The expected production plans «Apple Glass» may have taken a good turn if the rumors released today by the DigiTimes be true. According to the publication, Apple would have entered into a partnership with Valve (creator of the platform Steam) to develop its infamous augmented reality device.
Naturally, any prediction on the subject must be viewed with a certain skepticism, even more starting from a vehicle such as the DigiTimes, which has a mixed reputation when it comes to rumors; still, given the rising speculation about the next gadget Apple wearable, anything can happen (and soon).
Last July, the same website reported that Apple had “temporarily stopped” the development of its headset and that the team involved in this process would have been transferred to other areas. Since that time, however, Apple was in the process of closing the partnership with Valve so that the developer could collaborate in the development of the gadget, according to people familiar with the matter.
To support this possibility, last month the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was, in fact, cooperating with “third party brands” to launch its first headset of AR; for him, it is capable of the devices going into production later this year, in time to be launched in early 2020.
Valve has a certain participation in the airline headsets, since the company launched, in April this year, the Valve Index – a virtual reality device with support for major operating systems, including macOS. However, as we know, the Apple device would be focused on AR, not VR.
Valve will cooperate with Apple in the development of a headset of AR instead of VR, as CEO Tim Cook believes that augmented reality can make digital content part of the user’s world, and that it will be as popular as smartphones among consumers.
Also according to the publication of DigiTimes, Quanta Computer and Pegatron will manufacture the wearable device; more precisely, Quanta can produce headsets of AR at a much lower cost, since it has the licensing of a patent for camera lenses created by Lumus.
via MacRumors
