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Climb Mount Everest in VR on your Oculus Rift
You no longer need an HTC Vive to scale Mount Everest in VR on your PC. Sólfar Studios and RVX have released Everest VR for the Oculus Rift, bringing the virtual ascent to Facebook's headset. It'll be familiar if you've tried the Vive version, but a few things have improved since the original launch. There's a new sequence (the Lhotse Face), and an expanded God Mode lets you see the Himalayas from perspectives that aren't possible for a mountaineer. Logically, Oculus Touch support is present if you'd prefer a more hands-on approach.
Sports Illustrated captured a full Mount Everest climb in VR
Thanks to virtual reality, viewers have the opportunity to visit places they would like never have the chance to see in real life. Sports Illustrated and Endemol are teaming up for another one of those VR experiences and it's set to debut next year. The duo will document what Time, Inc. (SI's parent company) is calling "first-ever bottom to top climb of Mount Everest in virtual reality."
The brain hacks that make climbing in VR feel real
When I talk to friends and family about VR, their most pressing questions are usually about immersion. Once they've finished asking about the possibility of vomiting, the conversation turns to: "And how real does it feel?" "Do you believe you're really there?" Truth be told, I've never had that sensation -- a complete and utter submission of my senses -- although developers are getting better at tricking my brain for a few fleeting moments.
3G now available on Mount Everest
Happen to be climbing Mount Everest in the near future? Take heart -- you can probably use your iPhone there now. Provider Teliasonera has reportedly installed a 3G antenna at the base camp of Everest, connecting the remote location to a modern cell phone network for the first time. Previously, climbers had to use satellite phones to stay in touch with the rest of the world, and according to Reuters, the summit is still off limits -- the highest video call was made from an elevation of about 17,388 feet, which is where most climbers begin their journey to the summit at 29,035 feet. Unfortunately, your iPhone will still have to be roaming -- while TeliaSonera has been running iPhone-specific services in Europe and elsewhere in the world, the iPhone hasn't officially launched in Nepal yet. Even though it'll probably cost a ton in charges, you can now call in from Mount Everest's base camp. Now about the actual climb...
Mount Everest now 'wired' for Internet, ready for Starbucks
TeliaSonera subsidiary Ncell has just completed installation of a 3G base station at 5,200 meters (17,000 feet) that will reach the 8,848-meter peak of Mount Everest. Mind you, we've already seen a cellphone call made from the world's highest peak using a temporary base station in a Motorola publicity stunt. This time, however, it's permanent and faster allowing climbers to surf the internet or make 3G video calls. Why would Ncell want to build a base station in such a sparsely populated area? Because it is there.
China Mobile gives Huawei the nod to build cell tower on Mount Everest
China Mobile has awarded Huawei the contract to build a Solar Powered GSM base station on Mount Everest. Planted at 6,500 meters, the tower will supply network coverage for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay Team, mountaineers, and beautify a pretty drab landscape. Apparently the tower will be using satellite to communicate with the outside world, though with solar power driving it, we wonder how it'll do when an extended storm blows in. So if you happen to find yourself on Everest in the coming months, feel free to drop us a picture message featuring some high altitude shenanigans.
World's highest cellphone call made with Motorola Z8
He did it, British climber Rod Baber made a cell mobile phone (apparently using a MOTORIZR Z8, not a satellite phone) call from the top of Mount Everest. In fact, he made the record breaking call twice: the first to a voice mail account, the other to his wife and children. He even sent a text message to Moto which read, "One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind - thanks Motorola." Real cute, Rod. The Motorola sponsored "world record" was made possible by a Chinese mobile base station installed with a line of sight to the north ridge. Officially, the calls were made at 29,035 feet (about 8,848 meters) in temperatures of -22 degress fahrenheit (-30 degrees centigrade) -- so cold that Rob had to tape the batteries to his body just to keep them active. We're not sure where he stored the banana-shaped Z8. Of course, anyone who has ever made a call from a commercial aircraft (hey, it happens) knows that it's really not a record, but who are we to argue with Guinness?[Via BBC, thanks Mook]
Motorola sponsoring attempt at 'world's highest cellphone call'
We're pretty happy with just being able to get a clear cellular signal at our desk during the day, but a British mountain climber named Rod Bader seemingly won't be satisfied until he's able to gobble up some airtime minutes on top of the highest mountain on Earth. In a rather silly publicity stunt sponsored by Motorola, Bader will attempt to climb Mount Everest in late May, and, weather permitting, place a phone call from the summit through a tower located in China that has a clear line of sight to the north side of the peak. However, this means that world record holder Bader (he's climbed more of the world's highest points than anyone else, apparently) will need to follow a more difficult route to the top, and although he will have a support crew tagging along, the lack of Powersauce bars may prove to be his undoing. Oh, and if Bader emerges triumphant by asking someone "Can you hear me now?" for the record-breaking call, we've already hired some sherpas to ensure that he never makes it down from that mountain.
