InspiredCode

Apple TV+ Sci-Fi has been great so far. A much better track record of good execution and sticking with a series in my opinion then HBO or Netflix.

Apple probably plans to update their hardware then counter with their patents rather then enter a business relationship. This may be the end of Misamo’s smart watch ambitions if Apple sues it to death.

Good review. I agree with most of it.

I think there are 4 core consumer areas to the Vision Pro market (or reasons to buy) and I think Apple only nailed one category at launch- movies- and came close to getting spatial apps right.

1. 3D movies and immersive video recording. These are really good. A lot of people with disposable cash will be buying it just for this. There is a disappointing amount of content on Apple TV+ at launch, but an incredible amount of content on Disney+ and in the iTunes Store. This is a better experience than a real movie theater. There is evidence Apple has 3D content for TV+ in the works that isn’t out yet. Their Dinosaur feature looks incredible if they can move beyond a short demo experience. Overall 3D movies are nearly perfect at launch. Just remember to push the video player back as far as possible and resize it as large as possible for the best experience.

2. Spatial Gaming. This is not a hit on day one with limited content. Hopefully we see this develop over the next year. If you don’t need to buy a Quest 3 too, it gets a little further to justifying the price since the Quest can’t play movies well. Eye tracking doesn’t seem to be great for games. I think motion controllers are a necessity to really feel immersed in games. I hope Apple doesn’t pull the Apple TV Remote is good enough for games scenario again and prevent this area from taking off. In this case, eye tracking is the Apple TV Remote. It is a good remote, but not good at all forms of input. In theory even traditional 2D games could take advantage of the headset if they render in to a portal in space using full 3D rendering or stereoscopic rendering. Apple seems to be experimenting with this a bit in Apple Arcade.

3. 3D graphics software. There is nothing on day one other than jigspace. Shapr3D was hiring Vision Pro developers last year. This could be extremely compelling on Vision Pro, but will need at least another year to develop. Hopefully we see sculpting, motion capture, modeling, CAD, etc.

4. Spatial Apps. A testbed and preview of future comfortable glasses and headsets. I would consider remote control of a Mac part of this category. Using apps isn’t comfortable enough except to use in a pinch. I don’t think this will sell headsets yet, but it is cool to experience the future today. It is nice to have apps available while using core areas 1-3, so this is useful. There still seem to be some issues. Scrolling long lists is hard. Eye tracking distracts you from your content. With a trackpad, you can use the UI while still keeping your eyes on the content. This will be a compelling core use for the headset, but probably not replacing an iPad for a few generations. However, I think people will find a few niches where they prefer spatial apps early- especially for those that travel frequently. Apple got close to getting this right, but it isn’t good enough yet to be the primary reason to buy a headset.

5. Fitness (maybe). In theory there could be interesting fitness use cases. Possibly limited this generation since it may not be suited to aerobic exercise and possible damage to the headset. I think it is yet to be determined if this will be a compelling use case. Nothing at this point.

The headset will sell if they can get 1-3 perfected and do good enough at 4 to make it feel like we are in the future.

Coming back to motion controllers, I think they are required for games. If Apple played their cards right they would make motion controllers that also functioned as gamepads, iPhone joycons, keynote presentation device, and Wii style Apple TV remotes all in one device. If they worked across multiple devices they could help rationalize spending Apple level prices for beautifully engineered hardware. I think Apple would prefer not to depend on motion controllers for spatial apps (they might be good as a “pencil” for 3D design apps though), but making them work for all gaming I think is a good middle ground.

Not surprising. Apple just inflates prices for SSD and RAM.

Wonder if these could be charged to Vision Insurance or HSA.

Kierkegaarden said:

hodar said:

“Patent Troll” seems to be an unfair label, in this case; based on this quote from the WSJ:

“A few months later, Mr. Kiani said, he got a call from his chief medical officer, Michael O’Reilly, informing him he was joining Apple, which he said had agreed to double his salary and pay him millions in Apple shares […]

Mr. Kiani is one of more than two dozen executives, inventors, investors and lawyers who described similar encounters with Apple. First, they said, came discussions about potential partnerships or integration of their technology into Apple products. Then, they said, talks stopped and Apple launched its own similar features.“

Michael O’Reilly started with Apple in 2013 and the other former Masimo employee mentioned in this situation, Marcelo Lamego, started in 2014.  O’Reilly is still at Apple and Lamego left after just a few months to start his own wearables company.  

Is the Masimo CEO claiming that “talks” started before 2013?  Because I’m assuming that hiring former employees might have an effect on any discussions about working together.  But putting that aside, the WSJ is reporting they claimed that “talks stopped and Apple launched its own similar features”.  The feature they must be referring to was released in 2020.  When did “talks” begin, and when did they end?

The patent system is dumb.  I’m not sure the timeline even matters. The two patents in question were filed by Masimo after the Apple Watch 6 was released and the patent infringement case is a proxy battle over those employees so not much related to them is directly relevant since they are not named in these patents even though this case has everything to do with them.

Basically Apple releases Apple Watch early September 2020, Masimo files patents late September 2020 that are granted in 2021 that looks just like Apple Watch 6, then Masimo sues Apple over Apple Watch 6 infringing on “their” design. All of this was likely done in retribution over employee poaching that is in itself legal in California. I’m not exactly sure how they get away with this, but probably because Masimo had a prior smart watch even though this was clearly just Masimo patenting Apple’s design.

This nonsense is all too common in our legal system.

It is just around the corner. This will be a fast cycle.

Apple needs to advertise console class graphics. They probably need a first-party controller too. It will still be difficult to attract gamers with such a small catalog. Game streaming could have primed the iPhone to be a gaming device, but Apple may have missed the boat on that. Maybe game emulation will help draw in more gamers.

Set that Time Machine further back to the Apple II. We can’t be hacked if our computers are not even online. Those were the days.