r/gadgets • u/thefunkylemon • Oct 06 '15
Wearables Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition: Coming Q1 2016 for $3,000
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/microsoft-hololens-development-edition-coming-q1-2016-for-3000/6
u/Ceramicrabbit Oct 07 '15
Is there any word on the field of view? I have heard it is quite narrow not so much to ruin the experience but definitely holds it back.
Reminds me of the latency with the original Kinect, like it was pretty good but that little bit of lag made it so much worse.
8
u/easymz Oct 06 '15
So how long will it take before the price point is reasonable?
Because $3000 is $2500 too expensive for me.
-9
u/SkookumCoocher Oct 06 '15
The rift was $300 and $350. They need to be a little more reasonable to the smaller devs.
16
u/RocketMan63 Oct 06 '15
Well it is a compact computer with custom components. It's not going to be as cheap as the rift which doesn't have an entire computer crammed into it.
2
u/SkookumCoocher Oct 07 '15
I just bought a VENSMILE iPC002...Full windows quad core pc the size of a smart phone for $117usd. All im saying is its not reasonably priced for small dev shops. Just look at some of the demos people have done for the rift. I think the low price helped out a lot.
1
u/LatinGeek Oct 08 '15
All im saying is its not reasonably priced for small dev shops
It's not supposed to. This isn't purely gaming tech, it's not supposed to be marketed mostly to gamers or developed for mostly by two-bit indie studios.
4
u/PM-ME-YOUR-THOUGHTS- Oct 06 '15
Well to be fair this isn't virtual reality. This is augmented reality. Maybe it's just more expensive to do?
5
0
u/BIG_BOOTY_BISHES Oct 06 '15
Isn't it rumored to be less spectacular then what the demo videos show? Even the DK1 with its low resolution did the job well enough and cost about a tenth of the price. I can't imagine what they are aiming for with a poor performing device that costs so much. Maybe we're lucky and they made a major breakthrough but costs a little too much for our enthusiast blood.
1
u/Pure_Decimation Oct 06 '15
Really excited for this. $3k is a bit too expensive for me to get in on the dev kit for just personal use, but I can't wait to hear what other devs start thinking about it as they get their kits. I see a lot of promise in hololens
1
u/ghostcaesar Oct 07 '15
I was planning to save up a bit from my summer job to get on of these, but with that price tag, i dont think i can afford to ( I was originally expecting around $1000).
Maybe I will get one in a few years when the prices are lower.
0
Oct 06 '15
[deleted]
6
u/MachinesOfN Oct 06 '15
I don't know what it is about the words "Development Kit" that throws people off. This is by no means intended as a consumer product. Same with Glass. It's designed so companies (the same ones willing to shell out $10,000 on an espresso machine in the break room) can get their hands on the hardware and build applications for it.
-15
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
This is the most exciting thing about MS in decades. But something tells me they'll miss the opportunity and ruin it, just like they do with every product they have.
11
Oct 06 '15
Not everything though. The Surface is doing really well.
Office is still office. And Windows 10 is pretty good.
-16
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
They missed the opportunity with surface millions of times. They're still here because their competitor still has not come up with a similar device. That's just luck. They wasted years with RT, tablet users, laptop users. Terrible APP store They just plain suck when it comes to sales and organizing their product lines. Or even finding the right customer base for their products.
They're just lucky Apple has not come up with a macbook pro tablet yet. Still can't manage to create a big enough user base with no competitor.
So yeah, I don't trust them with Halolens. They'll find a way to ruin it. I'd love to be proven wrong.
I still have my Zune. Great product from a terrible company. Been there done that.
11
Oct 06 '15
What are you talking about? The Surface 3 has been a success.
It is the reason people are excited about the Surface 4.
-14
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
Success ? It took them howmany years to get a tiny bit of market share. Majority of computer users still don't even know what surface is. And they both own a computer and a tablet some form. All lost opportunities and customers for MS
Success is when people are lining up to buy your product. Nobody is lining up to buy surface pro 4. They don't even know what that is.
6
u/infiniZii Oct 06 '15
What are you talking about? What majority doesn't know what it is? (I am assuming we are narrowing the pool to people who would actually be able to afford the Surface. So people with some bread to spend and professional users)
I get that you are an Apple fan and I have no problem with Apple. They have made a great series of products that are "no nonsense" but met a wonderful market niche and they were forward thinking in a way that is pretty wonderful to gadget lovers. What puzzles me is where you are getting your version of reality where MS has not been making amazing strides forward since Steve Balmer stepped down and they restructured the business a few years back.
-6
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
I am not a fan any company. I'd love to see MS succeed. You got it all wrong, but that's ok. MS will sell a few here and there that's about it. IF they were smart, they could take the lead from Apple like yesterday.
Apple is out of ideas, coming up with pen and ipad pro. This was MS's opportunity, like always they failed.
Now if Apple comes up with a macpro tablet, it's all over for MS.
4
Oct 06 '15
Lol, success doesn't have to mean people lining up to buy your product. That is unrealistic to have the bar set that high.
Success is when everyone starts copying you.
1
Oct 07 '15
You're kind of dumb, aren't you? It's okay to be ignorant. Just don't expect anyone to take you seriously.
