Virtual reality is once again in the spotlight! Microsoft just recently announced that the company will go on sale in UK and five other new countries. With an estimated price of over 3000 Euro, the HoloLens will be available to businesses and developers only.

“Microsoft believes there will be consumer applications in the longer run, but for now is concentrating on what the mixed reality experience could do inside businesses. [...] What remains to be seen is whether this mixing of the virtual and real worlds can produce an application with mass appeal, rather than being a useful but not essential training tool for enterprises,” according to an article by BBC.

Companies as well as developers can already pre-order and expect their deliveries starting from the end of November. Last month Microsoft started building new data centers in the UK, even though the company had laid plans to do so back in November 2015. Microsoft new data centers located in London, Durham, and Cardiff are expected to help US-based companies to better sell their online services overseas.

Chief information officer at the Ministry of Defense Mike Stone, said for BBC that he “first approached Microsoft with the idea of opening local facilities two years ago,” when according to Stone, the Ministry of Defense was still using old software that hadn’t been updated since 2003.

“I took the view that the services we were providing were unfit for purpose. The idea is to provide a different capability that fully exploits the power of the cloud and mobility. We can now work on documents collaboratively and understand more about the ways we are working - we will be able to see how much time teams are spending in meetings, on email and on the phone,” Stone added.

Microsoft started shipping its HoloLens’ development kits from March 30, 2016. Windows 10 is the first platform to support the holographic computing with APIs that enable gaze, gesture, voice, as well as environmental understanding. With various partnerships including Volvo, Autodesk Fusion 360, NASA, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Clinic, Microsoft has been doing their part by making sure they have all the support they need in order to make the virtual technology a reality.

Microsoft Build 2016 conference took place from March 30 – April 1, 2016 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA where the company presented its future plans and what the company’s 2016 goals. “Microsoft wants its tools for developers to be what Office is for knowledge workers. They want to be the No. 1 tool chain for cross-platform development, mobile, cloud ... everything,” according to Al Hilwa, IDC Seattle research program director. “[That's] a tall order, but they're executing on it and building a multiplatform ecosystem," he said for the E-Commerce Times.

Image Source: (alphr.com)