An exciting new lineup of smartphones is on the horizon… for Europe at least

The Fira de Barcelona convention center during last year’s Mobile World Congress. | Image: David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images In less than a week, some of the world’s biggest mobile players will be crowded into the Fira de Barcelona convention ... more - theverge

Snapchat is adding audio recommendations and song syncing

Image: Snap Snapchat users will soon have a handful of new tools to make content that includes trending songs or sounds. First, the company is introducing a sound recommendation system for Lenses, its popular augmented reality (AR) filters. Users will ... more - theverge

No Man’s Sky is getting an overhauled VR mode with the launch of PSVR 2

It’s like you’re actually in the ship. | Image: Hello Games No Man’s Sky is one of many titles you can play on the now-released PlayStation VR2, but the game’s virtual reality mode on all VR platforms is getting a big overhaul as part of the new 4.1 ... more - theverge

Gran Turismo 7 VR hands-on: it might make you a PSVR 2 believer

Today, Sony is officially launching its PlayStation VR2 headset. It costs $550, and you can read our PSVR 2 review right here. But there are a few key experiences that Sony didn’t distribute to reviewers ahead of time — like a day-one patch for Gran ... more - theverge

Meta is improving Quest hand tracking so you can touch buttons and type on virtual keyboards

I gotta work on my virtual WPM. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Hand tracking on Meta’s Quest VR headsets is about to get better. With the new v50 update, you’ll be able to “touch” things like menu buttons or virtual keyboards with just ... more - theverge

Sony shares details on Gran Turismo 7’s VR mode and 10 new PSVR 2 launch games

Vroom vroom in VR. | Image: Sony We’re just a day away from the Wednesday launch of Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset, and ahead of its release, the company is sharing details on Gran Turismo 7’s VR mode and on 10 new games that will be available within ... more - theverge

PSVR 2 review: love on a leash

Sony has the technology — and a 14.7-foot cord. Will it get the games? Continue reading… ... more - theverge

We plugged the PSVR2 into a PC, and here’s what it does

Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Sony’s new PlayStation VR2 headset is designed to work exclusively with a PS5, but will it ever work on PCs? That’s a big question that I can’t answer just yet, and one that even Sony is dodging right now. While ... more - theverge

Horizon Call of the Mountain is not enough of a good thing

Archery in Horizon Call of the Mountain . Finally, a Horizon VR you’ll want to hang out in. Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Apple’s mixed reality headset will reportedly debut at WWDC

Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple plans to introduce its long-rumored mixed reality headset at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, according to a new report from Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman. The reveal date has apparently been pushed ... more - theverge

Your next swipe might be on an AI chatbot

Image: Jovana Mugosa / The Verge People are burned out on dating apps. In reporting Land of The Giants: Dating Games , we spoke to dozens of daters who are tired of navigating several apps at a time, optimizing their profiles, and facilitating dozens ... more - theverge

Sony’s PSVR2 teardowns reveal how the headset tracks the Sense controllers

Image: Sony The PlayStation VR2 headset can track the accompanying Sense controllers thanks to a bunch of IR LEDs hidden in the orb-shaped controllers, according to new teardown videos Sony posted Tuesday evening. Under the Sense controller cover, the ... more - theverge

An old Sega sports and puzzle game is coming to PlayStation VR2

Concept art for C-Smash VRS. | Image: Sony Cosmic Smash , a sports and puzzle game from Sega arcade systems and the Dreamcast, is being “reimagine[d]” for the PlayStation VR2, according to a Sony blog post. The new version will be called C-Smash VRS ... more - theverge

Bigscreen VR’s $999 Beyond headset is custom-made to fit your face

The company says its headset is six times lighter than “traditional” VR headgear. | Image: BigScreenVR Bigscreen VR’s first virtual reality headset is surprisingly small, weighing in at just 127 grams, or around 4.5 ounces. Despite its size, the wired-only ... more - theverge

Meta found a leaker who shared details about its unannounced VR headsets with a YouTuber

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A version of this story was first published in yesterday’s edition of my Command Line newsletter . A monthslong leak investigation by Meta has uncovered the source behind renders of the company’s unannounced ... more - theverge

