Yesterday, we reported that the preorder date for the HoloLens Developer Edition had leaked. Today, Microsoft has confirmed that today is the day, along with specs and what comes in the kit.
The firm announced that applicants will begin receiving invitations today to purchase the HoloLens Developer Edition for $3,000. The kit will come with the device, a carrying case, a charger, a microfiber cloth, a Bluetooth clicker, nose pads, and an overhead strap. It will ship on March 30.
Software includes HoloStudio, a program for creating 3D in 3D at "real world scale", a version of Skype that allows people to communicate using holograms, HoloTour, which allows the user to transport to other locations, and three games: Fragments, Young Conker, and RoboRaid (previously known as Project X-Ray).
The specs of the HoloLens Development Edition have also been unveiled:
| Optics · See-through holographic lenses (waveguides) | Sensors · 1 IMU |
| Human Understanding · Spatial sound | Input / Output / Connectivity · Built-in speakers |
| Power · Battery Life – 2-3 hours of active use, 2 week standby | Processors · Intel 32 bit architecture |
| Weight · 579g | Memory · 64GB Flash |
| OS and Apps · Windows 10 | What you need to develop · Windows 10 PC able to run Visual Studio 2015 and Unity 5.4 |
Seeing a 32 bit architecture and 2 GB of RAM is a bit surprising, given just how powerful and lag-less the device is. What"s more notable is the battery life.
Two to three hours of use is fine for a development kit, but it"s very low for a consumer model, assuming that the consumer model ships with similar specs and given the use cases we"ve seen. We"ve seen HoloLens used to watch Netflix on a holographic display and to stream Halo from an Xbox One.
Nevertheless, Windows fans are anxiously awaiting the new device. As preorders begin today, we take our first step toward a holographic world.
You can apply for a HoloLens Developer Edition right here.
Source: Windows Blog via Petri