Weekly News Round-Up: Friday, August 8, 2025
Elon Outlines the Future of X Ads, Including AI Targeting, Ads in Grok Answers and More
The latest on how X is evolving its ad platform with AI.
Instagram Reiterates Location Sharing Is Optional
No, location sharing is not switched on by default on Instagram.
Pinterest Reaches 578M Users, Improves Revenue Intake in Q2
User growth in the U.S. seems to have stalled and is declining in Europe.
LinkedIn Scales Back Its Alternative News Feed Test
The test provides three feed options on LinkedIn.
DaVinci Resolve Now Fully Supports Editing Apple Immersive Video
Beat Saber Was The Best-Selling PS VR2 Game In July, Despite Ending Support
Why Apple’s Next Headset Could Finally Make Spatial Computing Worth Your Time
The Apple Vision Pro launched with fanfare, premium materials, and a jaw-dropping $3,500 price tag that sent even the most devoted Apple fans scrolling past. But here’s the kicker: reports suggest Apple’s sequel headset could arrive as early as late 2025, targeting not just better specs but something more revolutionary—actual mainstream appeal. After shipping just 400,000 units in 2024 and watching customers return their headsets for weight complaints, Apple clearly had to rethink their entire approach to spatial computing.
Those disappointing sales figures weren’t just numbers—they forced Apple’s engineering teams to tackle the fundamental barriers preventing Vision Pro from becoming the breakthrough we all hoped for. The supply chain whispers emerging from Cupertino paint a picture of targeted solutions addressing the three biggest pain points that kept the original from succeeding.
What’s actually changing under the hood?
Apple’s engineering response centers on Apple’s upcoming…more
Why Privacy Just Got Scarier in Apple’s Vision Pro Future
The Vision Pro already knows where you’re looking, how you move your hands, and what’s in your room. Now Apple’s exploring technology to read your lips—even when you’re not speaking out loud. Here’s what that means for the future of mixed reality interaction and why your silent thoughts might not stay silent much longer.
Having tested the Vision Pro’s eye-tracking precision over six months, I can confirm the device captures gaze patterns at millisecond resolution with unsettling accuracy. The addition of lip-reading capabilities would fundamentally transform this data collection from comprehensive to nearly omniscient. We’re not just talking about another input method—this represents a leap toward computers that can decode unspoken words, potentially capturing the silent mental verbalization that occurs when you read to yourself or think through problems.
What you need to know:
Silent speech recognition technology can decode unspoken words from lip movements with 92% accuracy in…more
Why Meta’s secret lab just cracked the mixed reality code
You’ve probably seen the flashy consumer launches—Quest 3, Vision Pro, the usual suspects. But while everyone’s been watching the retail games, Meta’s Reality Labs has been quietly cooking up prototypes that make today’s headsets look like flip phones. We’re talking about tech that solves problems you didn’t even know existed yet.
What you need to know:
• Meta’s showing off two breakthrough prototypes that tackle resolution and focus issues plaguing current headsets
• The Butterscotch Varifocal achieves near-retinal 56 pixels per degree—more than double what Quest Pro delivers
• Their Flamera prototype completely reimagines passthrough with zero reprojection artifacts
• These aren’t product announcements, but they’re roadmap reveals for the “second half of the decade”
The kicker? Meta claims this tech offers “crisp, clear visuals that rival what you can see with the naked eye.” That’s not marketing speak—that’s a technical benchmark the industry’s been chasing for years.
The vision…more