每日英語跟讀 Ep.K600: Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm: New Players in the MR Market Challenge Apple's Dominance

Similar to smartphones, the release of Apple's highly anticipated mixed reality (MR) headset has the potential to ignite a battle between Apple and the Android camp in the MR market. Besides the well-known Meta, other tech giants from the Android camp, including Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm, are discreetly entering the MR battlefield. The development of the operating system plays a vital role in this competition, but the question remains: Will they follow the trend of abandoning their efforts, as seen in the past?

與智慧型手機類似，蘋果高度期待的混合實境（MR）頭盔的推出有可能在MR市場引發蘋果和安卓陣營之間的競爭。除了眾所周知的Meta之外，其他來自安卓陣營的科技巨頭，包括谷歌、三星和高通，正在悄悄進入MR戰場。操作系統的開發在這場競爭中起著至關重要的作用，但問題是：他們是否會像過去一樣放棄自己的努力呢？

The MR war among major tech companies has begun silently. While Apple received massive attention and generated hype during this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23), Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm from the Android camp have also been quietly working on their MR products. Business Korea reported that Google, Samsung, and Qualcomm are currently developing MR products. Google is focusing on an MR operating system, while Samsung and Qualcomm are responsible for developing MR hardware and dedicated chips, respectively. These products are anticipated to be launched as early as this year.

主要科技公司之間的MR之戰已經悄悄展開。蘋果在今年的全球開發者大會（WWDC23）上引起了廣泛關注和熱潮，而來自安卓陣營的谷歌、三星和高通也一直在默默地研發他們的MR產品。據《Business Korea》報導，谷歌、三星和高通目前正在開發MR產品。谷歌專注於MR操作系統的開發，而三星和高通分別負責開發MR硬件和專用芯片。這些產品有望在今年早些時候推出。

The first-time collaboration within the Android camp may lead to the creation of thinner and lighter MR products. Apple recently introduced the Vision Pro MR headset, with CEO Tim Cook stating, "Apple Vision Pro will usher in a new era of spatial computing." In February of this year, Samsung filed a trademark application for Galaxy Glasses with the South Korean Intellectual Property Office. Industry insiders cited by Business Korea suggest that Samsung's MR product may be thinner and resemble glasses, in contrast to Apple's Vision Pro, which has a design reminiscent of ski goggles.

安卓陣營內首次的合作可能會帶來更輕薄的MR產品。蘋果最近推出了Vision Pro MR頭盔，執行長庫克表示：「蘋果Vision Pro將開啟一個空間計算的新時代。」今年2月，三星向韓國特許廳提交了Galaxy Glasses的商標申請。《Business Korea》引用了業內人士的說法，三星的MR產品可能會更薄，外觀類似眼鏡，而不像蘋果的Vision Pro那樣像滑雪眼鏡。

During the Google I/O conference in May, Sameer Samat, Google's Vice President of Product, revealed the company's collaboration with Samsung in the extended reality (XR) field, which encompasses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). Samat also mentioned that more information would be shared later this year. This collaboration marks the Android camp's first entry into the MR market. Previously, Google had launched the VR project Daydream, which was eventually discontinued after a few years. Samsung, on the other hand, released a virtual reality (VR) headset in 2014 but has not introduced any significant updates since then.

在5月的谷歌I/O大會上，谷歌產品副總裁Sameer Samat透露了該公司與三星在延展實境（XR）領域的合作，該領域涵蓋擴增實境（AR）、虛擬實境（VR）和混合實境（MR）。Samat還提到將在今年晚些時候分享更多信息。這次合作標誌著安卓陣營首次進入MR市場。此前，谷歌曾推出VR項目Daydream，但幾年後最終停止了該項目。三星則在2014年推出了一款虛擬現實（VR）頭盔，但此後沒有推出任何重要的更新。

With the entrance of the Android camp into the MR market, the potential for MR development has garnered significant attention. Current VR headsets in the market, such as ByteDance's Pico and Meta (owned by Facebook), are based on customized versions of the Android operating system. However, the Android camp currently lacks a dedicated operating system for VR applications. In contrast, Apple's Vision Pro operates on visionOS, an operating system specifically developed for MR. As the Android camp follows Apple's footsteps in developing MR devices, the industry is closely monitoring the growth potential of this market. Market research firm Counterpoint Research estimates that global shipments of XR headsets will grow from 18 million units in 2022 to 110 million units in 2025, eventually reaching 1 billion units by 2030.

隨著安卓陣營進入MR市場，MR開發的潛力引起了極大的關注。目前市場上的VR頭盔，如字節跳動的Pico和Facebook旗下的Meta，都是基於定制版安卓系統。然而，安卓陣營目前缺乏專用的VR應用程式操作系統。相比之下，蘋果的Vision Pro運行在專門為MR開發的visionOS操作系統上。隨著安卓陣營在開發MR設備方面步上蘋果的後塵，業界正在密切關注這個市場的增長潛力。市場研究公司Counterpoint Research估計，全球XR頭盔的出貨量將從2022年的1800萬台增長到2025年的1.1億台，最終在2030年達到10億台。

Reference article: https://buzzorange.com/techorange/2023/06/09/googel-samsung-qualcomm-join-mr-battle/