Microsoft May Announce HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress

Microsoft is making a return to the Barcelona-based Mobile World Congress, and it may reveal a new HoloLens there. The Verge has revealed an invite to select press for an event on Feb. 24 featuring CEO Satya Nadella, corporate vice president Julia White and technical fellow Alex Kipman. The latter's involvement suggests it could be a new HoloLens, which he works on.

This matches with reports from last year, suggesting a launch in Q1 of 2019. The device, codenamed Sydney, is supposed to be lighter and more comfortable with a better display. Other rumors include using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 850 CPU and the new Kinect sensor that the company showed off at its Build Conference in 2018. 

HoloLens has mostly found a home in enterprise applications, where augmented reality can be used to help train workers and bring eyes from offices abroad into the room with frontline employees. MWC is usually a consumer show, though, so it's possible the company has some more use-cases up its sleeve, especially with improved technology.

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and Mastodon @FreedmanAE.mastodon.social.