By Todd Bernhard on Fri, 02/27/2015
With the March 9 announcement date revealed, with the cheeky "Spring Forward" message indicative of turning clocks ahead, we can now look forward to what comes after the Apple Watch. Yes, there will be updates to the MacBook Air, with a 12-inch screen expected, and maybe a 12-inch iPad Pro as well. Others have written about the 200 engineers working on an Apple Car, although I think the likelihood of Apple shipping cars is still small.
A more reasonable extension of Apple's product line could be Virtual Reality. A recent job posting shows Apple is recruiting in that field and, if anything, they are late to the market. Oculus Rift, which began as a crowdfunded experiment, was purchased for billions by Facebook. Samsung is now working with Oculus on a developers version that leverages their Samsung Note. Microsoft and others are aggressively entering the market, with their HoloLens.
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Apple patent filings also suggest such an offering is on the way. As with the Apple Watch, Apple doesn't need to fear announcing too early and cannibalizing part of their product line. They do not have much of a console or virtual reality gaming presence, yet, although with a few tweaks, the Apple TV could play a role. Another piece of the Virtual Reality puzzle is PrimeSense. Apple acquired the firm that developed the original technology for the Microsoft Kinect. I saw them at the Consumer Electronics Show, years ago, when they were still being courted by Microsoft and even Apple. Apple proved "too difficult" to work with, as a licensee, but now that Microsoft laid the groundwork, Apple is playing catch up.
