Microsoft Announces Azure Kinect

Almost completely swallowed up by the HoloLens 2 announcement yesterday, was the fact that Microsoft also announced Azure Kinect. Unlike previous versions, this one is fully self-contained, but the price also reflects that, coming in at $399. The specs have been drastically improved, though.

Featuring a 1MP depth sensor with wide and narrow FOV, a 12MP RGB camera, a 7 mic array, and a lot of other features, this looks to be another piece of former gaming technology aimed at the enterprise market. Hopefully this one also eventually trickles back down to the consumer market.

Microsoft Anounces Hololens 2

HoloLens 2 was introduced yesterday, with 2 X 3:2 2K displays curtesy of a new two layer waveguide (down from three) and an LBS (laser beam scanning) MEMS (micro-electro mechanical systems) based light engine.

This version of HoloLens is once again, made for the enterprise market, focusing on increasing productivity. This is not a bad place to be right now, but it really does hit home with the fact that the product is just too costly to make consumer based AR/MR a reality, at this point.

HoloLens 2 Live Stream Microsoft's Reveal in Barcelona:

From the Microsoft conference In Barcelona:

Hololens Teased, Primed for Reveal- What's Inside?

2.24.19 #MWC19 - are you excited? I know I am...https://t.co/nO8apOLrGB pic.twitter.com/JXENF2nzEq

— Alex Kipman (@akipman) February 11, 2019

Hololens 2 is coming, and will be shown at Mobil World Congress event on February 24th. Satya Nadella and Alex Kipman will represent Microsoft at their first MWC since their failed Windows Mobile/Nokia endeavour. Why here? Mixed Reality is what Microsoft is hoping that the world will eventually trade in their phones in for, some day. What's in the next Hololens? One compiled a list of confirmed / rumored / patented specs (yes, I have read through quite a few patents)

• Smaller Form Factor- Confirmed by Microsoft
• APU- ? Rumored Qualcomm Snapdragon 850
• HPU- (Holographic Processing Unit) Confirmed next gen AI coprocessor running deep neural networks
• Wider FOV- Confirmed. Rumored to be double (70°) at minimum
• VR Capability- ? Mentioned in patent. (Only if >90° FOV)
• Variable Focus- ? Rumored, In patents
• Light Blocking- In patents. Requires liquid crystal, per pixel sync for dark shadows
• Eye Tracking- ? In patents [involving LBS display]
• Foveated Display- In patents [involving LBS display]
• Spacial/Hand Tracking- New Kinect for Azure, Confirmed. Combines 6 cameras/sensors into one, higher res
• Display Technology- ? Rumored/Co-Patented MicroVision LBS (Laser Beam Scanning piezoelectric micromirror device)
• Lens Display- ? Likely still Surface Relief Waveguide(s), next gen version of current
• Consumer Version?- only if <$1500... maybe <$1000

This is NOT the Next Hololens

Perhaps you have seen the following images floating around...

I just wanted to make it clear that although the media has picked up on a recent patent filing, these images are also from a patent that originated from 2010 from Osterhout Group Inc, which Microsoft bought a suite of patents from back in 2015. Yes, these images were probably originally drafted up close to a decade ago. As sleek as they look for a mixed reality headset, notice the lack of Kinect for Azure, which has been confirmed by Microsoft to be a part of the next HoloLens.

Anyway, it shouldn't be too long before we see the real thing, as the next HoloLens is supposedly set to debut to the public eye on February 24th at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Microsoft Hits Us With Unnecessary Roughness Right to the Feels, With Ad During Super Bowl

This past Sunday, Microsoft reminded us that "We All Win", as is the title of their Super Bowl LIII commercial. I think they are definitely right. Just from a marketing standpoint, this wins in every way, and many people have commented that they have truly won the Super Bowl with this ad. This is of course, an ad for their Adaptive Xbox Controller, but it reads like a mission statement from the company. It should be noted that Microsoft recently became the largest company in the world...again! At least this time they are starting out with a much different approach than the sterile, beige monster that we remember from the '90s. They have been building a very different image for the last several years, and that image has become more and more unique. It is almost as if the public is starting to view Apple and Microsoft as complete opposites of their '90s-2K counterparts. This is part PR, of course... but it is indeed also part of their inherent philosophies.