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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and Chris discuss Digital ID in Apple devices, a collaboration between Joby Aviation and NVIDIA, TikTok’s time management settings, the Galaxy XR mixed reality headset, an Ai talking teddy bear’s inappropriate talk, Ai videos and package theft, and more.
“News Pick of the Week” with Ralph Bond
What if in the near future combat soldiers could have injuries treated in the field using 3D printed skin? Our science and technology news reporter, Bond, Ralph Bond, tells us what sounds like science fiction is now being explored and tested.
Read more here.
Steve in Kenosha, Wisconsin asked: I was thinking about getting a virtual headset. Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest S… Just wondering if you had any thoughts on those particular ones. I can’t afford the Apple one, it’s just too expensive.
Steve, the Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest 3S are similar in some ways but the Quest 2 at this point is basically the legacy option, with the Quest 3 being the latest and greatest and the Quest 3S acting as a bridge between them.
The Quest 2 will reach end of life and will stop receiving security updates in December of 2027 and it was officially discontinued in September of 2024 before the 3-series headsets came out.
In terms of hardware, the Quest 3S is a mix of Quest 2 and a Quest 3 hardware.
The Quest 3S has a 3.5MP resolution, same as a the Quest 2 and less than the 4.5MP resolution of the Quest 3.
The Quest 3S has the same 20 pixels per degree as the Quest 2, but the Quest 3 features 25 pixels per degree.
So far that makes the 3S look as a rebrand of the 2, but its not, for example the pass-through view of the 2 is in black and white, but both the 3 and 3S have a color passthrough view.
The 2 features 6GB of RAM while the 3 and 3S both had 8GB of RAM, they both also use a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor to the 2s Gen 1.
The 3 and 3S also feature inputs, and bigger batteries, but the overall battery life hasnt changed by much and both the 3 and 3S are heavier than the 2 and may be more challenging to wear for long.
All that being said, the 3S is about the same price as the 2, so if youre not willing to pay the $100 to $200 dollar premium for a total of $500 for the 3 to try to squeeze a little more life and power out of your headset, you should consider the 3S. At a minimum for the $300-$400 youll get a device that doesnt have a death date of December of 2027.
The 2 would cost you about the same as the 3S and you know that starting in 2028 its likely to be abandoned by Meta and left insecure if any vulnerabilities are found.
William in Charlotte, North Carolina called in with a tip for other listeners
William called in with a workaround for sharing Netflix accounts.
Thank you, William!
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