Simula One releases pricing for their Linux powered VR headset! Linux Mint gets dark, kernel 5.16 lowers USB audio latency, and booting BBC BASIC on a Raspberry Pi.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
06:25 Mint gets dark
11:40 Simula One VR pricing
17:20 Kernel 5.16 audio improvements and M1 support
20:05 Pinephone Pro preorders
23:20 Dell XPS 13 Plus
35:00 BBC BASIC on a Pi
Linux Mint 20.3
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_una_cinnamon_whatsnew.php
- Linux Mint 20.3 “Una” has been released with a new look, and some new features.
- Linux Mint 20.3 is a long-term support release based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, and is supported until 2025.
- The UI has been improved with larger titlebar buttons, rounded corners, a cleaner theme, and support for dark mode.
- Linux Mint 20.3 introduces a brand new document manager app called Thingy.
- Thingy gives you quick access to your favorite and recently opened documents and keeps track of your reading progress.
- It comes with the latest version of Cinnamon 5.2.
- But you can also download the Linux Mint 20.3 Xfce edition with Xfce 4.16, or the Mate edition which ships with Mate 1.26.
- I count myself fortunate that things like titlbars, corners, and accent colours don’t bother me.
- Dark mode for Celluloid, Hypnotic, Xviewer, Pix, and Gnome terminal.
- HPLIP was upgraded to version 3.21.8 to bring the latest support for HP printers and scanners.
Simula One
https://www.simulavr.com/blog/kickstarter-pricing/
- A few weeks ago we talked about the hardware based Simula One Headset, which will be the first VR headset to include a Linux based OS, or SimulaOS.
- SimulaOS will allow people to run 2D Linux apps on the Simula One Headset and with current generation headsets.
- Well, SimulaVR just announced their Simula One VR Headset will be coming soon on Kiskstarter!
- The Simula One will be priced at $2,799 for Kickstarter customers, and for $3,500 MSRP after the campaign finishes.
- And in order to proceed with headset manufacturing, they must raise $2.5M, which represents their breakeven costs.
- And a limited number of headsets will be priced at $2,499.
- If you know you want to buy a headset, you can send them your email and get notified an hour before the campaign starts to maximize chances of getting early discounts.
- At a resolution of 2448×2448 per eye, makes it higher resolution per eye than the Valve Index and Oculus Quest 2.
- They need to raise 2.5M in order to start cranking these toasters out.
- Selling 892 headsets @ $2,799/unit is the break even point.
- It’s a realistic price for a company trying to ship a (reletavely) small batch of headsets vs RNG pricing that only works if they attract an outside investor.
- A Linux based self-contained VR headset is a niche in a niche.
- It’s an ambitious goal to say the least.
- I do wonder if there is a market for what amounts to devkits.
Linux Kernel 5.16 (RTheren)
https://news.itsfoss.com/linux-kernel-5-16/
- Linux Kernel 5.16 has been released, with improvements to gaming, hardware support for future tech, and performance improvements for CPUs and GPUs.
- Better performance on laptops with Ryzen processors and Radeon Graphics..
- Linux 5.16 introduces a new kernel system called FUTEX2:
- This feature could help improve the Linux gaming experience for native Linux ports.
- But for Windows games running via Wine, it matches a system call with a specific functionality in Windows, which should help to reduce CPU utilization and increase FPS for many games.
- It was contributed by Collabora.
- Futext has been bouncing around for some time and it’s noce to see the end result Futext 1 makes it into the kernel.
- Don’t expect it in WINE anytime soon.
- The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is now supported.
- And beginning work on support for the Intel Raptor Lake 13th Gen series of processors, due for release later in 2022.
- And announced at CES 2022, Initial work for AMD’s next-gen Ryzen 6000 mobile series.
- And thank you to RTheren, our wonderful Patron Advisor for submitting this news! And have a Happy 25th Birthday today RTheren! :-D
- OOTB support for Playstation and switch controllers.
- New system for lower latency USB audio has been added.
- Still need to try that out on my end.
- Couple of fixes for Apple M1 hardware as well.
PinePhone Pro
https://www.pine64.org/2022/01/11/pinephone-pro-explorer-edition-pre-orders-open-january-11/
https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/
- Again, great price point at $399!
- Less than half the price of some flagship phones priced at $800-$1000.
- When the software gets more refined, this is the Linux phone you can share with family and friends.
- If you are an existing PinePhone owner and your only wish is for the device to be more powerful and refined, then the PinePhone Pro is for you.
- Rockchip RK3399S 64bit SoC, 4GB RAM, 1440×720 screen.
- No option to swap out the original Pinephone mainboard with the new hotness.
- The PinePhone Pro is as open as the original PinePhone.
- 3000mAh.
Dell XPS 13 Plus
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/01/dell-ups-13-plus-specs-price-ubuntu
- So Dell unveiled its XPS 13 Plus at CES 2022, with a radical new design, but it will still include a developer version option of the laptop pre-loaded with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
- Dell XPS 13 Plus features 12th gen Intel Core processors and up to 32 GB LPDDR5 and up to a 2 TB PCIe 3 x4 SSD.
- I like the modern edge to edge design of the screen and the keyboard.
- I don’t mind Dell replacing the row of physical function keys along the top with capacitive ones, because they glow white nicely and are easy to see.
- But the center hidden borderless haptic trackpad has no visual hints, and people will either love it or hate it.
- Uh oh, no headphone Jack ;-(
- But it does have 4 speakers like the XPS 15 laptops.
Slice of Pi
BASIC Pi
https://popey.com/blog/2021/01/raspberry-pi-boot-to-basic/
- Popey went on a BASIC mission :-)
- To boot this, Sinclair BASIC on this, Raspberry Pi 400!
- My Timex Sinclair 1000 is a slightly modified version of the Sinclair ZX81 that Popey first used.
- And Alan Pope turns 50 this weekend! Happy Birthday Popey, and welcome to the “golden” club!
- Nostalgia hard mode.
- Remember when computers booted to insert program here?
- Creating a Pi that boots BBC BASIC has a lot of “why” attached to it but it’s certainly neat.
- The Snap has not been published but the needed bit exist on github.
- Links in the show notes.
