Magic Leap announces layoffs as company realigns focus on enterprise and hardware

Published

1 year ago

April 24, 2020

James is editor in chief of TechForge Media, with a passion for how technologies influence business and several Mobile World Congress events under his belt. James has interviewed a variety of leading figures in his career, from former Mafia boss Michael Franzese, to Steve Wozniak, and Jean Michel Jarre. James can be found tweeting at @James_T_Bourne.

Virtual and augmented reality (AR) may well signal the future of online collaboration with the ‘new normal’ promised by the Covid-19 pandemic – but it may have come a little too late for Magic Leap.

The AR hardware firm has announced major layoffs and a move towards the enterprise ahd hardware markets, with some reports suggesting that up to half of the company’s workforce is to go.

In a blog post, Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz outlined the ‘painful process’ of restructuring, with layoffs expected across the business, from executive to factory floor level. “While our leadership team, board, and investors still believe in the long-term potential of our IP, the near-term revenue opportunities are currently concentrated on the enterprise side,” Abovitz wrote.

The company released its original Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset in August 2018, with many in the industry – including this publication – noting that, with $1.8 billion raised in funding by October the previous year, it wasn’t before time. At a starting price of $2,295 USD, its place at the higher end of the market was assured. Critical response was relatively positive, although according to The Information at the end of last year, sales did not follow in the same vein.

The next-generation Magic Leap 2, according to Abovitz in a Forbes interview around the same time, was slated for a 2021 release, with the enterprise and ‘early prosumer’ market firmly in its sights. Updates from the company, such as an extension of its partnership with industrial software provider PTC, signalled this change.

Abovitz added in the blog post that the changes were necessary to advance Magic Leap’s technology, as well as ensure delivery of Magic Leap 2. “We must decrease investments in areas where the market has been slower to develop, providing us with a longer runway while retaining the ability to explore and build on future use cases when the market signals readiness,” he added.

Plenty of innovation remains in augmented reality right now, with various initiatives looking to put a positive spin on the current crisis. PTC is using its augmented reality technology to help produce more ventilators in the UK, it was reported this week, while alternate realities are being advocated by industry figures as a way for people to explore ‘outside’ if they are stuck at home.

“The post-Covid economy will be one of resiliency and the ability for businesses to operate across vast distances and connect with their customers in ways that mimic physical interactions, but benefit from the speed and scale of high-speed networks, will be critical,” wrote Abovitz. “Spatial computing will very much be part of that coming economic change.”

Many former Magic Leap employees have taken to LinkedIn to note their change in circumstances, including chief content officer Rio Caraeff, who said he was ‘forever grateful for the amazing learning experience’, and senior director of Magicverse Chris Matthieu, who said he was ‘still a huge believer’ in AR, VR, spatial, and decentralised edge computing.

You can read the full blog post here.

Picture credit: Magic Leap

Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo, AI & Big Data Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam and explore the future of enterprise technology.

Source: https://virtualreality-news.net/news/2020/apr/24/magic-leap-announces-layoffs-as-company-realigns-focus-on-enterprise-and-hardware/

Related Topics:AR / VR Business COVID-19 innovation Investments investors Markets Security Tech Technology The Future US

Blockchain

Citizens of El Salvador To Receive $30 in Bitcoin as the Law Will be Implemented In September

Published

59 mins ago

June 25, 2021

Republished by Plato

The President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has announced that bitcoin’s legal tender status will take effect in the country on September 7th, 2021. In addition, the government will give El Salvadoran citizens $30 worth of bitcoin.

Bukele made the statement during a national address on Friday (June 25th, 2021). The El Savaldoran President’s announcement comes after the country’s supermajority voted in favor of his Bitcoin plan to make the largest cryptocurrency the country’s second legal tender earlier in June.
Apart from the news of the Bitcoin law taking effect, President Bukele also revealed the creation of a new BTC wallet called Chivo.
According to him, every adult who signs up on the wallet will receive $30 worth of bitcoin. This effort could encourage increased adoption of the cryptocurrency.
Earlier, El Salvador’s President said that individuals who invest 3 BTC into the country’s economy would be awarded citizenship.
Although the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not in support of the Central American country’s bitcoin adoption, the latest developments indicate that El Salvador is not going to give up its plans.
President Bukele’s plan has also faced opposition within the country. Some members of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), one of El Salvador’s major political parties, called the Bitcoin Law illegal, adding that it was harmful and was also designed to loot the people’s pockets.
However, the President, in his recent address, refuted the claims, stating that bitcoin will instead benefit the people and move the country forward.

Featured Image Courtesy of Reuters

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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/citizens-of-el-salvador-to-receive-30-in-bitcoin-as-the-law-will-be-implemented-in-september/

Blockchain

ATFX Connect Appoints Steve Whittet as Institutional Sales Director

He will be utilising his experience at ATFX Connect to help increase the company’s client base through new acquisitions.

Published

60 mins ago

June 25, 2021

Republished by Plato

Steve Whittet who is a well-known and highly respected figure in the FX Market previously Head of Institutional at ADSS and GKFX, has joined ATFX Connect, the global brokerage with a presence in various countries across the globe.

Steve has a wealth of knowledge and experience of the institutional market, having held Senior positions previously at various Banks and Brokerage houses.

He will be utilising his experience at ATFX Connect to help increase the company’s client base through new acquisitions, and intends to add his expertise in helping the company’s new Agency Business offering.

