Apple’s AR headset is a game-changer for startupsTechCrunch tried out the Apple Vision Pro headset, concluding that it is very good — but perhaps also too good to be true. Apple has a long history of launching first-generation products that are pretty decent, before quickly following up with updates and amendments that make the original kit better.
From hardware engineers, you occasionally hear an under-breath muttered comment along the lines of “the third generation of X was the one we wanted to ship in the first place.” That isn’t uncommon in hardware; it’s pretty rare that a full product vision survives the constraints of supply chains and manufacturing. There’s a chasm of difference between building a single prototype of something, and building a few million of something.
Yes, the Apple Vision Pro is weighed down by its $3,500 price tag, and judging from the videos and cut-away photos alone, I’d be surprised if the company will make any money at all on the devices.
How did Apple wind up there? It appears that its engineers were given carte blanche to make the best device they could, solving some crucial problems along the way. To make this a standalone device (it can be used without being tethered to a phone or computer, although it does, awkwardly, have an external battery pack), the company packed an M2 processor into the headset, along with a brand-new R1 processor, which takes care of all the inbound data from the 12 (!) cameras, lidar, eye sensors, six microphones and more. The company says the device has 23 sensors in total.
Still, the preposterously over-engineered headset is a vital flag in the ground for startups.
It’s been more than a decade since the original Oculus Rift hit Kickstarter, with its 640×800 pixels per eye resolution, a product that was persistently plagued by complaints that it made people feel motion sickness. Since then, we’ve seen dozens of additional headsets launched. The $300 Meta Quest 2 is proving to be an important entry-level headset for the masses, while the $1,000 Meta Quest Pro and the $1,500 HTC VIVE Pro 2 are shoring up the high-end headset market. Apple’s device is launching at more than twice the price.
Apple’s AR headset is a game-changer for startups by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Optimism successfully completes ‘Bedrock’ hard fork, reducing deposit times, layer-1 feesThe upgrade is part of a series of reforms meant to increase modularity in the OP Stack, allowing developers to spin up their own networks using the software.

BandLab Will Discontinue FREE Cakewalk DAW, Sonar Returning
Bandlab has announced that they will discontinue the free Cakewalk digital audio workstation, replacing it with Cakewalk Next and a new version of Sonar. Good things always come to an end, or so the saying goes. Unfortunately, it seems that we will soon need to remove Cakewalk from our list of free DAWs. BandLab announced [...]
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EU calls on tech giants to label AI-generated contentThe EU is asking tech giants like Google, Meta, TikTok and Microsoft to start labeling AI-generated content on its services
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Universal’s merch company Bravado makes series of leadership appointmentsAlyssa Tobias named Vice President, Head of Creative Services, amongst other appointments
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Fishman TriplePlay TriplePlay is a revolutionary, high-performance MIDI Guitar Controller and Software that seamlessly connects to any device that accepts USB MIDI, including Mac, PC, and iOS. With TriplePlay,... Read More

Gen Z is drinking less alcohol. That’s bad news for live musicSmall to medium-sized venues across the U.S. are noticing a trend that’s hurting their bottom line: patrons 28 years old and younger are drinking much less alcohol than previous generations.. Continue reading
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CD Baby has stopped selling CDs. What options are left for indie artists?CD Baby recently announced that they are exiting the CD sales business. What options are still available for indie musicians who still want to sell CDs online? Michael Brandvold and. Continue reading
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Acousticsamples VHorns Alto Saxophone The VHorns - Alto Saxophone can be purchased alone and is part of the VHorns Saxophones bundle. VHorns Alto Saxophones comes with its own sample player, the UVI Workstation... Read More

Exploring the Evolution of Music Promotion in the Digital AgeDive into how digital technology has revolutionized music promotion for artists everywhere. by OrSn Hosho of SoundBoxTool.com 1. Introduction In today’s digital age, music promotion has undergone a transformative evolution. Continue reading
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University of Huddersfield - Andrew Scheps Scholarship  The Unniversity of Huddersfield have announced a new PhD scholarship which is open to applicants engaging in research on any subject related to spatial audio music production.

