The Army and Hololens

There's a lot here.

Reading between the lines, there's a notable benefits of a laser display (and further evidence of a laser display.)

Better equipment is a deterrent.

The Verge
CNBC
Gizmodo
C|NET

Night vision goggles currently used in the field emit a green glow, which the enemy can see. IVAS doesn’t glow as much, and still allows soldiers to see other people in the dark.  

(Only uses the light required to deliver information to the user -- no glow -- lasers.)

When I tried it, people glowed bright white, as if everyone in the room had suddenly turned into ghosts. With the lights off, I could see someone standing plainly behind a set of ferns, which I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise.

McCarthy explained, “With current night vision, smoke can blur what you see. With thermal, you can see through the smoke and engage and destroy a threat. This is a game changer on the battlefield,” he said, noting that Russia, China and other potential adversaries that know about these capabilities “will not want to engage us.”  

(Deterrence!)

And This is going to be very good attention for MVIS.

I’m inside a Black Hawk helicopter flying from the Pentagon to Fort Pickett, Virginia.

I’m flying with Under Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Crosby, who are explaining how Microsoft’s technology will be used to better train soldiers and make them more effective in the real world. Soon, I’ll see for myself.

The Army recently invited CNBC to see how it will use specially modified Microsoft HoloLens 2 headsets. They’re part of a $480 million defense contract won by the company. The military wouldn’t say how much its version costs, but the consumer one costs $3,500.

Hololens news since announcement.... (will be updates)

Those of us who have been watching have a benefit now, the media isn't yet reporting where Hololens' laser scanning display is coming from.

Things will get very interesting if the tech reporters put pieces together, and then also see us at MWC with STM and Lidar  and in the Blackview Phone.

Then they'll dig a little and see interactive display...

Things could start getting REALLY interesting....

I'd REALLY like to see this and will travel to do so... if anyone can get me hands on with one, I'm there...(Alaska Airlines?)




Clearly with Epic Games participating with Hololens, this will not be an enterprise only kind of device. I believe they were included on purpose to make that case clearly.

*****

Business Insider

Epic, the creator of "Fortnite," has thrown around its considerable weight to put pressure on Apple and Google, and the 30% cut that they take from most app transactions. Now, Epic is pledging long-term support for HoloLens, citing this policy of openness as a reason why.

But in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment that may have gone overlooked, chief HoloLens inventor Alex Kipman made another, related announcement that has much larger implications for the industry: Microsoft committed to allowing anybody to operate their own app store for the HoloLens or any Windows-powered headsets like it.

It's a commitment that comes among a broad discussion about the economics of smartphone app stores. Apple, in particular, has come under scrutiny for requiring developers to fork over 30% of most App Store transactions, while also disallowing competitors to open their own alternative iOS app storefronts.

*****
 
I also very much liked their emphasis on freedom. (not going to lock you in to Microsoft browser, etc. That developers will be able to sell without being funneled through Microsoft store first.

I also love that it's for people who DO stuff -- it helps people do things. Not for sitting at a desk working on a computer, it's for taking that kind of information with you when you go out to work with your hands.

The applications I think that can take Hololens mainstream quickly is using it to teach processes. (like the person installing truck interiors during the presentation.) If that becomes as seamless as I think it will be, it will be able to immensely improve human performance, and pay for itself very quickly.



And at 1:10 they start talking about the new display at the Verge... wonder when they'll figure out the connection.

"No competition for the next two years that can come close to this level of fidelity."

Alex Kipman Teasing Hololens

Pretty sure that this should erase any doubts about the release of something at MWC... 

Alex Kipman Tweet

Fossbytes

The Verge

Sundance Festival, Augmented and Virtual Reality category

More and more AR and VR are showing up, and getting more mainstream. A couple of tastes from the Sundance Film Festival

The Verge





Facebook-owned VR giant Oculus often shows off new narrative projects at Sundance, even when they’re not on the official slate. This year, it revealed an immersive theater experience called The Under Presents, which featured human actors playing roles in a surrealist cabaret. The high-profile AR startup Magic Leap also made its Sundance debut this year in New Frontier, where three pieces used its Magic Leap One headset.

