The big news is coming: towards the end of the month, leading headset vendors will debut new headsets at various stages. This comes just in time as Connect rolls in late September, with the XR industry enterprise and beyond leveraging the mainstream companies’ event to bring eyes to their solution.
Despite being a consumer-based product, Meta’s Quest lineup is still the most popular brand in the XR headset space, and any real big news will make others in the market take note.
The market is somewhat muted at the moment, however, as firms prepare for some big news. Hold tight, as some shifts in the market may quietly roll up before you know it.
NVIDIA Blackwell Delays Affect Meta and Microsoft XR/GenAI Goals
NVIDIA’s highly anticipated Blackwell chipset faces a delay due to design flaws. The approximately three-month setback may present challenges for companies eagerly anticipating its release, such as Meta, Google, and Microsoft, as they compete in the rapidly evolving field of AI innovation.
An NVIDIA spokesperson said:
As we’ve stated before, Hopper demand is very strong, broad Blackwell sampling has started, and production is on track to ramp in the second half.
NVIDIA introduced the Blackwell chipset at GTC earlier this year, highlighting its potential for parallel use cases that connect XR and AI in business contexts. With the current GenAI advancements, chipsets like Blackwell are expected to become more valuable and in demand. Despite delays, NVIDIA aims to meet this demand.
Furthermore, XR companies like Microsoft and Meta are investing in AI-empowered XR services. Access to powerful GenAI chipsets and supporting hardware could be crucial for adopting smart glasses and VR headsets. Hopefully, the delays with Blackwell will not hinder Meta and Microsoft’s XR objectives.
Pico Tease MR/VR Headset Launch
This week, headset vendor Pico hinted at a new device announcement for August 20th at 14:00 China Standard Time. The firm shared a mysterious image on its social media channels with the quote, “Reality, amplified.”
No further details have been provided about the post. However, the timing of the announcement strategically precedes Meta Connect 2024. Additionally, the August 20th reveal date comes shortly after HTC VIVE teased the upcoming release of a ‘game-changing’ headset in a YouTube video.
This suggests a growing interest in the XR hardware vendor space to coordinate hardware releases around the Meta Connect 2024 lead-up and event, possibly hoping that Meta’s event will generate mainstream interest in XR once again. This trend is similar to how XR companies aligned their releases with WWDC and Vision Pro news earlier this year.
Meta Connect is scheduled for September 25-26, 2024. The event will showcase Meta’s latest digital solutions from its social media and XR portfolio.
Microsoft Orders Mixed Reality Displays from Samsung
Microsoft is in the process of purchasing OLED display panels for an unreleased MR headset/device.
Interestingly, they are getting the OLED panels from Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung, which plans to release its own XR headset later this year or early next.
The exact quantity of Microsoft’s order of OLEDs is currently unknown. Still, insiders suggest that the order is in the hundreds of thousands, as the Korean outlet Elec reported. However, the shipments do not necessarily mean that Microsoft will introduce an MR headset soon.
According to Elec’s sources, Microsoft will likely introduce a device equipped with the OLED panels “the year after next at the earliest.” This news comes shortly after Microsoft filed patent requests, providing a potential first look at a pair of augmented reality smart glasses.
Meta’s Horizon OS to Debut on Third-Party VR Headset
Reliance Jio has partnered with Meta to introduce the Horizon OS platform on a new Jio-brand XR device. This move involves transitioning the Quest-based framework to a third-party VR headset. The decision follows Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s reintroduction of the Horizon platform as an open service for promoting VR content creation on third-party headsets beyond the Quest ecosystem.
The partnership’s focus is to bring the Horizon service to a new Jio VR headset. This announcement comes just a year after Jio launched its VR headset, JioDive, to complement its smart glasses product.
At the 2023 Indian Mobile Congress (IMC), Jio revealed the Jio Glass, a spatial computing device, for the first time. In addition to its range of electronic devices like laptops, smartphones, and broadband tools, the company has expanded into the XR market with the Jio Glass head-mounted display.
Reliance Jio acquired the Jio Glass solution to support XR development in India and its global clients. The company is working on creating a hardware, software, and solutions ecosystem to drive XR technologies.