Apple’s Vision Pro is about a better today rather than a shinier tomorrowApple’s long anticipated VR move finally saw daylight in the shape of Vision Pro. What is particularly interesting about the launch and its subsequent coverage is that the conversation is more about what Vision Pro enables rather than what it actually is. Apple has successfully engineered a hardware launch into a services and experiences narrative. All this, without too much at all in the way of actual new services. No mean feat. A sharp contrast with product launches for iPhone and Apple Watch, despite both devices operating within the same services ecosystem. Apple has been able to achieve this because it at least appears to have used Vision Pro to take today’s suite of services and experiences to a new level, much like iPod transformed music consumption and iPhone reinvented our wider digital lives. Claiming the legacy of those previous innovations, Vision Pro is staking its claim as a new way to experience today’s world, with the promise of facilitating an entirely new paradigm thereafter – again, just like those previous devices. 

On the surface, the Vision Pro narrative might feel simply like a riff on Meta’s VR strategy, but the differences are foundational. Meta’s VR move is bold and uncompromising. It is founded on the metaverse: a promise of an entirely new world, so transformational that the company even renamed itself after it. It is an exciting, North Star vision, but it is also a future that is distant and far from front-of-mind for mainstream consumers. Apple ensured it dropped plenty of hints that it too wants in on that brave new world (as illustrated by the VR experience in Disney’s sizzle reel), but the metaverse was limited to a supporting role in the Vision Pro show. The star was today, not tomorrow.

Apple presented how Vision Pro enables consumers to experience today’s digital world in a new environment, whether that be apps, browsing the web, watching movies or playing games. Of course, Apple emphasised how all of those are enhanced by being experienced in an immersive virtual environment, but it was crucially a representation of the familiar in new surroundings. Why? Because Apple has its eyes on the mainstream adoption of a new(ish) product category. Apple’s M.O. is that of an early follower, innovating rather than inventing. Its history is defined by making moves only when a new product category is deemed ready for primetime, letting others bleed out on the bleeding edge of new tech. 

XR (i.e., VR and AR) may not yet be at that primetime point. Currently only 4% of consumers own a VR headset, up just one percentage point from 3% in Q3 2021. But Apple has priced version one of Vision Pro so high ($3,449 – which reflects high component costs and no doubt will help recoup some of those vast R+D costs) that it will effectively constrain uptake to its early adopter elite. So, by the time the more affordable versions two and three come to market, primetime will have arrived. At least that is what Apple is likely planning on.

One element that may represent the linking piece between today and tomorrow was FaceTime. Although there was not a huge amount in terms new features (the slightly unsettling avatars aside), FaceTime has the potential to develop a new purpose and relevance in an XR environment, making the connections with other people more vital, more meaningful. This is, of course, the overlapping segment part of the Ven diagram of Apple’s and Meta’s VR strategies – and it is no coincidence that it is such a big bet for both companies. Communication and connection underpinned many of the modern world’s biggest technology shifts (the internet, smartphones, social media, video calls) and it will likely be the use case that ushers XR into the mainstream. If Apple manages to be at the centre of this, it may end up transforming FaceTime from a useful smartphone app into the foundational architecture of a metaverse-era social network. But it will get there by starting off with a newer version of today.

Native Instruments Is Giving Away Irish Harp For FREE Until July 3
Native Instruments offers the Irish Harp sample library for Kontakt Player as a free download until July 3rd, 2023. It certainly isn’t Christmas, but who can turn down a free present from Native Instruments? If you’ve been looking to complement the LABS bagpipes we showcased recently, then look no further than Irish Harp from Native [...]
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Latest Soundpaint software sampler announced The latest update to Soundpaint's free software sampling platform introduces improvments to legato functionality, new keyswitching capabilities and a selection of workflow enhancements. 

Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park, Fort Minor) on crafting Meteora, songwriting, and the art of vocal production.
#Music #musicproduction #vocals #Songwriter #Musicians