BEST AUGMENTED REALITY: A JESTER’S TALE

Created by: Asad J. Malik

A Jester’s Tale is something between a fairy tale and a CAPTCHA test, and it’s by far the weirdest of three Magic Leap-based installations. To experience it, you walk into a physical re-creation of a child’s bedroom, at which point, a disembodied entity demands proof of your humanity to continue. The test? Using voice and object recognition, help act out an odd, disturbing story about a child and his pet rats.

Amazon Event Today -- UPDATES

No one knows anything yet, so it's ALL speculation, (just FYI)

Live Blog Link (c|net)

Wired

Engadget

The Verge


Amazon's Alexa device event today: Here's what you need to know from CNBC


Alexa Hunches "Predictive AI.."

.... well, doesn't that sound recently familiar?

Alexa wall clock (shows timers)

Alexa "guard" devices will have "guard mode"Introducing "Echo Guard." Say something like "Alea, I'm leaving," and she'll move your Echoes into Guard mode. You'll get a notification if they hear breaking glass or the sound of an alarm.

Will also turn smart lights on and off to make it look like you're there.

Launching "Smart Screen SDK" [software development kit] Can add echo show like functionality to anything with a display. (I'll be looking for this, this will be good.)





Lenovo is bringing Alexa to their tablets.

Autos: BMW, Ford, Toyota, Buick, Chevrolet, Infiniti, Hyundai, Nissan, GMC, SEAT, Cadillac, Dodge, Mercedes, Jeep, Ram, Genesis, Mitsubishi, Kia

IFA 2018 -- Google Assistant

"The Consumer Electronics industry works in cycles of infatuation."

That's so true, and great news for us. Consumers, (CE writers) and investors need things to be infatuated with.

Old things fall out of favor, new things come into favor. These personal assistants are coming into favor in a big way.

We KNOW they are coming with interactive projection, because the guts of it with Microvision include are already at one of the worlds largest electronic distributors.
We know that it's Google based: It's android, and I've done the Google smart Screens Walkthrough here before.

Of course, I'm looking for more "google on your countertop"  I expect we'll see more, the show isn't even open yet.

(Oh, and I've seen the Bosch Countertop projector -- let them make the concept popular -- what MVIS has is WAY better.)

IFA 2018
The Verge

"Good luck trying to find a new gadget at IFA 2018 without Google Assistant on it"

The consumer electronics industry works in cycles of infatuation. Every couple of years, some new technology captures the attention of most manufacturers and triggers a wild race to be the first, cheapest, or best with it. We’ve been through the netbook and e-reader manias, followed by the tablet deluge, the 3D TV moment, the 2-in-1 laptop transformation, the flood of Bluetooth speakers and headphones, and, most recently, the Alexa-fication of everything. This year at IFA, the unmissable common thread to new announcements is shaping up to be the Google Assistant.

****
Amazon deserves a measure of credit for proving the viability and appeal of smart speakers with its Alexa-powered Echo, but what Google is doing with the Assistant is fundamentally different because it plugs users into a whole different ecosystem. Sure, once integrated within smart speakers or displays, the Assistant can be your voice remote control for music, or a cooking timer, or a deliverer of reminders, like Alexa can. But it’s the Google-on-your-countertop experience that truly differentiates it.

ALSO..... they like it, Microvision's projector is WAY BETTER.

Bosch Countertop Projector

Article in the Verge

The Verge   (Way More at the Source)

Joel Johnson used to be a gadget blogger for places like Gizmodo, Wired, and Boing Boing, but now is trying to buy a farm.

Every so often, a glimmer of the old Sony shines through. The Sony that made delightful metal hexahedrons that did amazing things with at least one glaring mistake that made the whole endeavor even more glorious. I have found another one, and it's called the MP-CL1.

It's a pico projector — you know, those things that seem like they'll be good someday, but are squint-inducing trash right now. Except this one, which is extremely good. It uses lasers—or a laser — to project an image that is always in focus and, despite a "low" lumen rating of around 32, looks so, so good when you're using it.