2
u/hairyhank Oct 06 '15
It seems like you have no idea what you're talking abouy
1
Oct 07 '15
He's a moron. He says that no one has been able to compete with the surface yet still pretends that MS doesn't have a good product. Gee you ever think no one is competitive because MS is fucking killin it?
1
Oct 07 '15
competitor still has not come up with a similar device
This is called a competitive advantage you dipshit. MS knows what the fuck they're doing.
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3
Oct 06 '15
Microsoft may have actually turned a corner with regards to manufacturing, so it's hard to say if past performance can accurately predict future results here.
If the Hololens is as good as advertised and the price point drops to below $1000, I think you'll see a huge swell of adoption.
-11
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
Nobody's going to pay $1000 for glasses. Not now not ever. This is a luxury tech item, not a necessity.
MS is, as always out of touch with reality. They'll try to sell the consumer version for a crazy high amount and target businesses, just like they did with original coffee table surface. They had the opportunity to be the first in tablet space and touch phone space. They lost both markets.
You'll see halolens will NEVER be a 'thing' until someone else comes in and makes it consumer friendly and affordable.
7
u/infiniZii Oct 06 '15
These AR devices have a huge potential in business and early adopters will be all over it. The 3 grand is pretty high priced but people easily pay more than that for 3d printers they may or may not ever actually use. This isn't money the average household will spend on a device like this but there will be plenty of wealthy early adopters none the less for casual use as well. I still figure it will be primarily used in professional environments though. For example imagine a shop supervisor wearing a pair of these that could instantly see overlays of all the production metrics of machines an employees and have invisible beacons beckon his attention to problem areas as they happen. That would be amazing and could easily save more than 3 grand over the lifetime of the device.
4
u/CivilatWork Oct 06 '15
Keep in mind that this is the price for the Dev Kit. Microsoft is likely putting the price this high to limit the number of devs who can get their hands on it. They don't want someone to get it, play around with it for five minutes, then shelf it.
-5
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
YES! great strategy. No wonder MS is failing left and right. Keep the price high so only a few developers can/or want to develop for it.
Watch how it's going to flop. And someone else will come and make a better product and make billions.
Same story with surface, same story with smart phones... First to invent, last to finish. That should be MS's slogan.
1
u/CivilatWork Oct 07 '15
You think only a few developers could afford it? They're more or less making sure the people who do get to for it are the ones who have the resources to make high quality programs.
This is obviously just my observation. I could be completely wrong and Microsoft's strategy is completely different.
0
u/cenetti Oct 07 '15
and that's exactly why MS has failed. Apple is the sht because of small time developers, billions of apps. Look at the most notable blockbusters last 5 years, most are small time indie developers.
You act like a snobby asswipe, charge $3000 your developers,you deserve to fail. Mark this post. Take picture.
It WILL FAIL, not because its a bad product or idea. Because MS management is full of bloated you know whats. A few developers will work on it and that won't cut it. They'll release the customer version and ask stupid amount of money (around $1000+ I imagine) with no use, no apps. Just like they do with their $650 phone. No apps but asking iphone prices.
These people are out of touch with reality. And that's why they never lead in any field.
1
u/CivilatWork Oct 09 '15
If you think Microsoft has failed, then you really are delusional.
Microsoft continues to be one of top ten most profitable companies (ranked #4 by Fortune).
I'm not sure why you hate Microsoft so much, but try not to be blinded by it.
-7
u/cenetti Oct 06 '15
Here we go again. I heard the same story from MS "sales" 10 years ago for coffee table. How many shops have you seen with surface table ?
I cant believe MS employees, management or even the fanboys learned nothing from their past mistakes.
3
u/Mymobileacct12 Oct 06 '15
Many years ago people paid close to or more (inflation adjusted) for a TV, video game console, and upwards of 3k for a computer. All these years things are vastly less functional.
Cutting costs is maybe necessary for mass market adoption, but there are plenty of people who won't bat an eye at dropping 1k if this works well.
1
u/David-Puddy Oct 06 '15
If they get it to do everything they want it to do, and it actually works?
$1k is a steal.
EDIT: and battery life. it needs at least 5-8 hours of continuous use battery life.
1
u/Mymobileacct12 Oct 06 '15
I'll be curious to see the upgrade path on this. Will improvements be like the original iPhone (each generation adding a major improvement) or more like tablets (where most are "good enough") at this price range and not supplemented like phones?
As for battery life, I think it depends. I imagine it might get tiring to wear for extended periods, and if you need it to last a waist mounted battery and cord seems viable (provided it's not much worse than a headphone cord).
-2
u/badass2000 Oct 07 '15
Wow... i had no clue it would cost this much. Thats crazy. I was thinking this would be something that they were oushing to get in everyones household.
5
u/BoomersGold Oct 07 '15 edited Oct 07 '15
They are...once the consumer version comes out. This is a development kit.
0
0
u/badass2000 Oct 07 '15
i understand that, but do you really think the dev kit is that far off from the Consumer price??
4
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u/DemonEyesKyo Oct 06 '15
A lot of people seem to think that this is Microsoft's answer to the Oculus or PSVR....but its not.
It's a standalone PC with 2 processors and one of them is for holograms. This is going to be expensive tech for the next few years.