AT&T is investing in Magic Leap, the ultra-secretive mixed reality company that has kept its upcoming product largely under wraps. As part of the agreement, the telecom company will be the sole wireless distributor.
The start-up revealed its first headset, Magic Leap One, late last year. AT&T stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles will have demo stations when the system is finally for sale to the general public, CNBC reports. Phrasing that AT&T is the exclusive "wireless" distributor suggests you may still find the headset in big box stores and online.
According to CNBC, AT&T has not disclosed just how much it invested in Magic Leap, but the company has already raised more than $2 billion from outside investors, such as Alibaba, Google and J.P. Morgan.
The deal will likely have Magic Leap One relying on AT&T's 5G network, though the device is also expected to work over Wi-Fi.
AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan said in a statement that AT&T will also be a content partner of Magic Leap. He didn't specify what that content will be, but with the company's recent merger with Time Warner, there are lots of options.
At 11am PT today Magic Leap will demo a developer sample of the headset on its Twitch channel.
The Magic Leap One consists of the mixed reality goggle, dubbed Lightwear, and Lightpack, a small external computer that you clip onto your pocket or belt that does the actual computing. The headset is currently slated for a 2018 release.
