2 ms·

North is really a footnote. It acquired the Intel Vaunt [0] tech and patents and tried to bring it to market[1]. It failed to do so and was acquired for a littl

North is really a footnote. It acquired the Intel Vaunt [0] tech and patents and tried to bring it to market[1]. It failed to do so and was acquired for a little bit less than it raised [2], suggesting Google only valued the patents. The company failed to retain talent and trimmed it's workforce aggressively before the acquisition. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16966530/intel-vaunt-smart-glasses-announced-ar-video https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16966530/intel-vaunt-smart... [1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/18144221/north-focals-intel-vaunt-patents-ar-glasses https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/18144221/north-focals-in... [2] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-a-vision-fades-alphabet-buying-canadian-smart-glasses-pioneer-north/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-a-vision-fa...

rvz 4y ago
My point is, Google Glass has been replaced by North's AR glasses technology. Whatever happened to North when it was an independent business is not Google's problem. It would be a total failure for Google if they discontinued all their AR glasses products; signalling their exit from the AR glasses race in general. Thanks to that acquisition, that is not the case.
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  > My point is, Google Glass has been replaced by North's AR glasses technology. Intel's tech. And it hasn't replaced it. No announcements as of yet for their future roadmap. We don't know if it'll replace or supplement the in-house tech Google has. All we know is they are shutting down their existing sales channel for AR glasses. It's impossible to buy a pair with either tech on it at the time. For all we know, they could bundle these patents and sell them to Samsung or Xiaomi or any other OEM.