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Oculus open sources Rift DK2 hardware ahead of its next reveal
Three years ago, Oculus made the source code for the Oculus Rift DK1 open to all. Now, with the fourth Oculus Connect on the horizon, the company is doing it again with the Rift DK2. It has released the Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2) to the public; Oculus's intention is "to preserve and share what we learned about VR in the early days, and to let anyone use the design in their own projects."
Ride along with Apollo 11 astronauts on launch day
David Whelan, lead developer for the kickstarted Apollo 11 VR Experience, announced on Wednesday that the game will be a launch title for three upcoming VR systems: the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. The team is also reportedly working on a version for the Oculus DK2 dev set, however they have no current plans to port the game to the Samsung Gear.
The next wave of Oculus' latest VR headsets start shipping in October
After a few stumbles toward the finish line, the first wave of the latest Oculus Rift prototype shipment has concluded is well under way. It's no small number, either. Oculus' vice president of product Nate Mitchell tells Road to VR that his company shipped over 20,000 DK2 headsets in this initial push. Crazy, right? Consider this then: there are still over 40,000 orders left to fulfill. If you happened to order later than the first on-sale day, though, you may not be one of those lucky enough to call the second development kit your own. Road to VR has spotted a change to the prototype's order page, however, that should give you a better idea of when to expect the second next shipment if you order today. Hopefully your Halloween costume isn't planned out just yet because once your virtual reality goggles arrive in October, you might not want to take them off. If you need something to keep you busy until then, well, there's always Google Cardboard.
The new $350 Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is now shipping
We were expecting to see the new iteration of the Oculus Rift arrive on developer's doorsteps earlier this month, but unfortunately it hit a couple of delays. Road to VR points out a Reddit thread where pre-orderers confirmed their credit cards have been charged ahead of shipping. Community manager cyberreality confirmed in the thread that it's happening, and the "DK2" hardware we (and Mark Zuckerberg) were so impressed by is ready to roll. The initial production run is only supposed to cover some 10,000 of the 45,000 units ordered, so for some your wait is just beginning (until next month). In the meantime, you can check out our hands-on video of the latest and greatest in virtual reality after the break (or the new X-Men related Comic-Con demo) -- hopefully Sony's Project Morpheus team responds to this as quickly as they did on Blu-ray 3D.
Oculus cracks down on Rift scalpers reselling hardware on eBay
Yes, we're all excited to get our hands on the consumer version of Oculus' VR gear, but that doesn't mean that the company doesn't take too kindly to scalpers offering dev kits ahead of time. After banning any orders from China after resellers tried to buy them at extreme rates, the Facebook-owned business has now turned its attentions to individuals who were trying to make a fast buck on eBay. When the community spotted one of the forthcoming DK2 development kits being listed for $5,000 and reported it, Oculus found the pre-order and swiftly cancelled it. The VR firm has also reminded would-be buyers that second hand sales don't come with a warranty, so even if you did spend that sort of cash but the hardware was faulty, it'd be hard cheese.
China's scalpers force Oculus to suspend Rift sales
With over 100,000 developer kit sales logged in its docket, it's fair to say interest in the Oculus Rift is high. While we wait for the inevitable release of the consumer model, scalpers in China snapping up developer versions at such a rate that the Facebook-owned company has been forced to suspend sales in the country. According to comments made by an Oculus representative on Reddit, the VR specialist was seeing "extreme reseller purchases," which were presumably sold at an unhealthy markup and took stock away from legitimate developers. While the company's DK2 headset is making its way to buyers, it's considered an in-development version of Rift and isn't intended for consumers.
Next batch of Oculus Rift development kits shipping
The next prototype development kits for Oculus Rift are now shipping, the virtual reality headset manufacturer announced this week. Sales of the $350 second kit have reached 45,000, an increase of 20,000 headsets since April. Pre-orders for the second kit started in March, just before Oculus VR was purchased by Facebook for $2 billion. The kits are expected to reach developers by the week of July 14. Oculus VR has been busy these last few months. It acquired the Xbox 360 controller design team Carbon Design last week, Steam pioneer Jason Holtman in early June, former Valve VR head Atman Binstock in March and ID Software Co-Founder John Carmack in August. [Image: Oculus VR]
The new Oculus Rift costs $350 and this is what it's like
If you're still not paying attention to Oculus VR and the Rift headset -- the folks at the forefront of virtual reality's recent rebirth -- what are you doing? Okay, we'll forgive you. It's still just a development kit after all, and even the latest prototype ("Crystal Cove") is far from the expected final product. Today though, you've got one less excuse to stay in the dark: The second Oculus Rift development kit is available for pre-order; it costs $350; and it's really, really impressive. That's two reallys.
