CES Takeaways for AMD and Intel, Alibaba and JD.com and Augmented Reality
2. Augmented Reality Headsets Are Getting Much Better
We're still not at the point where a mass-market for AR headsets is ready to emerge. But considering how much better the state of the art looks relative to 2016 or 2017, the arrival of one in a couple years' time doesn't seem so far-fetched.
I'll second much of The Verge's praise for Chinese startup Nreal's Nreal Light headsets: With the help of Qualcomm's (QCOM - Get Report) Snapdragon 845 processor (launched in 2018), a relatively large 52-degree field of view (FOV) and lenses projecting content at a 1080p resolution per eye at 60 frames per second (fps), the Nreal Light's visuals easily topped those of startup Magic Leap's One headset as well as Microsoft's (MSFT - Get Report) first-gen HoloLens, which features a relatively modest 35-degree FOV and a resolution of 1268x720 per eye.
Also deserving attention: Hong Kong startup RealMax's Qian headset, which runs on a Snapdragon 835 and supports an impressive 100-degree diagonal FOV to go with a resolution of 1080p per eye. With an FOV similar to that of many VR headsets, RealMax states Qian users can switch between AR and VR modes.
Neither headset is perfect.
4. Alibaba and JD.com's Tech Investments Are Not Being Fully Appreciated
China's online retailers were both eager to use CES to show off tech strengths that U.S. tech observers might not be familiar with. Alibaba (BABA - Get Report) dedicated plenty of space to devices supporting its AliGenie personal assistant, and also had a Volvo S60 featuring an infotainment system powered by its YunOS operating system.
And at a conference where Google unveiled a new interpreter mode for Assistant, Alibaba ran a video call demo in which participants speaking different languages automatically had their remarks translated and shown in the other participant's language.
See the full story here: https://www.thestreet.com/opinion/ces-takeaways-for-amd-intel-alibaba-and-more-14832467