Steve brings broad experience in best-in-class liquidity, risk management solutions, management of the daily FX sales operations, regulations and technology for international clients.

Having previously worked at some of the world’s foremost trading houses, Steve has gained extensive knowledge In dealing with institutional clients, setting up agency business and acquiring new customers for margin and give-up business.

ATFX Connect is now entering into a new phase of growth, which will see the broker expand its geographical footprint across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as enhance its product offering.

Steve Whittet, Institutional Sales Director, ATFX

Expansion into Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East is a key part of the firm’s long- term vision for the firm. ATFX Connect existing clients will benefit from our new hires, product offering and we are excited to reach out and provide our services to a new client base.

In March 2021, ATFX Connect launched its Agency Business to meet growing demand.

Commenting on the recent hire Matt Porter, Head of Operations at ATFX Connect, said Mr Steve Whittet, who has a 25-year Career in the sector and has served in senior roles at both Banks/Brokers collecting experience in client relations, institutional sales, would play a key role in accelerating the global growth of ATFX Connect. His appointment is a further sign of ATFX Connect’s ongoing commitment to expansion and will support the accelerated growth of the many opportunities that are in the pipeline.

ATFX Connect are proud to announce that it’s year on year total volumes between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, have grown exponentially and with the introduction of the Agency business we would expect this to continue.

Steve’s quote: “I am excited to be joining ATFX Connect at this exciting time of growth for the business,” “This is an exciting opportunity to further develop ATFX Connect’s commitment to expand the business into Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.”

Steve Whittet brings his wealth of knowledge of the Forex and Financial markets to the firm. During his 25 years career he has worked across both Banks and Brokers with a strong track record of growing a business. Previously Steven has held Senior Managerial roles in FX Sales at ICAP, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Nomura and RBC, and in recent years at Gain Capital, Think Markets, ADS and GKFX.

ATFX Connect

Back in 2019, ATFX stepped into the Institutional arena with the launch of its Multi-Access platform ATFX Connect. The management’s vision was to expand the broker’s global presence and continue to provide award-winning liquidity and customer service to clients within the Institutional community.

With the focus on the professional Investor, the ATFX Connect platform is designed to provide an efficient automated trading venue that delivers tailored liquidity solutions to Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Brokers, Private Banks, and other financial institutions.

ATFX

ATFX is an award-winning FX/CFD broker with a global presence offering customer support in over 15 languages. With over 200 tradable financial assets, including forex, cryptocurrency, precious metals, energy, indices, and shares traded as CFDs, ATFX is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

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Source: https://www.financemagnates.com/thought-leadership/atfx-connect-appoints-steve-whittet-as-institutional-sales-director/

Blockchain

NEFTiPEDiA Will Be Available on Crypto Exchange DsDaq

Published

2 hours ago

June 25, 2021

Republished by Plato

The ever-expanding next-generation decentralized NFT platform NEFTiPEDiA provides users with an extensive NFT ecosystem although celebrating digital currencies with digital art in a novel way. Furthermore, the NEFTiPEDiA promotes the growth of creators, digital artists, investors, and collectors from all ecosystems.

The primary goal of NEFTiPEDiA is to encourage artists to increase their revenue streams through NFTs. The platform also intends to provide the marketplace with a variety of products such as cosmetics, vehicles, and real estate.

Furthermore, NEFTiPEDiA asserts that an open and decentralised marketplace firm belongs solely to the community, not the project originators. As a result, NEFTiPEDiA is exceptional.

NEFTiPEDIA Will List on DsDaq

NEFTiPEDIA is now available on DsDaq exchange. Token users can now buy, trade and withdraw NFTi tokens on DsDaq exchanges with the following timeline:

Deposit: June 25th, 2021 at 11:00 AM (UTC+8)
Trading: June 25th, 2021 at 05:00 PM (UTC+8)
Withdrawal : June 26th, 2021 at 11:00 AM (UTC+8)
Trading Pair: NFTi/USDT

Significantly, DsDaq is one of the leading exchange platforms which offers a novel crypto collateral trading system. With the addition of NFTi, the platform now allows users to exchange Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether (USDT) for over 300 traditional currencies.

The token will soon be available on other major exchanges. As a result, the NEFTiPEDIA company expands its presence in the NFT world with more creative projects and innovative implementations.

Ongoing ICO Project

NEFTiPEDiA has launched its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in order to develop a platform for a large-scale NFT marketplace. Many users are taking advantage of the ongoing ICO through this platform. Notably, the platform has allotted a total of 250,000,000 $NFT tokens for the ongoing ICO, with a total of 393,383 token sales completed.

Moreover, investors are focusing on NFT’s as it has more probability of becoming the future of finance. The current price of NEFTiPEDiA NFT is $0.0215, which means that investors can make a lot of money in the coming days.

Airdrop Event Success

NEFTiPEDiA’s airdrop event was successfully completed in which participants received a total of $3 worth of NFT tokens. The event includes a few simple social tasks and is promoted across all NEFTiPEDiA’s social media platforms.

Furthermore, verified users will receive $3 in NFT tokens within 3 days of the ICO’s completion. The NEFTiPEDiA Airdrop event was a success, with airdrop participants exceeding the target of 30,000.

Following the successful airdrop event and ICO launch, it indicates that NEFTiPEDiA’s NFT tokens have a high chance of reaching $0.5 per token by the end of the year. Notably, NEFTiPEDiA’s goal is to reach $1 by the end of 2022.

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Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/neftipedia-will-be-available-on-crypto-exchange-dsdaq/>