Nokia VR is out – The former giant of tech and originator of the flip-phone is powering down its virtual reality capabilities, namely its orb-shaped camera, ‘OZO.’ First on Nokia’s list of “what went wrong”: OZO’s $60,000 price point—apparently VR isn’t worth mortgaging your house over. But even the industry’s less-pricey models have been slow to catch on. Sony slashed its Playstation VR price in August, and Facebook has lowered the tag on its Oculus VR twice already.
The decision means 310 Nokia employees will get the ax (close to 30% of its tech arm) and serves as another reminder it’s not cut out for hardware.
But Nokia’s brainiacs are going to give it one more shot, turning their attention to the recently acquired consumer brand, Withings—a wearable e-watch and digital health company that competes with the likes of Apple.
