Hey everyone! I’m back in the hot seat this week – and what a week it’s been! We’ve had another bargain bonanza from Amazon in the shape of its Early Access Sale (although everyone just called it Prime Day 2), Meta announced a new mixed-reality headset, Microsoft unveiled new Surface devices, and the highly-anticipated Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card finally went on sale… then promptly sold out. I’ve been running a live blog to help readers track down any remaining stock.
Our in-depth Pixel Watch, Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro reviews dropped as well. It’s a packed newsletter, so let's get to it – and please do get in touch with your thoughts via email, remembering to include NEWSLETTER in the subject line so we don’t miss you.
Meta unveiled the Meta Quest Pro at its Connect event (Meta)
One of the biggest events in a week full of big events was the Meta Connect showcase, at which it unveiled its new augmented-reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro. It looks like an ambitious product, and it has some powerful specs, including 12GB of RAM (more than a lot of gaming laptops), 256GB of storage and a Snapdragon XR2+ chip.
There’s one big problem with it, though – I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy it. For a start, it’s not a virtual-reality headset, like Meta's popular Oculus Quest 2. As Hamish Hector explains in his hands-on review, the headset doesn’t completely immerse you in a virtual world, but rather combines virtual reality and the real world around you.
It’s more of a productivity tool than something to play games with; Hamish has told me that Meta envisions it as a replacement for laptops, but I just can’t see many people ditching their laptop for the Quest Pro, nor many businesses handing out headsets rather than laptops for their employees to work on.
There’s also the price. At $1,500 / £1,500 (around AU$2,400), this is not something I can see many people rushing out to buy. If you need a productivity device you can get a very good laptop for a lot less money. And if Meta loses interest in the Quest Pro and stops supporting it, you could be left with a very expensive paperweight.
The Surface Pro 9 is among Microsoft's range of new devices (Future)
Microsoft was also in a launching mood this week, showcasing its new Surface Pro 9 tablet, alongside the Surface Laptop 5 and a few other goodies.
The Surface Pro lineup is probably Microsoft’s most recognisable bit of non-Xbox hardware, combining a sleek and stylish design with powerful components that make it a great showcase for Windows 11.
However, it’s never really won over the mainstream in the way Apple’s iPad has done, so can the Surface Pro 9 change that? I’m not too sure. It looks like a great device, and there are some nice hardware upgrades, but this is a more iterative upgrade rather than anything revolutionary – and in my opinion, that’s not enough.
To get people who’ve so far ignored the Surface Pro to sit up and take notice, Microsoft needs to shake things up. Make it more of a tablet and less of a halfway house between a tablet and a laptop (and you still need to buy the Type Cover separately to have a keyboard). Be bold. Otherwise, the Surface Pro will continue to be overshadowed by the iPad – and that would be a shame, as the product line has the potential to achieve similar heights of popularity.
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Our reviews of Google’s latest smartphones, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, landed on the site this week, and it looks like both are excellent handsets. While the Pixel 7 scored a solid four-star review from Alex Walker-Todd, the handset that really caught my eye was the Pixel 7 Pro, which earned an impressive four and a half stars from Philip Berne; yes, that extra half a star is a big deal.
I love big phones, and the Pixel 7 Pro comes with some really impressive camera tech as well. I love taking photos of our daughter, so investing in something that can take even better photos is really appealing to me.
So, could Google win me back? I used to have the Google Nexus 6, then the Pixel XL and Pixel 2 XL, before switching to Samsung phones. While I loved the Galaxy Note 9, I’ve felt a little disappointed with my current handset, the Galaxy S21 Plus, and I’ve found myself missing the clean Android experience of Google’s Pixel series as I’ve waded through Samsung’s pre-installed bloatware.
The fact that Google is throwing in its new Pixel Watch for free with Pixel 7 Pro preorders in some markets makes the phone even more tempting. I just wish I had more money…
POLL QUESTION:
Which of the crop of recently released devices would you think about buying?
