of what you like or something new to balance out your routine.
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

If you have an Apple Watch and you're trying out Apple's new Fitness Plus, you'll now have more ways to work out. You can now cast the Apple Watch workout service on any device or TV with AirPlay 2. At launch, the service was only available to view on an iPhone, iPad or newer version of the Apple TV.

You'll still need to select a workout in the Fitness Plus app on your iPhone or iPad. Then either press the casting icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen or select screen mirroring in the quick settings section to cast to a device.

The Apple Watch will get a lot of the same features found in iOS 14.5, including the 217 new emoji and the option to change your default music. Apple also released updates for iPadOS and TVOS.

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