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Hardware Technology

Big Money, Big Dreams, Big Expectations and a Lot of Hype: Magic Leap One AR Headset Goes on Sale for $2,295 in Certain US Markets (cnet.com) 62

Posted by msmash from the for-what-it's-worth dept.
After earning the moniker "tech's most secretive startup" from Wired and telling Forbes in 2016 it was going to ship its system "soon-ish," the company is finally releasing the $2,295 Magic Leap One. For now, it will be available for purchase in limit U.S. markets. CNET: It includes a high-powered, moon pie-shaped computer called the Lightpack, a handheld remote called Control and a steampunk-inspired headset with round lenses and patented optics. That's called Lightwear. There's just one thing: Regular folks like us aren't the intended audience. At least not yet. This "Creator Edition," says CEO Abovitz, is part of a "controlled market release" in just a handful of cities in the United States for the developers and creative types Magic Leap will woo this year and next. The goal: for those makers to dream up the experiences (aka content) it needs to convince us to become Leapers. The company is already showing investors and partners prototypes of its smaller (and hopefully less expensive) Magic Leap Two and Magic Leap Three, but won't say when they'll be released. Magic Leap, valued at $6.3 billion as of two months ago, counts Google, Alibaba, Warner Bros, AT&T, and several top Silicon Valley venture capital firms and about a dozen other big names as its investors. More about the product going on sale here.
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Big Money, Big Dreams, Big Expectations and a Lot of Hype: Magic Leap One AR Headset Goes on Sale for $2,295 in Certain US Marke More

Big Money, Big Dreams, Big Expectations and a Lot of Hype: Magic Leap One AR Headset Goes on Sale for $2,295 in Certain US Marke

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  • The suckers are lining up right now (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @10:06AM (#57091242)

    All the hallmarks of a classic Silicon Valley startup scam: initial, extremely high-priced product made available in limited quantities, illustrious sponsors spoken of in hushed tones, and absolutely no value proposition of any kind whatsoever.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      yo does this fit over my snapchat spectacles
      i need to livestream my unboxing

    • I love that they have "One" in the product name too... giving the impression that they will be around for a "Two". Or, if they are following MS naming scheme, it is their 3rd generation platform. It reminds me of the days of everything-"2.0"

  • Ouch, well good luck? (Score:3)

    by foxalopex ( 522681 ) on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @10:18AM (#57091310)

    I hate to say this but the product seems a little too expensive compared to what people are willing to pay for. Occulus Rift and HTC Vive which are both working VR solutions are at least half this amount (not including needing a really powerful PC) are struggling to survive. I don't see how this is going to work. Also people joked about Google Glasses looking goofy considering it was a version of AR overlay. So good luck, but it seems destined to fail.

    • This isn't competing with Rift or Vive, it's competing with the Meta2 ($1000 tethered) and the HoloLens ($3000 and 3 years old). Expect to see more adoption in the industrial and enterprise markets before you see much in the way of home-based entertainment for this kind of device.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dohzer ( 867770 )

      Mr. Foxalopex, Occilis Rift is not made for kids. HTC Vive is not made for kids. The only thing that even comes *close*, is this product!

    • The preview there clearly says it's a developers package.

  • It's exciting to see another computer independent headset coming out this year - I was hoping we'd get past the VR-only devices like the Oculus Go and Lenovo Mirage Solo. Good opportunity for wealthy early adopters to get to play with the new tech and help support it as we move into an AR enabled future! I don't think I can justify the cost for this first generation device, but it's a step in the right direction!

    • Re:Progress is being made... (Score:4, Funny)

      by tsqr ( 808554 ) on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @10:30AM (#57091368)

      It's exciting to see another computer independent headset coming out this year

      Apparently it's so exciting that it was easy to miss this in TFS: It includes a high-powered, moon pie-shaped computer called the Lightpack.

      • Well, really every device has a computer of some sort. My point was that it doesn't require a desktop, or even a laptop, but instead an easily portable computing device. Sorry that wasn't clear.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tsqr ( 808554 )

          My point was that it doesn't require a desktop, or even a laptop, but instead an easily portable computing device.

