NR30: The AR Hardware Leaders of 2018
It is almost indisputable that smartglasses and head-worn displays are the future of augmented reality. However, at this precise moment, they are still a very niche market.
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Market Reality: Tim Cook Tops NR30 Mobile AR Leaders, Magic Leap Expands, & Snap Exec Departs
Cited by many listed on this year's NR30 list as the most important event in the last 12 months, last year's release of ARKit catapulted Apple CEO Tim Cook to the top of Next Reality's rankings. This week, we dug deeper by explaining why he's at the top of the list of NR30 Mobile AR leaders.
News: Niantic Begins Accepting Nominations for PokéStops in Pokémon GO
Augmented reality gaming developer Niantic has decided to give its players the opportunity to make their mark on Pokémon GO with a PokéStop nomination system.
News: Meta Company's Funding Fallout Followed by Furloughs, Report Says
After a $20 million funding round fell through, augmented reality headset maker Meta Company has been forced to furlough (or place on temporary leave of absence) approximately 65% of its workforce for 30 days.
NR30: Next Reality's 30 People to Watch in Augmented Reality in 2018
Welcome to the first annual Next Reality 30, our list of people who've made the biggest impact on the augmented reality space in the last 12 months — and what a 12-month roller-coaster ride it's been. Apple introduced ARKit-powered apps last fall, Google launched ARCore for Android soon after, Snapchat began monetizing AR, and the Magic Leap One headset finally came out. These are historic times.
Market Reality: AR Display Companies Cash in as Apple Acquires Akonia & Avegant Closes $12M in Funding
For the augmented reality hardware industry to progress towards the consumer segment, display technology needs to get better. Investors recognize that, and they are showing AR display makers the money.
News: VR Veteran Jaunt Develops Portable 3D Capture Service for Volumetric Augmented Reality Content
Better known among consumers for its virtual reality apps, Jaunt is now pivoting toward solutions for augmented reality developers.
News: Avegant's Future Looks Bright as It Lands $12 Million in Funding for Augmented Reality Displays
The display is one of the most critical components in augmented reality hardware, and on Tuesday, one of the companies making that component, Avegant Corp., closed a funding round of $12 million to support development of next-generation AR displays.
Market Reality: Magic Leap Is Now David Versus Apple's Goliath, & Microsoft Goes Hollywood
While Magic Leap has gained attention for its ability to raise capital, the company (now with an actual product on the market) still faces an uphill climb against the titans of the industry.
News: Blippar Brings Its AR Navigation Capabilities Indoors
Computer vision company Blippar has already dabbled with outdoor AR navigation, but now it wants to make it easier for people to make their way through indoor spaces with augmented reality.
Market Reality: More Magic Leap One Details Unearthed, Apple Adds to Its AR Team, & Snapchat Learns New Tricks
The arrival of Magic Leap One is tantalizingly close and, although the company has been saving the last details for launch day, a few of the more important details were found this week hiding deep in the code on Magic Leap's website.
News: Snapchat Preparing to Upgrade Camera with Visual Search for Amazon, Report Says
A peek inside the code of the Snapchat app has revealed that the company is expanding the search capabilities of its augmented reality camera to include visual search that may link to items within Amazon's massive online store.
News: Magic Leap Reveals Partnership with Oscar-Winning Effects Studio Behind Marvel's Biggest Hits
For years, Magic Leap has promised to deliver stunning augmented reality experiences that will outperform any other competitor, and a newly revealed partnership hints that the company may be able to deliver on those promises.
News: Re'flekt's Sync Tool Wants to Help Companies Embed AR Content into Real Objects via CAD Data
Germany-based Augmented reality software maker Re'flekt has added a new tool to its enterprise app development platform that makes it simpler to link AR content to physical objects.
News: DigiLens Gets $25M Boost from Continental for Automotive Augmented Reality
Waveguide manufacturer DigiLens has closed a $25 million Series C round of funding from automotive technology company Continental, which uses the technology in its heads up displays.
Market Reality: Microsoft's HoloLens Sales Figures Revealed, AR Boosts Snapchat Revenue, & Facebook Expands AR Platform
This week, we're beginning to see the wide ranging impacts of some of the early iterations of augmented reality hardware and software.
News: Snapchat Unveils Updated Spectacles with Improved Audio, New Colors & Faster Data Transfer
Despite the fact that Snap Inc.'s Spectacles weren't the hit some were expecting, the company is nevertheless taking another swing at it by releasing an updated version.
News: Snapchat Tilts Its AR Lenses Toward Casual Gaming with Snappables
As if its users weren't already having enough fun with dancing hot dogs and face effects, Snapchat is upping the ante with a new kind of shared augmented reality content.
News: What You Need to Know About ZTE's Ongoing Battle with the US Government
| Update: ZTE's issues with the US government have finally been resolved. Check out the details below.
Market Reality: Magic Leap's Branding Comes into Focus, Google Backs AR Cloud, & L'Oreal Takes Over AR Beauty
Noted poet T.S. Elliot once wrote that "April is the cruelest month." But Magic Leap might argue that March is the most miserable, as the Ides of March brought more legal woes to augmented reality startup. Elsewhere, its closely-held branding secrets have been spilled by way of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
News: Magic Leap Confirms Massive New $461 Million Investment from Saudi Investors & Others
Just a week after rumors surfaced of a massive new investment in Magic Leap led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the investment has been confirmed by the company's CEO Rony Abovitz.
