While the company is adamant that the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition will ship this year, currently, it seems its CEO is more interested in striking deals with content partners than releasing details about the headset.
Meanwhile, in perhaps the most poorly-written SEC filing in history, OLED microdisplay maker eMagin had the tech world convinced that it had persuaded Apple to invest in its technology before clarifying that it meant something completely different.
While Magic Leap and Apple prepare to make their entries to the market, Microsoft is looking for new ways to get its HoloLens onto the heads of users in the enterprise world.
Magic Leap Picks NBA Partnership & Gets New Investment Cash
On Monday, German newspaper and digital publisher Axel Springer announced its role as the latest company to invest in Magic Leap. This is just the latest in a series of investments the augmented reality company has garnered from the likes of Google, Qualcomm, Alibaba, Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros., and others amounting to almost $2 billion in overall funding. A day after that news broke, Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz announced a content partnership with the NBA
Keep reading to find out what the partnership will look like...
REALITY BITES: Columbia Ventures has invested $17 million in enterprise AR headset maker RealWear. Both companies are based in Vancouver, Washington.
Apple Linked to 'Discussions' with OLED Microdisplay Maker
In a report from Bloomberg, eMagin CEO Jeffrey Lucas has contradicted what appeared to be investor information found in SEC filings that surfaced on Monday. Although Apple is listed among several other investors in the company in filing, Lucas told Bloomberg that Apple is not, in fact, an investor in the company. Offering further clarification, Lucas told the news site that eMagin "listed those companies in the filing because it had discussions with them at industry events."
It would have been nice if eMagin had stated as much in the actual SEC filing! Nonetheless, what was a tantalizing clue into Apple's AR headset plans still stands as a review of its previous investments...
REALITY BITES: Drone services company DroneBase has closed a Series B round of funding totaling $12 million to expand its AirCraft augmented reality app.
Companies Can Now Rent the HoloLens for Tradeshows & Trials
While the consensus among some in the augmented reality community is that the Microsoft HoloLens is the best device available at present, it also remains the most cost-prohibitive option, with the development edition costing $3,000.
To give customers another option to work with the HoloLens, Microsoft has partnered with Abcomrents, a company that specializes in renting technology for use in trade show exhibitions, to offer the HoloLens for rent.
Read on to learn more about the program and other HoloLens news...
Every Friday, Next Reality reviews the latest headlines from the financial side of augmented and mixed reality. This weekly Market Reality column covers funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, market analysis, and the like. Check out previous editions of Market Reality for more news you may have missed.
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Cover image via Magic Leap/YouTube
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