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Apple met with suppliers at CES that make parts for augmented reality glasses

2018 January 12
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Apple’s indirect presence may be fading from CES as Google and Amazon stole the show with their smart assistants and ecosystems, but that didn’t stop the Cupertino company’s representatives from holding interesting talks with some interesting suppliers in Las Vegas.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Mark Bergen on Friday, citing people familiar with the meetings, representatives from major players like Apple, Facebook and Google met with suppliers “that make the nuts and bolts required to power augmented reality glasses.”

From the article:

While the technological hurdles have been steeper than expected, the first products could arrive in the next couple of years. “Almost everyone is preparing an AR product,” says Ari Grobman, who runs an AR technology company called Lumus. “Some will lead; others will be in a position to follow right away.”

Oh, to have been a fly on that wall!

HTC’s new Vive Pro virtual reality headset

Smaller firms like Snap and Xiaomi also met with potential partners at the show. Authors note that Samsung and LG have already placed small orders of augmented reality components to start prototyping devices.

Apple considers augmented reality technology as potentially revolutionary as the smartphone. “Put simply, we believe augmented reality is going to change the way we use technology forever,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a recent earnings call.

To me, the news indicates that the biggest players in tech have a desire to build their own augmented reality headsets. It’s unclear from the Bloomberg piece if Apple networking with suppliers at CES is business as usual or perhaps a sign of things to come (as you know, Apple is rumored to be working on an augmented reality wearable device of its own for a 2019 launch).

Any ideas?

Post your thoughts in the comments down below!

Image top of post: Lenovo’s Mirage Solo VR headset with Google Daydream and Mirage Camera at CES 2018, via photographer Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg.

Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/01/12/apple-ces-2018-ar-suppliers/

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