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Samsung's virtual reality headset might look something like this
Samsung's in-development virtual reality headset will look like the mockup above when it's officially revealed later this year, according to a report form SamMobile. Samsung had reportedly partnered with Oculus Rift creator Oculus VR this year in a bid to develop its own VR headset technology. According to reports, Samsung's headset will work in conjunction with a USB-connected smartphone, instead of using its own dedicated hardware like the Oculus Rift and Sony's Project Morpheus. A side-mounted touchpad will aid user navigation. Codenamed "Gear VR," Samsung's headset is expected to debut at the IFA 2014 trade show in September. Though Engadget notes that developer kits exist, Samsung has not yet officially announced Gear VR or its release plans. [Image: Samsung / SamMobile]
Oculus announces Oculus Connect conference, acquires RakNet
As the latest Oculus Rift development kits begin shipping, Oculus VR has made a pair of important announcements for up-and-coming virtual reality developers. First, the company will be hosting a new VR development conference later this year. Called Oculus Connect, the conference will feature "sessions and workshops led by Oculus engineers and industry pioneers," as well as keynotes from Oculus founder Palmer Lucky, CEO Brendan Iribe, chief scientist Michael Abrash and, of course, John Carmack. Oculus Connect 2014 runs September 19-20, and registration begins July 10. Alongside Oculus Connect, the company also announced the acquisition of RakNet, a C++ networking middleware system for game development. Essentially, the system provides developers the essentials for implementing online multiplayer (voice chat, object replication, etc). The system is currently used by companies like Sony Online Entertainment, Mojang and even Lockheed Martin. More important than the acquisition, however, is Oculus VR's decision to make RakNet open source, starting today. Interested developers can snag it right now from Oculus' GitHub. If you decide to develop any online-enabled, virtual face touching, let us know.
Oculus VR suspends Rift sales in China due to scalpers
Despite hardware refinements and positive impressions, the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is not yet intended for consumers. That hasn't stopped VR enthusiasts from wanting to snatch up the device ASAP though, and where there is demand, there will be people seeking (not always legitimate) supply. Such is unfortunately the case with China, where Oculus has suspended sales of the Dev Kit 2 version of the Rift due to what a company representative called "extreme reseller purchases." "We need to make sure that we are doing what we can to make sure that resellers that are looking to flip our product for a profit are not taking stock away from legitimate developer purchases globally," the Oculus rep wrote. "Our product, in its current form, is a developer kit, meant for developers that develop VR content. We are looking into alternative ways to make sure that our development kits are getting into legitimate developer hands in China." When asked just how bad the reselling situation was, the rep responded, "We were forced to suspend an entire country from purchasing. I'll let you put two and two together." So ... not good? [Image: Oculus]
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]
Oculus to acquire Xbox 360 controller designer Carbon
Virtual reality company Oculus VR announced the acquisition of Carbon Design team this week. Carbon Design is best known as the designer of Microsoft's Xbox 360 controller, and will continue working from its studio in the Seattle area. Oculus said it has been working with Carbon "for nearly a year on multiple unannounced projects." Carbon also designed the transforming d-pad for the follow-up Xbox 360 controller that launched in November 2010 and contributed its mechanical engineering expertise to the Xbox 360 version of the Kinect. Carbon Design will become a "key component of the product engineering group" for Oculus, which itself was acquired by Facebook in March for $2 billion. Oculus continues to bring industry talent into the fold, such as former Valve VR head Atman Binstock in March, Steam pioneer Jason Holtman earlier this month and ID Software Co-Founder John Carmack in August 2013. [Image: Carbon Design]
Oculus slams ZeniMax in latest legal statement
The war of words continues between Oculus VR and ZeniMax. The latest salvo comes courtesy of a legal statement issued by the former in which it denies ZeniMax's claim that key tech was developed by John Carmack before he left ZeniMax for Oculus. "By deliberately misstating some facts and omitting others, ZeniMax makes the incredible assertion that it, a videogame software publishing company for personal computers and consoles like the Sony PlayStation, invented and developed a virtual reality hardware and software system," the statement reads, in part. It goes on to state that the Oculus VR headset tech was developed by Palmer Luckey and that the "lawsuit is nothing more than ZeniMax seeking to correct for a massive missed opportunity through the assertion of meritless litigation."
