Pico has pushed its next flagship headset to the fourth quarter and scrapped a launch event that was planned for September 2 in Beijing.

The company, ByteDance’s XR arm, said it needs more time to finish a “major upgrade” to the software experience before Pico Space Pro ships. At that showcase, the headset, formerly codenamed Project Swan, was due to settle lingering questions around pricing, its full specification sheet, and where it would launch globally.

Beyond the release shift, Pico is letting more people into its Global Early Access Program, with early hardware builds and preview software now going to outside testers.

On paper, the hardware is formidable. Its microOLED panels squeeze in roughly 4,000 pixels per inch, a density that works out near 40 pixels per degree.

Perception and imaging get a dedicated XR processor, with the full pipeline’s latency quoted by Pico at about 12 milliseconds.

The headset is aimed squarely at Apple Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR, the first product to run Google’s Android XR. Road to VR also sees it going head to head with Valve’s Steam Frame, which looks close to shipping after FCC certification and a steady stream of optimized titles. The outlet suspects avoiding that launch window is the true motive for the slip, reasoning that Pico could easily patch software after release.

A worldwide rollout remains on the cards, even as China takes top billing.

Source: Road to VR