The headset that's appeared today, made by HTC, won't necessarily be available to everyone in the world. In fact it's slated - for now - to be available only inside Japan. This headset was designed to fit one smartphone in the world - the HTC U11 - and will be able to roll with 6DOF (6 degrees of freedom) which is intense for a phone-based VR headset, if not entirely unique to this one.
Two new cameras have been announced by Facebook - two cameras that look very much like spherical ball cameras we've seen in the recent past. These devices are the Facebook Surround 360 x24 and the Surround 360 x6. The larger device is extremely similar to the camera Facebook showed at F8 in 2016 - save the shape, of course. The smaller device is brand new, made to be sold to the wider public, with a much smaller and more manageable industrial design.
There are currently two competing implementations of virtual reality available in the market. One makes use of a powerful but relatively immobile computer, be it a PC, laptop, or even gaming console. The other uses a smartphone to trade power for portability. ASUS already has the latter, with the just announced ZenFone AR. According to leaked internal documents, however, the manufacturer is also eying the former. ASUS is reportedly working on a standalone VR headset, but its "AIO" name leaves the door open to something slightly different.
Not content with its role in the high-end VR market, it appears that HTC will attempt to break into the low-end as well. HTC CFO Chia-lin Chang has announced his company's intention to launch a new mobile VR headset that will presumably compete with the likes of Gear VR and Google Daydream. The only question left is "why?"
This week the folks at Valve have revealed that they have three new "full" games in development for the virtual reality universe. This information came from a media roundtable held by Valve in Bellevue, Washington, where other messages were released to the media as well. It was also there that it was announced that Steam Greenlight was being shut down in favor of a new program that'd take its place.
This week the folks at Google have launched the latest version of Chrome for Android devices, this one ready to roll with Daydream VR. Users of Daydream-ready devices will be able to visit and experience a number of Daydream-formatted webpages that allow a virtual reality experience to be viewed directly through the Chrome web browser. In the past, there were rumblings about WebVR for multiple sorts of virtual reality devices - for now, there is only talk of Daydream.*
The HTC VIVE Tracker is far smaller than any other accessory currently made by the company for the VR headset. It's tiny compared to the other smallest device in the collection - that being the basic HTC Vive Wireless controller - or the Lighthouse box. The tracker is made to take the place of the controller for situations when the trackers in the controller don't necessarily need a handle attached.
HTC has a new accessory item for its Vive VR headset that can turn just about anything into a VR controller. One example HTC gave is a baseball bat — with the Vive Tracker embedded, the baseball bat becomes a controller that can open the door for realistic baseball gameplay or zombie head smashing. The same goes for gloves, imitation rifles for shooting games, and even, HTC says, a fire hose that may pair well with a simulator.
Christmas is officially over, and if you weren't on the receiving end of a VR headset, Microsoft has a deal to make up for it: the HTC Vive priced $100 lower than normal with an extra $100 gift card tossed on top of it and two free games. That brings the savings to $200 in total, assuming you have a use for a Microsoft gift card. The HTC Vive, of course, is a virtual reality headset similar to the Oculus Rift.
As 2016 has shown, the virtual reality market is rapidly expanding, and we've already seen the US movie theater industry heavily betting on it. But Paris' MK2 movie theaters have taken this idea to a new level, opening a new VR experience that allows anyone to come in and play the latest games on the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR, all at a rate of about $25 for 40 minutes. Think of it as the elaborate, futuristic VR arcade you dreamed of as a kid.
New limited edition Google Daydream View VR headsets in Crimson (red) and Snow (white) colors are now shipping in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, the company has announced. The limited edition colors are available from the Google Store in all three countries, and will also soon be available from Best Buy and Verizon in the U.S., and Carphone Warehouse and EE in the UK. Google has also announced the launch of new VR titles.
The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset finally has its own set of hand-held controllers in Oculus Touch. That is to say, other than the Xbox One controller, which ships with the headset - and the one-button remote control, which also comes with the headset. What we're doing today is giving you an idea of what the general consensus is amongst reviewers from around the blogosphere - good, bad, and ugly.