Apple names Frank Casanova as head of marketing for augmented reality. According to Bloomberg, he started the new position this month.
Casanova has worked at Apple for about 30 years, and was key in launching the original iPhone, striking deals with carriers to promote the handset, and developing older Apple products like the QuickTime video player.
According to his LinkedIn profile the new title is officially “Senior Director, Worldwide Product Marketing.” Casanova will be responsible for all aspects of Product Marketing for Apple’s Augmented Reality initiative.”
“There’s now a name and face on Apple AR efforts and a person with a track record of working on advanced technology projects at Apple,” Michael Gartenberg, former senior director of marketing at Apple, told Bloomberg. “Frank is the ideal person to lead Apple’s efforts in AR.”
Apple reportedly has “hundreds of staff” that have been assembled from acquisitions and poaching employees from companies in the space such as Microsoft and Lytro. One of the acquisitions is Flyby Media, a company that worked with Google on a 3D positioning technology. Apparently the team has also been building VR/AR headset prototypes for several months.
