Meta will hold its Connect conference on September, 27th, and look for much more about the Quest 3. Meta dropped more info about the upcoming mixed reality headset today, including the price…$499. In a blog post on Instagram CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it “The first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality. 40% thinner and more comfortable.” With the Quest 3 on the way, Meta has cut the price of the Quest 2 back down to $299.99 for the 128 gig version. The 256 gig model will be $349.99. Those prices are effective June 4th. Meta also said they are working on a software update that will improve CPU and GPU performance for the Quest 2. 

Amazon has settled lawsuits for millions…pocket change for the online giant. According to techcrunch.com, they will cough up $25 million over violations to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Amazon had been accused of keeping kids’ speech data basically forever, and had also kept geolocation information about kids. In addition, Amazon must pay $5.8 million to settle with the FTC over allegations that Ring gave employees and third-party contractors full access to every customer video until 2017. Someone, somewhere who is better at calculating than I am is already figuring how many MINUTES worth of profit this is costing Amazon!

The top reason cited for people switching from Android to iPhone is usually attributed to people…especially teens…wanting the ‘blue bubble’ in their texts, instead of green, which Apple assigns to non-iOS users of their text service. well, that’s not it, apparently. Computer Intelligence Research Partners did a study, and 15% of new iPhone buyers are conquest sales from Android. the top reason? An issue with the Android experience. Over 53% of respondents said they moved to iPhone because of problems with their Android smartphone. Specifics cited were “their old phone did not serve them, because it was aging, needed repair, or had some deficiency that affected their user experience.”The second most common reason to switch was for new features on iPhone like “a better camera, enhanced accessory options, or a more intuitive user interface.” Only 6% switched because of the iMessage blue bubble vs green one!

A cool new trick has been added to Google Wallet. It will now let you add passes by just taking a photo. Engadget.com reports that for example, if a store you frequent doesn’t have digital membership cards, you can take a photo, and add the card to your wallet. As long as there is a bar code or QR code, you will be good to go on your phone. Google is also matching Apple in supporting digital IDs. As of today, Maryland residents can add their driver’s licenses and ID cards to Wallet on any device using Android 8 or newer. Arizona, Colorado and Georgia residents will have the option in the months ahead. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.