News: Magic Leap Working on $400 Million Extension of Last Year's Series D Round Funding, Report Says
As the Notorious B.I.G. once said, via his hit single, "Mo Money, Mo Problems." However, it would appear that Magic Leap feels a bit differently about piling on the cash.
News: Snap Highlights Augmented Reality's Role in Favorable 2017 Results & Optimistic 2018 Plans
After closing its 2017 financial books on a high note, Snap, Inc. is planning to ride the momentum of its augmented reality products into the new year. That's the main takeaway following the company's 2017 earnings conference call, which was held on Tuesday.
News: Snapchat Launches In-App Store with 'World's First AR Superstar' Hot Dog Toy & Other Swag
It used to be that the best kind of swag was T-shirts and hats from your favorite music artists, but now the symbol of casual insider cool falls to the tech companies, and Snapchat has just joined the ranks of branded apparel purveyors.
News: Meta 2 Augmented Reality Headset Available to Businesses Through Dell Starting in February
Following up on a preview of the deal we reported during last week's CES, Dell has officially announced the details around its role as the first company to resell the Meta 2 augmented reality headset.
News: Twitter Hijacks Tim Cook's Pokémon Go Tweet with iPhone Battery Complaints
To commemorate the rollout of the AR+ update for Pokémon Go, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter to promote and celebrate the moment his company's ARKit platform made possible.
News: Magic Leap Previews New Way to Experience Music with Sigur Rós App
Last week, Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz teased his Twitter followers with some "fun and cool stuff" to share in the coming days. On Monday, he made good on that promise, sort of.
News: Honda Thaws Our Cold Hearts with Augmented Reality Get Well Cards for Hospitalized Children
Augmented reality has given companies worldwide great powers for innovating business practices and engaging customers, but on Monday, Honda demonstrated that with great power, also comes great social responsibility.
News: Apple Bets Another $390 Million on AR's Future, Funds Finisar to Increase iPhone X Component Production
In a move that will increase production capacity for its TrueDepth camera system, Apple has awarded vendor Finisar with $390 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
Market Reality: In the Race for Consumer Smartglasses, the Future Is Coming into Focus
The next frontier for AR hardware is the consumer headset, and tech companies of varying size and tenure are working hard to strike the right mix between comfort, cool factor, and cost. How these companies handle the hype and flow of information vary wildly.
News: China's Tencent Strengthens Bet on Snapchat & AR Through Major Purchase of Snap Inc. Stock
While Snap's third quarter financial reports disappointed Wall Street, China's Tencent took the opportunity to expand its investment in the social media company.
Opinion: Snap Inc.'s Massive Loss on Spectacles May Hint at Trouble for the Future of Mainstream AR Smartglasses
The would-be role of Snap Inc. as the first step toward mainstreaming wearable tech in the form of glasses has stalled, and now we have proof. In the company's third quarter financial results report, released on Tuesday, Snap Inc. revealed that it will lose nearly $40 million due to unsold Spectacles, the camera glasses first sold at kiosks throughout the US.
News: Olympus Muscles in on Google Glass Territory with Enterprise AR Smartglasses
When it comes to augmented reality smartglasses, for now, it's still a mostly enterprise world, since the form and function of most are more acceptable on a job site versus your local cafe, and the still high price tags are far more palatable to major companies rather than individuals.
News: RE'FLEKT Launches Remote Video Support for AR Platform Along with ARKit & ARCore Demo Apps
At the Augmented World Expo Europe press conference in Munich today, RE'FLEKT will unveil the addition of remote video calling to their RE'FLEKT One enterprise augmented reality platform, in addition to ARKit and ARCore apps that demonstrate the platform's capabilities.
News: Unity Offers AR/VR Training for Developers Through Udacity
As demand for AR and VR developers continues to increase, particularly with the advent of Apple's ARKit platform, Unity has partnered with online learning company Udacity to help developers sharpen their skills for these jobs.
Apple AR: Lowe's Builds Pair of AR Apps with ARKit
Lowe's Home Improvement has been an early adopter of augmented and virtual reality in their business practices, so it was a bit of surprise that their name was absent from the ranks of companies launching ARKit apps last week.
News: Wonder How Wristwatches Look No Longer with AR App from Formex
Thanks to augmented reality, fashion companies can let customers try on cosmetics, clothes, more cosmetics, and sunglasses from the comfort of their homes and through the non-judgmental eyes of their smartphone camera.
Apple AR: Get Creative in Making Your Own Virtual Campsite with Orb
The creative possibilities are part of what makes Apple's ARKit so exciting. We've seen new camera effects, painting, and new ways to tell stories through ARKit. Now, the app developer studio "Orb" has created an app to let you create scenes with 3D objects of your choosing.
News: BMW Stealthily Tries to Recruit 2,000 Driverless Engineers
BMW seeks to hire 2,000 engineers for its driverless program ahead of the launch of its iNext Level 3 model in 2021, a source close to the company told Driverless.
Market Reality: Business Interest High, Adoption Low for Augmented Reality
A new survey shows that the majority of companies have an interest in using augmented reality, though adoption remains low. Meanwhile, two companies with support roles in the augmented reality industry are seeing positive financial results.