Oculus: ZeniMax lawsuit a 'transparent attempt' to profit from Facebook sale
Oculus VR has issued a legal statement denying ZeniMax Media's claims that Oculus Chief Technology Officer John Carmack developed key VR technology while employed at ZeniMax, therefore entitling ZeniMax and its subsidiary id Software to compensation. "ZeniMax's Complaint falsely claims ownership in Oculus VR technology in a transparent attempt to take advantage of the Oculus VR sale to Facebook," the statement reads. "By deliberately misstating some facts and omitting others, ZeniMax makes the incredible assertion that it, a videogame software publishing company for personal computers and consoles like the Sony PlayStation, invented and developed a virtual reality hardware and software system." The statement continues: "The truth is quite different. There is not a line of ZeniMax code or any of its technology in any Oculus VR product. [...] Until the Facebook deal, and the perceived chance for a quick payout, ZeniMax never raised any claim of infringement against Oculus VR, undoubtedly because ZeniMax never has contributed any intellectual property or technology to Oculus VR." Carmack responded to the allegations last month. "No work I have ever done has been patented," he said. "ZeniMax owns the code that I wrote, but they don't own VR." Today's statement asserts that the Oculus VR headset technology was developed solely by Palmer Luckey, and claims that "[ZeniMax's] lawsuit is nothing more than ZeniMax seeking to correct for a massive missed opportunity through the assertion of meritless litigation." Oculus now demands a jury trial to resolve the issue. [Image: Oculus VR]
You can't cover your eyes in Oculus Rift, a study of Alien: Isolation
With Oculus Rift dev kit 2.0, the world of Alien: Isolation appears more real than ever before – you peer around dark corners by tilting your actual head, you can almost feel the cold metal walls of your busted ship, and you cling desperately to the motion tracker, hoping that little green dot never appears. Because when it does, you're dead. Thankfully, dying in Oculus Rift doesn't equate actual death – this isn't Stay Alive, people – but it certainly feels real, if only for a second. This is my excuse for squealing like a piglet while playing Alien: Isolation on Oculus Rift at E3. It might be flimsy, but it's all I have. Alien: Isolation was one of Joystiq's official game selections of E3 2014, and we discussed how the Oculus version went down, in text form, here. But, of course, seeing is believing.
Bastion senior programmer leaves Supergiant Games for Oculus
Oculus VR continues to snap up talent from other games industry fixtures, as Supergiant Games loses senior programmer Chris Jurney. "I'm joining @Oculus at the end of the month to help make VR awesome," Jurney wrote in a brief Twitter announcement. As senior programmer at Supergiant Games, Jurney's most famous work can be found in critical darling Bastion, and the more recent, yet no less beloved, Transistor. Despite the success of Transistor, Jurney's departure comes as little surprise. He's only the latest in an ever-growing line of games industry professionals to join Oculus VR. The virtual reality firm previously attracted Valve employees Jason Holtman, Tom Forsyth, Steve Lavalle, Atman Binstock and Michael Abrash. Of course, for sheer name recognition, none of those hires hold a candle to DOOM creator John Carmack, who left id Software to assume the role of Chief Technology Officer at the burgeoning virtual reality firm. [Image: Supergiant Games]
Oculus CEO: 'We invited' Sony to see Oculus prototypes
Oculus VR isn't threatened by Sony's rival virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, and Oculus even invited Sony to check out its own internal prototypes, CEO Brendan Iribe told Joystiq at E3. Sony then returned the favor and invited the Oculus team to see Project Morpheus. See? We all can be friends. Oculus made headlines recently when Facebook acquired the company for $2 billion. Iribe said that even though the deal was a surprise to most people, it made perfect sense to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey: "Many people, I still think, don't really understand or know that Palmer was the most excited about this partnership. Because he felt like, from the beginning, we got into this to make VR work and make it for the masses, and make it work at a scale and a comfort level that could hit the entire population."
Oculus picks up Jason Holtman, a 'driving force' behind Steam
The Valve employees go marching one-by-one, hurrah, hurrah. Oculus has tapped another ex-Valve employee to help develop their virtual reality technology; this time, it's Jason Holtman, who previously served as Valve's chief of business development. Oculus credits Holtman as a "driving force" behind the creation of Steam. "Jason will be spearheading the business development and partnership side of the Oculus platform working closely with Marshall, head of platform engineering, and David, head of worldwide publishing, with a focus on building the world's best developer and player VR ecosystem," Oculus said. "We're thrilled to welcome him to the team." Oculus isn't done yet, though. The company is still hiring, with more than a dozen open positions. Think you're qualified? Who knows, the next name we write about could be yours. [Image: Oculus]
Engadget Daily: Apple's dev conference, Samsung's VR headset and more!
Today, we watched Samsung announce it's building a VR headset with Oculus VR, dissected rumors surrounding WWDC 2014, took Samsung's Chromebook 2 for a test run and investigated the technology behind holograms. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Joystiq Weekly: Amplitude is funded, Wolfenstein review, video previews and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Amplitude fans just discovered a new favorite month of the year, as Harmonix's Kickstarter for a Sony-exclusive continuation of the lane-changing rhythm game cleared its goal within the final day of its funding campaign. Regardless of the original Amplitude's quality, the button-tapper's fan base is pretty niche - if games catering to slivers of the broader gaming population can find the funding they need via Kickstarter, it makes us wonder what other dream sequels we could get away with. There are always the down-and-out series begging for continuations like Shenmue 3, but that almost feels too obvious. What if we launched a Kickstarter for a team to continue an established property? We could start a campaign to glue the pieces of Wipeout developer SCE Studio Liverpool back together, then launch another to cover the resurrected studio's costs to make a new F-Zero! What's that you say? F-Zero is owned by Nintendo and is definitely not a property we can just give out to whoever we wish? Well, we can launch another Kickstarter to fund a protective shield until SCE finishes the game, and then Captain Falcon can finally get back on track with his career! On second thought, maybe we shouldn't take swings at the legal beehive. We'll have to think our F-Zero revival strategy over, but until then, we've got the cliff notes from this week's news and content ready for you. Details about the Xbox One's June update, reviews for Transistor and Wolfenstein: The New Order and video previews for Driveclub and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Morder - it's all ready for you after the break!