There's some sort of gadget bro science that says the light coming out of the MP-CL1's lens, which is using a chip licensed from a company called MicroVision, appear to be brighter than light coming out of other, similar pico projector apertures that use things like DLP. I don't know if that's actually true, but I know this: at night, with the lights off, the image this little box makes looks incredible. Damn near as good as a regular LCD panel. At night with some ambient light it's watchable, but not great. During the day the projected image is infuriating garbage.

Every review of this little box compares it to other projectors, which is maddening. (The only fair comparison would be the PicoPro, which licenses the same technology, which I haven't used, but am sure is also awesome.) Yeah, it sucks during the day. It's a projector! But this one fits in your pocket and runs on a battery and doesn't need to be focused and lets you hold it in your hand and shoot movies onto the silvered undersides of leaves!

Magic Leap about to produce millions of AR devices -- UPDATED

I've scraped this because I don't want to lose it. The source is TheVerge.

This DOES appear to have MicroVision fingerprints, but it it not confirmed. I have been watching Magic Leap closely for updates -- but again, there isn't confirmation yet.

The key terms I watch here is that the images are "projected onto the retina." 

Also at Mashable

Also at IBTimes

At TechCrunch

At TechInsider    (UPDATE -- good article) 

Magic Leap, which has raised half a billion dollars from investors including Google, has been building its technology in secret for years. But it's getting closer to show us its version of mixed-reality computing. "We're actually gearing up to build millions of things," said Rony Abovitz, the company's president and CEO, speaking at the WSJD conference in Laguna Beach, CA. The company is using part of an abandoned Motorola factory in south Florida and is now developing its manufacturing processes, he said. "We're not ready to announce when we're shipping, but it gives you a signal that we're not far," Abovitz said.

Little is known about Magic Leap's device, but Abovitz described it as a small, self-contained computer that people will feel comfortable using in public. It is believed to involve retinal projection, and evolved out of surgical research. (Abovitz's previous business involved medical devices.) And when it arrives, Magic Leap will likely compete with Microsoft's HoloLens, which is now taking applications for its development kits.

"ANYTHING YOU CAN DO ON A SMARTPHONE, YOU CAN DO ON MAGIC LEAP."

Magic Leap has a working software development kit and has invited several teams of developers to its Florida offices to begin making apps, and is regularly holding hackathons there, Abovitz said. Among the apps built for Magic Leap so far: a simple game that lets you throw a digital ball back and forth, and an app that projects a hand and a digital stove to teach you how to make macaroni and cheese.

The ultimate vision for Magic Leap is to create "a broad-based platform for visual computing," said Rio Caraeff, the company's chief content officer. That's one reason why Google CEO Sundar Pichai sits on its board — and why the company was valued at $1.2 billion last year, not counting its $542 million investment. "Anything you can do on a smartphone, you can do with Magic Leap," Caraeff said. "Where the world is your screen."

The company also showed a video today meant to mimic what you'll see when you're using the device. One clip of 10 seconds or less showed a robot named Gimbal hiding under a desk; the other showed a model of the solar system projected on a desk. Neither was anywhere near as dramatic as the shooter that the company revealed in June.

Microsoft Event October 6

There was a report some time ago that the Surface Pro 4 would be getting an embedded projector. 

This isn't a guarantee or a promise, only a reported rumor.....

There is a Microsoft event on October 6th. I'll be watching it.

First report of Surface pro 4

The Verge

Surface Pro 4

Everyone has been waiting for a successor to the popular Surface Pro 3, and Microsoft is about to unveil its latest tablet / laptop hybrid next week. Unlike the company’s Lumia phones, Microsoft hasn’t managed to leak its own announcements so there are not a lot of rumors about what the company is planning. Microsoft previously promised that a Surface Pro 3 successor would work with existing accessories like the Type Cover, charger, and dock. That means the design of the Surface Pro 4 can’t alter very much, or can it?

A new display

We’re hearing that Microsoft will squeeze a larger display into the Surface Pro 4, with thinner bezels on the device and a much higher resolution. This could be as a high as 4K or even 5K, suggesting that the display will be a key element of the Surface Pro 4. Alongside these changes the Surface Pro 4 will likely be lighter, and could even be thinner than its predecessor. If there are any significant physical changes, then older docks will still work with spacer attachments.