Market Reality: Magic Leap vs. Nreal Lawsuit Update, Disney & Target Do AR Marketing, Sotheby's Comes to Magic Leap One

Magic Leap's legal battle against Nreal has taken an intriguing turn this week, as Magic Leap set a date to discuss the matter with Nreal. But a new partnership struck by Nreal adds another wrinkle to the duel between the two AR wearable makers.

Meanwhile, Magic Leap, YouTube, and Target are bringing (or sustaining the presence) of some big brands on their respective AR platforms. On the AR headset front, Magic Leap has convinced Sotheby's to port its Curate mobile AR app over to the Magic Leap One -- and we had a chance to take the app for a spin.

In the mobile AR world, YouTube has extended its new virtual try-on capabilities to Hollywood, as Disney has leveraged the AR tool to market its latest film. And Target has deepened its ties with Snapchat with its third AR ad this year.

Magic Leap Faces Obstacles in Bringing Nreal to Court

The legal drama surrounding Chinese startup Nreal and Magic Leap continues, and now we finally have an update. For months, Magic Leap's legal team attempted to contact Nreal and its founder, Chi Xu, with little success. But that all changed a few weeks ago. Read on for more details on the latest in the legal saga... Then, on Friday, Nreal unveiled that it partner will with China Unicom, China's fifth-largest wireless provider, to bring Nreal Light smartglasses into 400 retails stores across the country. Continue reading to learn why Nreal's partnership with China Unicom may spell doom for Magic Leap's prospects for entering the Chinese market...

REALITY BITES: For all intents and purposes, it looked like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite had a real shot at replicating the success of Pokemon GO. Instead, the game has been an also-ran. Meanwhile, an unlikely candidate to dethrone Niantic's AR flagship game has emerged in Dragon Quest Walk, a mobile AR game based on the popular Japanese role-playing game from Square Enix. The game has earned more than $86 million in its first month.

Sotheby's Brings Virtual Interior Decorating to Magic Leap

It might sound odd to call interior decorating exciting, especially if you're not a professional within that industry. But that's exactly what it is when combined with augmented reality.

We recently found out just how fun it can be when we downloaded the new Sotheby's Curate app for the Magic Leap One.

Read further for our impressions on the Sotheby's Curate app and why the app might make the Magic Leap One a must-have for interior decorators and real estate professionals...

REALITY BITES: Augmented reality platform maker 8th Wall has added to the strength of its leadership team. Tom Emrich, the former co-producer of the Augmented World Expo and mentor/advisor at AR-dedicated early-stage venture fund SuperVentures, has accepted a position as VP of Product at 8th Wall.

Disney Applies YouTube Cosmetics AR to Movie Promotion

On Monday, to promote the release of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which debuted in US theaters on Friday, Disney released a virtual makeup try-on experience through YouTube.

Disney tapped makeup artist Promise Phan, whose YouTube channel has amassed nearly six million subscribers, to film a makeup tutorial for viewers to recreate the look of the Mistress of Evil herself.

Continue reading for more details on the YouTube AR experience and how it may signal the entry of a new competitor in the AR movie marketing field to take on Snapchat and Facebook...

REALITY BITES: Two years ago, Google launched the exclusive AR Stickers for Pixel 2. And last year, the company rebranded the AR camera effects as Playground for Pixel 3. This year, the unveiling of the oft-leaked Pixel 4 featured not one utterance of the phrase "augmented reality" and no new AR features (though Project Soli has some potential AR use cases). Has Google soured on Playground already? After all, Pixel 4 will not support the Daydream VR as Google is discontinuing the Daydream Viewer. Time will tell.

Target Scares Up Another AR Ad Buy with Snapchat

Big-box retailer Target has been on a bit of an augmented reality advertising shopping spree via Snapchat lately.

The latest example, revealed on Tuesday, comes via a pair of Halloween-themed experiences, available in the camera carousel in Snapchat.

Read on to learn more about Target's AR experiences and how they benefit the retailer's traditional brick-and-mortar business...

REALITY BITES: Compound Photonics and Plessey Semiconductors have joined forces to develop what they claim is the smallest 1080p microLED-based display. Measuring in at 0.26 inches, the system would be ideal for near-eye displays for AR wearables.

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.