After 7 years and $1.9 billion in funding, hyped start-up Magic Leap finally shows its product

• The product, called "Magic Leap One: Creator Edition," appears to be a stand-alone mixed-reality headset called "Lightwear" with a portable power and processing pack.
• The company, which is valued at nearly $5 billion, according to CB Insights, is backed by big names like Qualcomm Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
• But past reports by publications like The Information have cast doubt on the veracity of Magic Leap's claims about its technology.

Magic Leap unveiled a new "creator edition" product on Wednesday, lifting the veil of secrecy around one of the most mysterious unicorn start-ups.

The product, called "Magic Leap One: Creator Edition," appears to be a stand-alone mixed-reality headset called "Lightwear" with a portable power and processing pack (which looks somewhat like a Discman player) and remote. The portal is coming early in 2018, according to the company's website.

There doesn't appear to be a way to preorder yet — the website prompts users to sign up for an email list.

Magic Leap VR glasses

Source: Magic Leap

The Florida-based mixed-reality start-up made headlines earlier this week with a musical collaboration with indie rock darling Sigur Ros. The company has also sent emails during the past few weeks hinting at an upcoming release.

The company, which CB Insights says is valued at nearly $5 billion, is backed by big names like Qualcomm Ventures, Alibaba, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, Google, Fidelity, Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz, according to Crunchbase. But past reports by publications like The Information have cast doubt on the veracity of Magic Leap's claims about its technology.

Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap founder and CEO, has told skeptics to be patient.

Tweet To a few of the grumpy mouse tech blogger writers: you too will get to play the real thing when we ship

Magic Leap has been relatively slow to come to market, compared with Microsoft's HoloLens, another high-end mixed reality device. But the company's backers have been staunch defenders of the start-up, despite allegations that Magic Leap's previous demonstrations have been dressed up with special effects.

Tweet: So, a while ago I said that seeing Magic Leap was the coolest thing I'd seen since the iPhone. It's now much cooler than that.

— CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed to this report.