The new Apple TV 4K went on sale online and in stores last week, offering improvements over what some say is the best streaming hardware available. The 2022 model has an A15 Bionic processor, a significant update over the A12 inside the previous model, which shipped in May. A 16-core neural engine and added RAM are among the upgrades. Starting at $129 for Wi-Fi only with 64GB of RAM, there is also a higher-end $149 version with 128GB that is Wi-Fi and Ethernet compatible and has a Thread IoT modem that supports Matter. Read more

The Sony PlayStation VR2 will be available for purchase for $549.99 starting February 22, 2023, with pre-orders beginning November 15. Sony says the PlayStation VR2 will come equipped with stereo headphones, PSVR2 Sense controllers and a PSVR2 headset. With 4K HDR support, OLED displaying 2000×2040 pixels per eye, 110-degree field of view and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the VR2 offers many improvements over its predecessor. There are four cameras built into the front of the headset, eliminating a need for external cameras to track movements. Read more

The Entertainment Technology Center at USC announced availability of its latest video series, “vETC | 2022,” recorded September 9-11 at SIGGRAPH 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia. vETC is a virtual conference of significant presentations around emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry. The program’s focus included on-set virtual production (OSVP), in-camera visual effects (ICVFX), virtual production, adaptive production, immersive media and virtual beings. Speakers presented concepts, workflows, business models and case studies in showcasing these disruptive and enabling technologies. The videos are now available on ETC’s YouTube channel. Read more

Comcast and Charter Communications have christened their streaming joint venture Xumo, taking the name from the FAST platform Comcast acquired in 2020 for a reported $100 million. Built to challenge biggies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku, the Xumo joint venture aims to create “an entire entertainment ecosystem” to include hardware as well as content and a platform to help advertisers “reach audiences at scale.” The first Xumo devices are targeting late 2023 delivery, with distribution through Comcast, Charter and Walmart (and other vendors to be announced). Xumo’s FAST service will be rebranded Xumo Play. Read more

Google Research is touting new advances in artificial intelligence, which can now generate its own code and write fiction, in addition to better text-to-video and language translation. At a New York media event at Google’s Pier 57 office — which opened earlier this year to become the company’s third Manhattan outpost — roughly a dozen projects in various stages of development were on display, with robot learning, LaMDA (language model for dialogue applications) and text-generated 3D images sharing the spotlight with practical AI for things like disaster management, weather forecasts and healthcare. Read more