Google's Android apps are coming in 3D via Xreal as competition with Apple's Vision Pro heats up

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — Games and movies on Google Play Store apps can now be viewed in three dimensions via a new Android mobile device from augmented reality glasses maker Xreal, the Alibaba-backed startup said Tuesday.

The Beam Pro, the company's latest product, is a smartphone-like device that can be used with AR glasses as a virtual mouse, and links the headset to Google Play Store apps including those for gaming, movie streaming and social media.

Augmented reality imposes digital images over the real world, giving someone wearing AR glasses the impression of being in a 3D virtual space.

Xreal's latest product launch is an indication of how Alphabet is keeping afoot in the headset space after retiring Google Glass, even as Apple launched its widely anticipated VR offering this year.

Apple's Vision Pro allows users to see apps and a digitally captured version of the real world using what the company calls spatial computing technology.

Xreal sells a range of AR glasses, some as light as 72 grams (2.5 ounces), that can display the screen of a connected laptop, smartphone or gaming console. The Beam Pro, which connects to the glasses via a cord, is set to begin U.S. deliveries by August and has a starting price of $199.

«We're hoping this one can finally became the hero product that people gonna really like,» Chi Xu, founder and CEO of Xreal, told CNBC in an interview.

«I think this actually [is] gonna be the new category standard,» he said, adding some smartphone makers might «actually want to go this route.»

Xu said part of the challenge for wider AR glasses adoption has been the lack of content, and the inability to incorporate user-generated images.

That's starting to change this year. The Beam Pro has two cameras that can