diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index fb324f70..5310a788 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@ vim: spelllang=en spell tw=78
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+Changes in 1.6.3:
+
+* Fix ccat for aarch64 >= 6.11.0
+* Removed domain information from libfakeethercat RtIPC paths
+* Remove unnecessary inline statement causing build -O0 problems
+* Fixed some compiler warnings
+* Added static keywords to internal functions
+
+Changes in 1.6.2:
+
+* Fixed typo in bash completition.
+* Directly include soe_error_codes into SoeCommand.cpp
+* Fixed check of non-zero bit offset in libfakeethercat
+
 Changes in 1.6.1:
 
 * Added libfakeethercat to simulate Process Data of EtherCAT Slaves.
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 871f2492..bd498c51 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #
-#  Copyright (C) 2006-2024  Florian Pose, Ingenieurgemeinschaft IgH
+#  Copyright (C) 2006-2025  Florian Pose, Ingenieurgemeinschaft IgH
 #
 #  This file is part of the IgH EtherCAT Master.
 #
@@ -26,12 +26,11 @@ AC_PREREQ(2.59)
 # - Update Ethernet drivers up to release kernel version
 # - Write NEWS entry with changes since last release
 # - Check for complete Doxygen comments
-# - Update version number in documentation
 # - Update the ChangeLog -> git log > ChangeLog
 # - Update version number below
 # - make dist-bzip2
 #
-AC_INIT([ethercat],[1.6.2],[fp@igh.de])
+AC_INIT([ethercat],[1.6.3],[fp@igh.de])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([autoconf])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([-Wall -Wno-override -Werror dist-bzip2 subdir-objects foreign])
 m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])