Following are a handful of stories from around the tech world for this week 10-16 December 2022.
The latest from Apple
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple-focused analyst, the company will not be able to ship its mixed AR and VR headsets until the second half of 2023 because of software-relate issues.
Kuo said in his tweet “My latest survey indicates that the mass shipment schedule of Apple’s MR headset may delay to 2H23 because of software-related issues (vs. the previous estimate of 2Q23)”.
This summer, reports from Bloomberg indicated that Apple was gearing up to launch a mixed reality headset at some point in 2023. Law firms working for the brand filed for trademark applications in several countries for the names “Reality One”, “Reality Pro” and “Reality Processor”. Apple also has rights for the name RealityOS.
Apple’s first version of realityOS is called “Oak” and was reportedly ready for hardware next year. However, according to Mark Gurman, Apple is also renaming realityOS to “xros”, where “XR” stands for extended reality. A shell company has also applied for trademarks for the name, but Apple could still end up going with realityOS.
Instagram news
New features have been announced by Instagram, including a BeReal clone called Candid Stories, and the ability to post very short text “Notes,” and groups. The company will focus on these during the next year.
It seems that Candid Stories appear to mirror much of what has made BeReal popular. Instagram users will be able to share a picture that includes a snapshot from both front and back cameras, and will also be able to take canid from the daily notification reminders as well as snap candids from the stories of other people.
Instagram confirmed it was testing Candid Stories earlier this year, and will launch first as a test in South Africa, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new Notes are not Twitter alternatives but short toppings of 60 characters of text and emojis and they will not appear in the feed of the users. This feature can only be shared with a limited group of users (followers you follow back or the people from your close friends list) and they will appear as little chat bubbles above user’s profile picture in the DM inbox.
Google ID cards
Maryland was one of the first states to make state IDs available on Apple’s Wallet app for iPhones, and now Google is beta testing support for the “Digital Driver’s License” in the Wallet app on Android phones. Based on Google’s updated support page users running on Android 8.0 (or later) who are who are in the Google Play Services beta program (specifically, version 48.22) are eligible. After enabling Bluetooth and Nearby Devices, and also making sure the phone has a scent lock, users can see the new option for “ID Card (beta)” when adding a new card to the Google Wallet app.
This new feature was announced during Google’s developer oriented I/O keynote back in May. Android support for a digital state ID is part of this month’s Google System updates, that also includes other Play Services beta features for Wallet such as Digital Car Key (for Xiaomi devices) as well as the ability to manage payment cards on Fitbit devices.
The process to add a Maryland ID goes as follows:
- scan the front of the ID
- scan the back
- take a short recording of your face
- submit the application
- wait for Maryland to accept the card
The process is very similar to that of adding a card to Apple Wallet.
