Trademark filings suggest that Apple Inc. may be staking claim to potential names for its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset, part of the tech giant\u2019s push\u00a0into its\u00a0first new product category in years.<\/p>\n
Applications\u00a0were filed in the US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica and Uruguay for the names \u201cReality One,\u201d \u201cReality Pro\u201d and \u201cReality Processor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Apple itself didn\u2019t make the filings, they follow a pattern that the iPhone maker has used in the past \u2014 including relying on law firms that the company has previously enlisted to lock down brands.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s headset is expected to combine virtual and augmented reality technology and vault the company into closer competition with Meta Platforms Inc., the leading provider of VR gear.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been seven years since the company last went after a new hardware category with the Apple Watch.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple\u00a0declined to comment on the filings. The trademark applications haven\u2019t yet been approved, and there\u2019s no guarantee\u00a0that Apple\u2019s future products will carry any of the names.<\/p>\n
Still, there are clues to suggest that Apple is laying the groundwork for its expansion into headsets.\u00a0Earlier this year, trademark filings linked to Apple\u00a0also emerged for the realityOS name<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The new trademarks are all registered to a shell corporation named Immersive Health Solutions LLC\u00a0that was incorporated in February, according to records obtained by Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n That company itself was registered by another Delaware shell corporation, the Corporation Trust Co., typically used for filings by firms looking to avoid detection. The RealityOS trademark used that same firm.<\/p>\n In order to file the trademark paperwork, a process that began in Canada with an original application in February and in several other countries in August, the company behind the trademarks relied on several big-name and boutique law firms in each operating nation.<\/p>\n In\u00a0the US, Canada and New Zealand, the filer enlisted\u00a0law firms that Apple has used in the past to either register trademarks or for other matters. In New Zealand, for instance, the law firm\u00a0Simpson Grierson was used for the\u00a0\u201cReality\u201d filings. Apple relied on\u00a0that same firm to file the corporate name\u00a0Apple Sales New Zealand.<\/p>\n Apple has\u00a0long followed this same process<\/a><\/strong> to register upcoming product names either months or years before their official debut.<\/p>\n The approach allows Apple to secure the names early with less risk of having to buy them later from another trademark holder.<\/p>\n The company didn\u2019t take the approach ahead of the iPhone\u2019s debut in 2007 and ultimately needed to reach an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. for that name.<\/p>\n Apple is\u00a0aiming to release<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0its first mixed-reality headset at\u00a0the high end of the market<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in 2023, but the\u00a0device has faced issues<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with camera sensors, software and overheating during development.<\/p>\n If Apple is indeed behind the trademarks, \u201cReality One\u201d and \u201cReality Pro\u201d could be theoretical options for the new product. The company also could be registering multiple names in case it wants to release a range of devices in the future.<\/p>\n Apple typically uses the moniker \u201cPro\u201d for high-end products, including the iPhone 13 Pro, iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. It has\u00a0also put \u201cOne\u201d in\u00a0previous offerings, such as\u00a0its Apple One subscription bundles.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s first headset\u2014codenamed N301\u2014is expected\u00a0to be one of the most powerful and expensive models\u00a0on the market when it launches, and the company is already working on follow-up devices. Inside Apple, the device is sometimes referred to as \u201cReality,\u201d indicating that the term is at least under consideration for the product.<\/p>\n A subsequent model,\u00a0dubbed N602 internally, as well as a lightweight pair of\u00a0augmented-reality glasses known as N421,\u00a0aren\u2019t expected to launch until later this decade.<\/p>\n Apple\u00a0showed the first headset to its board<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0earlier this year, indicating that the device\u00a0was nearing release.<\/p>\n The trademark for \u201cReality Processor\u201d could refer\u00a0to a specialized chip destined for the headset.<\/p>\n The company is\u00a0planning to use<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0an M2 system-on-a-chip with 16 gigabytes of memory for the device, but it\u00a0may\u00a0need additional processing technology to handle high-resolution VR and AR graphics.<\/p>\n The Reality name would match the planned name for the headset\u2019s software. The device will include its own operating system dubbed \u201crealityOS,\u201d Bloomberg News has\u00a0reported<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The approach would be similar to Apple using the watchOS name for the Apple Watch\u2019s software. Apple already offers RealityKit, a set of frameworks for developers to make AR apps for the iPhone.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s headset is expected\u00a0to include VR-based versions of Apple apps like Maps and FaceTime in addition to collaboration features for multiple users wearing the headsets.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also slated\u00a0to have a focus on consuming media content like sports and movies in VR and gaming. The latest trademarks also imply the device may\u00a0have health-related functions.<\/p>\n The initial Apple headset will rival\u00a0Meta\u2019s upcoming Quest Pro<\/a><\/strong>, which that\u00a0company plans to debut in October with features like eye and body tracking. Alphabet Inc.\u2019s Google, Samsung Electronics Co. and other Apple rivals are also exploring their own VR and AR devices.<\/p>\n Trademark filings suggest that Apple may be staking claim to potential names for its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset, part of the tech giant\u2019s push\u00a0into its\u00a0first new product category in years.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":428920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[605,80989,74602,80991,80993,29210],"class_list":["post-458353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gadgets","tag-apple","tag-apple-vr","tag-augmented-reality-ar","tag-reality-one","tag-reality-pro","tag-virtual-reality-vr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Now read: Zuckerberg says Meta launching new VR headset in October<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"