In an on-air interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to CNBC, the topic of Pokemon Go cropped up. With the popular get-up-and-go-outside game having no ties with any of Microsoft’s platforms, be it mobile, PC or augmented reality, the topic led to an interesting conversation.
At the tail-end of last week, we reported that Niantic CEO John Hanke, the development company behind the game, hinted at Pokemon Go arriving on other platforms, with the HoloLens being rumoured to be a favourite against Google Glass. When asked about Pokemon Go on HoloLens, Nadella spoke about how he hopes it will increase adoption and interest in Microsoft’s augmented reality device:
This Pokemon interest will hopefully will translate into a lot of interest in HoloLens
Towards the beginning of the broadcast, Nadella was seen nodding as the reporter pulled out his phone and began discussing Pokemon Go, asking if Nadella believed he was missing an opportunity by “focusing on the high-end” and not focusing on mobile. While Nadella quickly shrugged off the discussion of the phone, he was quick to jump over to the HoloLens and move away from its gaming aspects, despite saying he believes it will generate a lot of interest in the device. Instead, the conversation moved quickly to using the HoloLens in industry, to save money and keep standards high.
General Electric Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, claimed that the HoloLens is big for industry and believes adoption of the device will soar in the next “24 months.” On the money side of things, Immelt said that it could easily save $50 billion, however, at the current price point of the HoloLens, he wouldn’t buy it–with Nadella nodding in agreement.
While there is still no confirmation for Pokemon Go to arrive on HoloLens, or for that matter any of Microsoft’s own platforms, things are at least being discussed and the man at the top, Nadella, is aware of the demand. Let us know in the comments what you think of the impact of Pokemon Go on HoloLens.
