A little over two months after announcing the second incarnation of its mixed-reality headset, Microsoft Corp. Thursday announced that the developer edition of the headset will be available for sale later this year.

Microsoft launched the sequel to the Hololens in February with a pitch that included a complete redesign that not only embraced the latest technology but also was more comfortable to wear and easier to use. The “Development Edition” of Hololens 2 is being offered for $3,500 for outright ownership or $99 a month in an installment plan.

While not featuring any special hardware, the offer does come with $500 in Azure credits and a free three-month trial of Unity Pro, the professional edition of the Unity Technologies Inc. gaming platform.

Unity, owned by Epic Games Inc., is the developer of the Unreal Engine, a gaming development platform that powers many popular games — Fortnite, the world’s most popular game, among them.

The path to Microsoft teaming with Epic Games hasn’t been a smooth one with VentureBeat reporting that executives of the two companies only called a truce recently over an ongoing dispute over open platforms.

The long-awaited follow up the original Hololens comes with high promise. HoloLens 2 offers a more than doubled field of view available versus the original HoloLens while maintaining a holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight. The new display system is claimed to deliver advances in performance at lower levels of power.

The new headset is said to come with a new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in artificial intelligence and semantic understanding to enable direct manipulation of holograms in a more realistic fashion. Other improvements include two eye-tracking sensors that are claimed to make interaction more natural.

Hololens 2 has also had a physical makeover, looking visually more pleasing than its predecessor.

Whereas other Microsoft products usually get a rough or hard date for launch, the launch date for the Hololens 2 is unknown.

While the Development Edition is described as being available later this year, when others can get their hands on it is a mystery. Next year is a maybe but it could be 2021 depending on any issues arising with the first developer release.

Image: Microsoft