Microsoft partners including Samsung, Dell, Lenovo to launch slew of Windows VR headsets i...
In its push into the virtual and augmented reality market, which the company has branded as "mixed reality," Microsoft is leveraging its army of hardware partners, many of whom are releasing new virtual reality headsets over the next few weeks.
Microsoft's virtual reality ambitions for the fall of 2017 were unveiled on Tuesday at an event in San Francisco. Notably, however, none of the headsets announced Tuesday are augmented reality, and Microsoft's own HoloLens AR hardware remains available for developers only.
With the Windows mixed reality launch a VR-focused affair, Microsoft partners Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will debut their own VR headsets on Oct. 17. The Acer and Lenovo products will be priced at $399 with motion controllers, while Dell and HP run $449, also with controllers.
A few weeks later, Microsoft partner and Apple rival Samsung will also launch the HMD Odyssey VR headset. It will be priced at $499 and debuts on Nov. 6.
All of the headsets work with PCs running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, provided they have the necessary hardware to drive the VR displays. Microsoft says PC requirements will vary for available apps and content.
Apple, too, is investing heavily in AR and VR, though its approach is very different. Apple's strategy has been decidedly augmented-first, and the company has already launched what is presumably the largest AR platform on the planet with the debut of iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad. Apple's ARKit is compatible with the iPhone 6s and newer.
Separately, Apple is also pushing into virtual reality on the Mac with the launch of High Sierra, though support for external graphics cards that most users will need to take advantage of VR remains in beta. Apple has said that eGPU support in macOS High Sierra will exit beta in the spring of 2018, making VR apps on Mac viable for mass market adoption.
Microsoft's virtual reality ambitions for the fall of 2017 were unveiled on Tuesday at an event in San Francisco. Notably, however, none of the headsets announced Tuesday are augmented reality, and Microsoft's own HoloLens AR hardware remains available for developers only.
With the Windows mixed reality launch a VR-focused affair, Microsoft partners Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will debut their own VR headsets on Oct. 17. The Acer and Lenovo products will be priced at $399 with motion controllers, while Dell and HP run $449, also with controllers.
A few weeks later, Microsoft partner and Apple rival Samsung will also launch the HMD Odyssey VR headset. It will be priced at $499 and debuts on Nov. 6.
All of the headsets work with PCs running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, provided they have the necessary hardware to drive the VR displays. Microsoft says PC requirements will vary for available apps and content.
Apple, too, is investing heavily in AR and VR, though its approach is very different. Apple's strategy has been decidedly augmented-first, and the company has already launched what is presumably the largest AR platform on the planet with the debut of iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad. Apple's ARKit is compatible with the iPhone 6s and newer.
Separately, Apple is also pushing into virtual reality on the Mac with the launch of High Sierra, though support for external graphics cards that most users will need to take advantage of VR remains in beta. Apple has said that eGPU support in macOS High Sierra will exit beta in the spring of 2018, making VR apps on Mac viable for mass market adoption.
Comments
Pricing with the controllers is $499.
Did Steve Ballmer come back from retirement to strategize this?
Even if they are trying to be vertical like Apple, Microsoft isn't stopping other manufacturers from selling PCs. The Surface line is just a way for Apple to get a foot into the hardware market.
The same thing holds for this as well. Microsoft will probably come out with their own VR unit, but it won't stop supporting others.
So any solution that requires a macOS device will have their market share limited by that. By contrast multi-platform solutions - and Microsoft solutions - will do fine because they will be the only option that everyone else who does not have a macOS device will have available to them. It is similar to what happened with Android. The iPhone being an AT&T exclusive for years allowed Samsung, LG and the rest to gain traction via Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.