Google wants to help developers make experiences like Maps’ new ‘immersive’ view

Image: Google Google wants to make it easier for others to make powerful mixed reality experiences with the official release of a new Google Cloud tool, Immersive Stream for XR. The tool lets you scan a QR code or click a link to access a mixed reality ... more - theverge

Google’s head of VR is leaving to form an AI company with the former co-CEO of Salesforce

Image: Ramin Talaie / Getty Images Clay Bavor, Google’s vice president of its forward-looking Labs division, is leaving the company to found an AI startup, as announced in a post on Bavor’s LinkedIn on Wednesday. Longtime Verge readers may recognize ... more - theverge

Meta’s VR hellscape might soon be invaded by children

Image: Meta Meta’s planning to open up Horizon Worlds to users aged 13 to 17, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal . In an internal memo viewed by the outlet, Meta says it wants to make the virtual reality-based social platform available ... more - theverge

FTC won’t appeal court decision permitting Meta to buy Within

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission will not appeal a recent federal court order allowing Meta to purchase VR startup Within, an agency official told reporters on Monday. The FTC sued to stop Meta’s acquisition of Within, ... more - theverge

Here’s why Meta is shutting down Echo VR

Image: Meta Last week, Meta announced that it would be shutting down the widely praised VR game Echo VR in August . Since then, Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth has shared some further details about the shutdown, and former Meta consulting CTO John Carmack ... more - theverge

Sony answers your burning PSVR2 questions in an extensive new FAQ

We’re just a couple weeks away from the launch of the new headset. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony has posted an extensive FAQ about the PlayStation VR2 ahead of the imminent launch of the next-generation virtual reality headset. Though a lot ... more - theverge

EA and Meta weren’t the only companies to ax games this week

Apex Legends Mobile is one of the games shutting down. | Image: EA Over the course of this week, the developers of several major live service titles announced that their games would be shutting down. That means that players who actively enjoyed those ... more - theverge

A remastered version of Myst is coming to iOS

Indie studio Cyan is bringing its latest Myst remaster to iOS. | Image: Cyan The classic puzzle game Myst is celebrating its 30th birthday this year with a new way to play: on your iOS device. Myst Mobile is based on the remastered version of the original ... more - theverge

Meta’s Quest 3 headset will have better mixed reality tech, according to Zuckerberg

The current-gen Quest 2. | Photo by Owen Grove / The Verge A key feature from Meta’s $1,499.99 Quest Pro headset will make an appearance — in some form — in a more affordable consumer-focused headset coming later this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in ... more - theverge

Meta reportedly wins fight to buy VR startup Within

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge A California judge is reportedly allowing Meta to close its acquisition of virtual reality fitness startup Within, despite an ongoing antitrust case by the Federal Trade Commission. Bloomberg reports that a pair ... more - theverge

Wednesday’s top tech news: happy Samsung Unpacked day to all who observe

Image: Samsung Plus we say goodbye to a VR classic, and AMD issues a prediction on when PC sales might pick up. Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Meta is inexplicably shutting down one of the best Oculus games

We’ve called it a cross between the Battle School from Ender’s Game and ultimate frisbee. We’ve called it Final Fantasy X blitzball meets VR. It made two of our Best VR Games lists — three, if you count the one I did for CNET before returning to The ... more - theverge

PlayStation VR2 sales expectations reportedly halved after disappointing preorders

Sony originally estimated that it would shift two million PSVR2 units this quarter. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony has reportedly reduced sales projections for the launch of the PlayStation VR2 after receiving fewer preorders than expected ... more - theverge

Meta is testing members-only worlds for its social VR platform

Some Horizon Worlds avatars hanging out around a virtual campfire. | Image: Meta Meta is starting to test members-only worlds in Horizon Worlds , its social VR platform, which will allow people to build curated worlds for a select community of users. ... more - theverge

The Meta Quest Pro is $400 off this week

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta has given its professional Meta Quest Pro headset a temporary $400 discount, bringing its cost down to $1,099 in the US. The deal, which, according to CNET , runs for one week in the US and two weeks in ... more - theverge