ZeniMax is taking Oculus VR to court
ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary, id Software, filed suit against Oculus VR and the company's founder, Palmer Luckey, claiming that Oculus illegally misappropriated ZeniMax trade secrets and infringed on ZeniMax copyrights and trademarks while developing the Oculus Rift. ZeniMax filed the suit in federal court in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The suit claims that Oculus exploited ZeniMax IP, code and "technical know-how" (that is the technical term) regarding VR technology. ZeniMax said it gave Oculus "valuable intellectual property" under a strict NDA, and that Oculus illegally used its IP to create the Oculus Rift. ZeniMax said it sought compensation from Oculus but was repeatedly denied. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that ZeniMax asked Oculus for compensation after developer John Carmack left ZeniMax to become Chief Technology Officer at Oculus VR. At the time, ZeniMax said in a statement, "The proprietary technology and know-how Mr. Carmack developed when he was a ZeniMax employee, and used by Oculus, are owned by ZeniMax."
ZeniMax Media formally files suit against Oculus
Polygon reports that it has obtained a copy of the court filing showing that ZeniMax Media, familiar to MMO players as the parent company of The Elder Scrolls Online's ZeniMax Online Studios, has sued Oculus VR for misappropriation and commercial exploitation of "copyrighted code, trade secrets, and 'technical know-how'" in relation to Oculus' virtual reality tech. ZeniMax Media earlier this month accused Oculus (by way of developer John Carmack) of using and exploiting "ZeniMax's technology and intellectual property without authorization, compensation or credit to ZeniMax." Oculus and Carmack strongly denied those claims.
Google Glass lead electrical engineer joins Oculus VR team
Building a new entertainment medium requires lots of money and very talented engineers. Facebook ensured that Oculus VR has plenty of the former, and now the company has set its sights on the latter goal, by hiring Google Glass lead electrical engineer Adrian Wong. Though neither Wong nor his new employers have publicly announced the move, TechCrunch recently discovered that Wong's LinkedIn profile now lists him as an Oculus VR employee. According to LinkedIn, his tenure at Oculus began earlier this month, following an April 2014 departure from Google. It's currently unknown what Wong is doing at Oculus VR, though he describes his role as "building the metaverse." Normally that would read like a succinct, non-answer designed to avoid offering any useful information, but it takes on interesting connotations following recent comments from Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe in which the executive envisions a massively multiplayer online world populated by a billion living, breathing humans. We've attempted to contact both Facebook and Oculus VR for more information on Wong's new role, but have yet to receive a response. [Image: Oculus VR]
Oculus first-party team being built by ex-343 art director
Kenneth Scott, former art director for 343 Industries and id Software, has joined Oculus VR to help build a first-party development team. Oculus tweeted the news Monday, listing Scott's new title as Oculus Art Director. Before taking up the mantle of responsibility at Oculus, Scott worked as a visual design consultant for 343, having left his position of art director in January. What Scott and the numerous other Oculus converts will be working on is unkown, though CEO Brendan Iribe tossed around the idea of a billion-person MMO metaverse last week. In any case, something is drawing developers to Oculus, and we doubt the potential to drastically increase their Facebook friend count - seeing as Mark Zuckerberg now owns them - is the only reason. [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Engadget Daily: #AmazonCart, Oculus VR denies IP theft, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Oculus VR responds to claims of IP theft from ZeniMax
When John Carmack left ZeniMax to work for Oculus VR, claims were made that he took some important intellectual property with him. "The proprietary technology and know-how Mr. Carmack developed when he was a ZeniMax employee, and used by Oculus, are owned by ZeniMax," a ZeniMax statement to Engadget said. Now the Oculus folks are responding to these accusations for the first time in an official capacity stating that all claims are false. Read on past the cut for the official statement from Oculus VR. [Source: Oculus VR press release]
Oculus accused of stealing ZeniMax IP [Update: Carmack responds]
[Update: John Carmack has responded to ZeniMax's claims. "No work I have ever done has been patented," he said. "Zenimax owns the code that I wrote, but they don't own VR."] The Elder Scrolls series publisher ZeniMax Media is seeking compensation for the Oculus Rift VR headset technology following the recent departure of associated developer John Carmack, The Wall Street Journal reports. ZeniMax alleges that Carmack performed "extensive VR research and development" while employed at ZeniMax, entitling the company to "ownership of key technology used by Oculus to develop and market the Oculus Rift." Carmack joined Oculus as Chief Technology Officer shortly before departing the ZeniMax-owned id Software last year. ZeniMax notes that Carmack first contacted Oculus founder Palmer Luckey in 2012 regarding the company's virtual reality technology. While at ZeniMax, Carmack allegedly iterated on a prototype VR headset he received from Luckey, later demonstrating a modified version at a ZeniMax convention booth in Los Angeles.
