[jaxondu]

My bet is Google is also buying HTC VR/AR asset so that they can release an AR hardware before Apple’s AR Glass next year.

[hbosch]

HTC has zero AR property. Vive is VR exclusively, tethered to a PC, and the tech is from Valve. HTC may have some research but it's either very secretive or not worth bidding for - which scenario is more likely?

[cma]

They've already announced a standalone Vive in partnership with Google:

https://www.vive.com/us/product/standalone/

They haven't sold it as anything but VR for now, but it could have AR capabilities. (And HTC has some sort of AR apps like Vive Paper for the standalone Vive, it has a camera).

[bitmapbrother]

Google is releasing a standalone VR headset, built by HTC, this year.