          Well, TFA really didn't have much to say about the computer other than "high powered" (which I took to imply not all that small/lightweight) and "moon pie-shaped (which I thought was an odd way to characterize a squat cylinder). And "easily portable" is in the eye of the beholder - the early VHS camcorders came with a large, heavy battery pack that the user carried by a shoulder strap, but we're considered easily portable at the time. Ditto for the first portable computers like the Compaq "luggable". Guess

          • From the pictures I've seen of the device, it's nearly pocketable and clips to your belt. Looks pretty compact compared to the typical tethered devices of today, but not as compact as the Oculus Go / Mirage Solo. My mistake for not remembering the pedantry inherent in Slashdot comments. :)

      • It includes a high-powered, moon pie-shaped computer called the Lightpack.

        But it's only visible once you have them on.

        The Goggles -- they do nothing [youtube.com]

    • Lemme guess, you are an investor.

      • Not that I'm aware of... just excited about the advancement of AR and VR technology! I understand the temptation to bash on devices which are overpriced for the typical consumer, but given that this is one of the first AR glasses release and none of the others are anywhere near affordable either, I think we can safely assume these are all targeted more at developers and wealthy early adopters. As with other technology, I expect the prices to come down towards the mainstream. It'd be great if manufacturer
  • I'll just wait till the price comes down when/if they start mass producing them. I don't have 2300 bucks to waste on fancy headsets, I got bills.

  • At that pricing and with the mystery market it was released on Magic Leap does not anyone to buy ML1.

  • "cities" (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ooloorie ( 4394035 )

    At least not yet. This "Creator Edition," says CEO Abovitz, is part of a "controlled market release" in just a handful of cities in the United States for the developers and creative types

    "Handful of cities"? What does that mean? You have to prove residency in L.A. to buy one? You have to queue up in line physically in one of these "cities" to get one?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ThePyro ( 645161 )

      According to the article, devices must be tailored to each individual (e.g. eye separation distance). So yes, a physical presence is required.

    • According to this [wired.com]:

      ...Magic Leap has contracted with former Apple executive Ron Johnson’s startup, Enjoy, which sends customer service people to deliver new tech gadgets and help users set them up. Enjoy representatives will deliver every Magic Leap headset, fit it, and provide a tutorial on how it works.

      This is a concierge-based trial release - don't buy it unless you have $2500 you can throw out the window without major pain.

      • Ah, thanks.

        (I don't think I want representatives from a company called "Enjoy" anywhere near my body :-)

  • is $2,295 considered to be a good price.

  • Do I have to fork up $2300 to buy a thing you made, and then you're like "now get to fucking work making stuff for it and advertise it so our business doesn't go under, dipshit"? Who the hell is running that shit show? Steve Jobs?

    • Steve Jobs was a brilliant businessman and Apple did turn out polished products at somewhat reasonable prices (I typically don't buy Apple, but many do). The iPhone, iPod, computers all worked "out of the box" wonderfully, and came with lots of software and features. This is everything Jobs would have hated.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zlives ( 2009072 )

        no he wouldn't hate this at all, he would wait till its well developed with a good eco system and software then release it as an iGlass (hehe) call it a a brave, unprecedented, courageous and innovative product. and people would line up to buy it.

  • Magic Leap into the poor house.

    At $2,295, this is no longer an easy purchase for a developer. Especially for something which at this time should be seen as â€oeI as a developer add more value to the platform than the platform adds to my productsâ€

    At that price, I would have to go through way too much pain to order the 3 units I would need to even consider using time on this. There needs to be one for developers, one for QA and one for business folks. Thatâ&

    • The whole article seems directionless and that is likely due to the lack of direction of the product. Reading it feels like asking what have you got? and hearing well, you know, there's this thing we're building, and I think when it's fully done and people are onboard with it it's going to be cool, in part because we believe that...

  • "We're very conscious of how the product looks on your face. "

    It looks like the peak of sophistication [cbsistatic.com].

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