Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft watchers often cite the phrase “third time is the right time” to explain the time it takes the company to turn a not-so-great first version of a product into something pretty solid. Microsoft might be about to put that saying to rest, given some new reports this week regarding HoloLens 3 and Surface Duo 3.
According to Business Insider, HoloLens 3 was canceled in mid-2021 and, tellingly enough, no one seemed to notice until now, leading Microsoft’s metaverse strategy to disarray. Windows Central’s Zac Bowden, who has always been very tuned into Duo rumors, says the third iteration of Microsoft’s Android-based Surface Duo may not arrive this year, as many believe. were waiting there.
If true, none of these delays are necessarily bad news. When products fall short of expectations, it’s not a bad time to pause and refocus instead of continuing to throw features and strategies at a wall hoping something catches on.
First, let’s talk about HoloLens. While the latest iteration of Microsoft’s augmented reality glasses was canceled/postponed last year as reported, it’s not the first time in HoloLens history that this has happened. In 2017, Microsoft decided to skip the version of the product that was to be released that year (called HoloLens 2) and go straight to version 3. When the “HoloLens 2” branded product finally shipped in 2019 , it included much-needed hardware and software improvements.
Iterations that miss their targets?
Microsoft originally positioned HoloLens as suitable for enterprise and consumer tasks, but quickly realized that the device’s financial hopes were firmly entrenched in the enterprise. Alex Kipman, Microsoft Technical Fellow for AI and Mixed Reality and father of the HoloLens, continues to fuel the idea that the HoloLens has a great future for consumers in his interviews and presentations. But contracts worth $22 billion — like Microsoft’s delayed contract for US military headsets based on HoloLens technology — are where Microsoft has correctly focused its HoloLens strategy.
Even as Microsoft expands its line of games, HoloLens has yet to be integrated into the mainstream strategy. No doubt this has been frustrating for some employees who are more interested in the general public than the company. Is this why hundreds of Microsoft employees have left the company to work for Meta and other companies working to bring augmented reality, virtual reality and augmented reality to consumers? ? May be.
HoloLens fits into Microsoft’s metaverse strategy in a tangential way at the moment. Microsoft officials are equating the metaverse with digital representations of physical entities and are working to find a way to leverage the community/collaborative aspect of this future. Although Microsoft is interested in things like avatars in Teams through Microsoft Mesh, the real centerpiece of its metaverse strategy is the digital twin, not the gaming headset.
Meanwhile, in Surface Duo land, Microsoft is scrambling to fix another product that failed to live up to expectations. Will the switch to Android 12L fix things for the Duo? If Microsoft is really slowing down instead of going full speed ahead with the HoloLens and Duo, then congratulations. Neither device is where it should be, in terms of user experience, and both need some work before their next iterations go on sale.
Source: ZDNet.com