Would you put up with ads and other downsides in exchange for a lower price? (Shutterstock)
I think most of us had our doubts about Netflix’s new ad-supported tier when it was first announced. I certainly did. The streamer has had a rough year, and to shore up falling subscription numbers it’s created a new tier: Netflix Basic with Ads, which will cost $6.99 / £4.99 a month. That’s a lot cheaper than the tier I’m currently on – I pay £15.99 for the top tier, which costs $19.99 a month in the US, and while my current subscription feels far too expensive, there’s no way I’m going to consider Netflix Basic with Ads.
As Al Griffin explains, Netflix has revealed that adverts will be either 15 or 30 seconds in length, and some will appear before and after streamed programs and films. However, ads will also appear throughout the show or movie you’re watching – something I was dreading. Viewers will see around five minutes of ads per hour, which works out to 10 30-second adverts over the length of a standard Netflix episode.
That’s going to be awful. Ads can quickly become intrusive and annoying when you’re trying to immerse yourself in a show.
If I was to switch to Netflix Basic with Ads, I’d also have to contend with a serious drop in image quality – going from 4K HDR for many shows to just 720p, a resolution I’ve not had to endure for over a decade. If that wasn’t bad enough, the streaming giant has also revealed that 5-10% of its programming won’t be available on the new tier, and that subscribers to it won’t be able to download content.
Need help getting to sleep? Count me in… (Sam Carter/Unsplash)
I’ve always had trouble sleeping, and even having a three-year-old daughter to run around after doesn’t always guarantee that I can get off to sleep easily at the end of the day. So I read our chat with sleep expert Theresa Schnorbach (yes, I’m thinking what you’re thinking…) with interest.
Ruth Hamilton talks to Schnorbach about whether or not counting sheep really can help you get to sleep, or whether it’s just a myth. Surprisingly, it does seem to work – the more technical term for this is ‘imaginative distraction’, where you think about relaxing scenes to help you drift off. And of course it doesn’t have to be sheep – just anything that takes you to a happy place – and the counting part of the process apparently has meditative qualities that slow your breathing.
My biggest issue with getting to sleep is that my mind starts to race, whether that’s thinking about work, the state of the world, or even going over old embarrassing memories, so by thinking about something more calming, maybe I can get my stupid brain to shut up for a bit. I’ll definitely be giving it a go – although after the week we’ve just had on TechRadar I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble nodding off tonight.
Bethesda has been behind some of my favorite games, particularly RPGs like Fallout 3 and Skyrim, so when back in 2018 the studio announced that it was working on a new RPG called Starfield, which would be based in a sci-fi setting – a genre I love – I was super excited.
The game has been through a protracted development process (Bethesda doesn’t seem to make games quickly – Skyrim launched in 2011 and I’m still waiting for a follow-up), which dulled my initial excitement for a while. However, more news about the game is now emerging, and as TechRadar Gaming’s features writer Elie Gould explains, it looks like Starfield could go down the hard sci-fi route.
That would mean less Star Wars-like fantasy and super-powered space wizards, with the game instead drawing on science stuff that’s theoretically possible, and this could make for some really interesting gameplay challenges, while setting the game apart from its competitors. Consider my interest rekindled.
The CIA wants to bring mammoths back from the dead because why not? (Dottedhippo via Getty Images)
You know how sometimes you read a headline and you immediately think “No! Don’t go there!”? Well, that’s exactly what I thought when I read the headline The CIA wants to bring woolly mammoths back from extinction at our sister website Live Science.
It’s not that I’m particularly against woolly mammoths – they seemed pretty cool when I read books about them as a kid – but I’ve seen enough sci-fi movies to know that humans playing god never ends well.
The fact that the CIA seems to be getting involved also conjures up scary images of resurrected woolly mammoths strapped with weapons and genetically modified for warfare, and while that might make for a rather enjoyable film (I’ll start working on a pitch to send to an increasingly desperate Netflix right after filing this newsletter), I’d rather it didn’t happen in real life. I have enough things keeping me up at night (see above) without worrying about being gored by a mutant CIA assassin spliced with woolly mammoth genes.
The Sign Off
Right, that’s it for me for this week! I need a lie down after all that excitement, so I think now is the perfect time to give counting woolly mammoths a try – or was it sheep?
Hopefully you enjoyed this week’s newsletter – if you have any comments or suggestions, do drop me a line. Next week I’ll be leaving you in Lance’s capable hands – I may still be asleep.
Have a great weekend!
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