Hej,
Last week certainly was the week of commercialisation of VR. Oculus, Google and Sony all announced and delivered news in the space. FT, VRHeads (on Oculus event), Greenbot (on Daydream)
Google’s hardware event further held surprises apart from their Daydream product (VR), such as the Pixel (smartphone) and the Google Home (IoT) among others. WSJ, Google, TechCrunch
Below in the statistics section you’ll find some images capturing the specs of the current VR HMDs for reference. Also, this week is heavy on the MR/AR/VR section.
Tech
– H&M increased its financing to influencer Kenza’s brand IvyRevel DiDigital
– In the Fintech space US regulators have begun scrutinising peer-to-peer payment applications such as Venmo and Paypal WSJ
– Verdane Capital begins investing outside the Scandinavian markets with three German start-ups to pave the way DiDigital
– Wrapp filed a loss of SEK 18 M in 2015 DiDigital
– Foodora are under review for dumping salaries below minimum wage DiDigital
– Here is a great deck presented by the VC firm KPCB on current internet trends KPCB. Some of the key takeaways: WW Growth is now flat at 9% YoY. The Asian smartphone market (China and India) is where the most growth is expected the coming 5-10 years.
– Facebook is getting serious in the work apps space launching Workplace by Facebook WSJ
– Facebook also launched Marketplace – looking to scale up peer-to-peer sales and they certainly have the means to do it TechCrunch
Media
– The Chinese cinema markets – with 31 600 screens divided on 48 companies – are about to get consolidated according to WSJ
– Filmmaker Doug Trumbull sets out to merge existing cinematic experiences with the AR/VR worlds BusinessInsider
Transportation
– Swedish EV company Uniti sets out to compete with other EV manufacturers DiDigital
– TechCrunch tries to describe what is actually going on in the evolving AV industry when relationships shift from owning to sharing a car and from releasing the driver from center focus
MR/AR/VR
– Oculus/Facebook announced they are investing USD 250 M in the VR space on developers and their engagements TechCrunch
– An interesting (and rare) interview with Tim Cook at Utah University YouTube and here is the essence of his take on AR/VR BusinessInsider
– More than USD 500 M was invested into the AR/VR space in Q316 AdvancedTelevision
– WSJ claims Playstation VR is the best way to bring VR home, content and price wise.
– So wasn’t there an announcement on the Google Hardware event enlightening the status of Magic Leap? Gizmodo
– Another Swedish start-up sets out to commercialise VR through their start-up Rayvr DiDigital
– Inside story on Magic Leap’s head of their Creative Studio, Neal Stephenson BusinessInsider
– Hands on review with Oculus stand-alone VR headset Santa-Cruz VentureBeat
– And another prediction – this time from Deloitte on where the VR-market is heading by 2020 Deloitte
and some – quite a few – statistics:
Global Gross debt higher than ever.
The future of VR if Oculus gets to decide:
Theatre Attendance rates in US and Canada are declining…
How the bot M&A space have developed over the course of the last 5 years:
Just can’t leave the coming US election out of this e-mail, here are PolitiFact’s “truth-o-meter” comparisons from the most recent two debates:
The VR HMD space at the moment:
