14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced that it’s expanding the HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner program to Europe, with six different companies joining the effort in addition to those in the United States and Canada.
The HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner program is an initiative launched by Microsoft whose purpose is to give select companies all the resources to create mixed reality applications that can then be used in a wide variety of industries for customers aiming to transform their businesses.
Companies like Paccar, Lowe’s, Red Bull Air Race, CDM Smith, UK Police Forces, and Alstom have already invested in such technologies that were developed by Microsoft’s HoloLens partners in the US and Canada, and the software giant hopes that with the expansion to Europe, more organizations on the Old Continent would discover the benefits of mixed reality solutions.
A total of six European companies are joining the HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner program, namely Black Marble (U.K.), Fundamental VR (U.K.), Holoforge (France), Immersion (France), REWIND (U.K.), and Zuhlke (Germany).
Second-generation HoloLens
Microsoft says that absolutely all partners who are part of this program have gone through extensive training with HoloLens experts, guaranteeing that customers who decide to invest in solutions developed by these companies would get the full experience with no compromises.
“Working with one of our hand-selected HoloLens Agency Readiness Partners is one of the quickest ways to get started with creating mixed reality applications that can transform working with 3D data, bringing new products and information to life, and creating new opportunities for business growth,” Lorraine Bardeen, General Manager, Microsoft HoloLens and Windows Experiences, explains.
While Microsoft’s investments in HoloLens partner programs continue, there’s still no word about the second-generation model, with some recent reports indicating that the company could actually skip this second version and go straight to the third generation.
The reason is the gap between Microsoft and its rivals, as HoloLens is a device that barely has any competition, so the software giant allegedly wants to continue work on a bigger upgrade rather than launch smaller improvements at a time when no one can match its existing offering.