For a while, it seemed that 2017 was going to be the year of Magic Leap, but the company's technology does not appear ready for prime time, though AR fans are hoping for at least one public demo.
Meanwhile, a funny thing happened on the way to beta testing. While we were waiting for Magic Leap to show us what's behind its curtain, another startup, Niantic, working with the Pokémon Company and Nintendo, launched a free mobile app in July 2016 that inserted the little critters of the decades-old Pokémon franchise into live scenes on the screens of mobile devices. Pokémon Go challenged fans old and young to go out and “catch 'em all!” And it worked: CEO John Hanke, speaking at an Apple event in September, reported 500 million downloads worldwide in just two months, with players collectively walking 4.6 billion kilometers while playing the game. In the United States, Pokémon Go quickly beat Candy Crush Saga, becoming the most popular game ever.
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