Apple’s AR/VR headset plan causes internal divisions

Internal divisions are reportedly arising at Apple over its much-anticipated AR/VR headset.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams are said to be pushing to launch the headset as soon as possible, even if its design isn’t optimal.

Designers at Apple are said to have disagreed with their leadership and want to wait until it's feasible to launch a product that is lighter and less expensive. Current price estimates for the headset are between $2,000 and...

13 March 2023 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Quest Global and Nvidia partner for digital twins in manufacturing

Quest Global and Nvidia are teaming up to create digital twin solutions for the manufacturing and automotive industries on the latter’s Omniverse Enterprise platform.

Omniverse Enterprise is a scalable, end-to-end platform which enables enterprise organisations to build and operate metaverse applications. Teams can connect and customise complex 3D pipelines and operate large-scale, physically accurate virtual worlds, including entire premises such as factories.

Regular...

7 February 2023 | Digital Transformation

Web3 Studios: Sporting metaverse is ‘at an inflection’

A report from Web3 Studios claims the sporting metaverse is “at an inflection point” amid growing interest.

The World Cup in Qatar proved a great opportunity for web3 players to connect with sports fans. In their report, Web3 Studios noted some of the key projects around the FIFA World Cup:

While the collapse of the FTX exchange shook confidence in blockchain-related web3 projects, the growing number of high-profile deployments shows that brands are willing to...

19 December 2022 | Metaverse

‘Metaverse’ is a contender for Oxford’s Word of the Year

“Metaverse” is among the leading three contenders for Oxford’s Word of the Year (WotY). 

The metaverse is an unsurprising inclusion for WotY—not everyone understands it, but most will have at least heard the term.

Facebook changing its company name to Meta towards the end of 2021 undoubtedly led to increased awareness of the metaverse. Over the last year, the word has been thrown around a little too easily.

There is still some confusion around what...

23 November 2022 | Applications

Apple’s AR glasses may not debut until 2026

A leading analyst has claimed that Apple’s first augmented reality (AR) glasses may have slipped two years to 2026.

“We now expect the AR Glass to be postponed to 2025-2026, due to design issues,” wrote Haitong International Tech Research’s Jeff Pu in an email to MarketWatch.

Just five months ago, Pu said that Apple’s AR glasses could be announced in 2024.

Back in 2013, Google Glass showed the world an exciting vision for a ubiquitous future of...

8 November 2022 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Xbox and Apple execs criticise the ‘metaverse’

Recent comments from Xbox and Apple executives suggest the companies remain deeply critical of the metaverse.

Most current "metaverse" experiences are just online games looking to capitalise on the hype around the term. More technological advancements are needed to fully realise the metaverse.

One core principle of the metaverse is that it will mix elements from the real world with the virtual. A “digital twin” of a factory, for example, could enable workers to...

27 October 2022 | Digital Transformation

Zuckerberg believes Meta’s duty is to promote an open metaverse

During yesterday’s annual Meta keynote, CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his belief that the metaverse must be open.

Zuckerberg called out closed ecosystems—a clear dig at Apple, without mentioning the company directly.

“Closed ecosystems focus on tight control and integration to create unique experiences and lock-in, although most of that value ends up flowing to the platform over time,” explained Zuckerberg.

“Open ecosystems create value and grow through...

12 October 2022 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

IDC expects Meta to lose its VR dominance

IDC predicts Meta will lose its dominant marketshare in the VR market in the coming years.

The VR industry is growing rapidly. During Q1 2022, global VR headset shipments increased 241.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Meta continues to dominate the market amid the success of its Quest 2 headset. According to IDC, Meta has now captured 90 percent of the market.

According to IDC, the biggest rival to Meta currently is ByteDance’s Pico; despite...

6 July 2022 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Meta looks set to release four VR headsets by 2024

Meta looks set to release four VR headsets over the next couple of years as it continues to push its vision for the metaverse.

According to a roadmap obtained by The Information, Meta will release a variety of headsets spanning various price points.

The long-rumoured ‘Project Cambria’ high-end VR and mixed reality headset is expected to release around September this year. Cambria was originally set to release last year but was delayed due to the pandemic and supply...

3 May 2022 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

GlobalData: These advances will make the metaverse a success

Analysts from GlobalData have revealed the advances they believe will power the metaverse and drive adoption.

“Latency is a key hindrance to the metaverse adoption. Several companies are trying to address this issue from various angles as per their technical or business acumen,” said Kiran Raj, Practice Head of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData.

“Potential solutions could be in terms of network protocols, software applications, or hardware such as chips and AR and VR...

29 April 2022 | 5G