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Fox Sports will stream the Big East hoops tournament in VR
Between the news that March Madness Live will be available on more devices than ever this year and TuneIn partnering with the NBA to host live game audio, it's been a pretty interesting week for hoops fans already. But Fox Sports isn't content to sit on the bench while others boost their draft prospects, announcing it'll be broadcasting the last seven games of this year's Big East Men's Basketball Tournament in virtual reality.
Samsung Gear VR users can mingle on AltspaceVR
Samsung Gear VR users can start making friends in a virtual reality world now that AltspaceVR has released its app for the headset to the public. In fact, they can mix and mingle not only with other Gear VR users, but also with people who use the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift*. You can think of AltspaceVR as something like Second Life for virtual reality. It's the same social platform Engadget editor Sean Buckley once used to play a VR game of Dungeons & Dragons.
New in our buyer's guide: Lenovo's Yoga 900 and Samsung's Gear VR
It's been about two months since Engadget's updated its buyer's guide -- we were busy eating holiday cookies, preparing for CES, going to CES and then recovering from CES (phew). Fortunately, though, even in those nine weeks, we haven't actually reviewed much that we think is worth of our shortlist. The only two exceptions would be Lenovo's thin-but-well-performing Yoga 900 and Samsung's latest Gear VR headset, which we think is a great deal at $99. That's all we've got today, but keep checking back in soon --after all, we'll soon be pretty busy reviewing the products that just debuted in Vegas.
This VR flying rig had me pining for the fjords
Riding on a flying, virtual Pegasus is cool and all, but German design firm Hyve has cooked up what might be an even purer VR flying experience. Rather than plop down on a specially made stationary bike, designer Johannes Scholl has spent the last two years of his life crafting Icaros, a rig you climb on top of to simulate flight. There's no motor or hydraulics here — the sense of motion is derived solely from your own of balance... or in my case, the lack thereof.
Flickr's Gear VR app takes you inside 360-degree photos
We've known Flickr was planning to jump in the VR game since September, and now its first project has arrived. The photo repository's app for Samsung's Gear VR lets you browse its collection of "VR Photos" with the help of the headset and the requisite Samsung handset. By "VR Photos," Flickr means its library of 360-degree equirectangular images and the photo site boasts over 14,000 total. This view of the Aurora Borealis from Finland will give you an idea of the types of images you can expect to encounter.
Samsung made a web browser for the Gear VR
Yes, there are already plenty of great games for Gear VR, but Samsung wants to keep enriching the platform with content. That's why it is introducing Internet for Gear VR, a web browser for people who own its smartphone-powered virtual reality headset. The company says you can use this new app, which is currently in beta, to enjoy the internet in a more immersive way. Along with offering support for 360-degree and 3D video streaming, Internet for Gear VR also handles HTML5 media playback. Naturally, you'll need to type web addresses along the way, so Samsung has added voice recognition to the application.
Samsung Gear VR review (2015): A no-brainer if you own a Samsung phone
When Samsung and Oculus debuted their Gear VR headset almost a year ago, the companies made it clear the device wasn't yet ready for the masses. Billed as "Innovator Edition" models, the original Gear VRs were intended mainly for early adopters. They only fitted a limited number of phones -- the original was designed just for the Note 4; the second for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge -- and were also quite pricey at $200 per headset. Just last week, however, the two companies released the first-ever consumer-ready version of the Gear VR. It's smaller, lighter, cheaper (only $99) and is compatible with more phones (the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge+). But, more importantly, its content library has exploded, with more VR apps and games than ever before. Virtual reality has finally gone mainstream, and there's no better way to get started than with the new Gear VR.
Virtual reality shooter 'Gunjack' is ready for Samsung's Gear VR
Just in time for today's launch of Samsung's consumer Gear VR, developer and publisher CCP is making Gunjack available for the headset. The virtual reality game, powered by Unreal Engine 4, is an arcade shooter that takes places in the EVE sci-fi universe. Once you strap in, you'll play the role of a gun turret operator, with the goal being to protect your mothership from some menacing pirates. In an interview earlier this year, Gunjack's producer told us that the title was different from Valkyrie, CCP's upcoming VR dogfighting simulator, as it required to be developed from the ground-up and with mobile gaming in mind. If you have your shiny new Gear VR all set up, you can grab Gunjack right now from the Oculus store for $10.
Samsung's consumer Gear VR is available now for $99
We knew it was coming, but now it's finally here. Samsung's newly improved virtual reality headset, the Gear VR, is launching today in the US for $99. This iteration of the Gear VR is, without a doubt, the most consumer-ready VR headset to date. One of its downsides is that it only works with Samsung's latest smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge+ -- but that's great news for people who own handsets. As you may recall, Samsung's Gear VR is powered by Oculus software, and services like Hulu have already announced compatibility with the device. If you're Stateside, you can grab the Gear VR now from retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. As for worldwide availability, an Oculus spokesperson says that will be announced "soon."
VR film festival will tour the US and Canada this fall
The thing with virtual reality is, you really need to try it out to "get" it. And since head-mounted displays aren't considered a necessary gadget like phones yet, something like a touring VR film festival will allow more people to experience the technology. The Kaleidoscope VR Film Fest will showcase around 20 short films from around the world, including one called Butts (see above) by American director Tyler Hurd. You will be able to watch them on Oculus Rift and on Samsung Gear VR headsets if you attend, though you do have to pay an entrance fee priced at $10 for students and $15 for regular folks. If you want to skip waiting in line to watch the shorts, you can shell out $99 for a VIP ticket.
'Gunjack,' a VR space shooter that puts you in the cockpit
You're sitting in the pilot seat of a cutting-edge spacecraft outfitted with two heavy-duty turrets. The inky universe expands around you and begins to populate with enemy ships: You pull the triggers and shoot them down, gathering new ammunition for more coordinated, deadly attacks and powering up your craft. This is Gunjack, a new virtual reality game from Eve Online and Eve Valkyrie developer CCP, created specifically for the Samsung Gear VR. It's an arcade shooter (think more Star Wars Battle Pod than Space Invaders) set in the Eve universe, and it's due out in the fall.
David Attenborough dives into VR with special museum exhibit
Wildlife documentarian and hypnotizing narrator Sir David Attenborough will finally lend his storytelling expertise to the fledgling medium of virtual reality later this month, in a special exhibit opening at London's Natural History Museum. As stunning as the HD footage that typically accompanies Attenborough's shows may be, for the past year the presenter has been working with Alchemy VR, a partnership of Atlantic Productions and Zoo VFX, to create even more engaging experiences using VR. A 15-minute adaptation of 2010 miniseries First Life, which uses CGI to reconstruct our prehistoric oceans and the beasts lurking within, is the first Attenborough VR project ready for general release, and it'll be debuting at the museum on June 19th.
Samsung's Gear VR will entertain Qantas' first-class passengers
Offering iPads as in-flight entertainment systems is so 2014. Australian carrier Qantas will soon welcome a new breed of gadget onboard -- the Samsung Gear VR, along with a Galaxy Note 4 to power it. The phone's loaded with a special app that shows you 360-degree views of the carrier's first-class lounges and even a virtual reality boat ride. You can also use it to watch a movie, but unfortunately, if you want to marathon House of Cards, you'll have to use your own laptop or tablet for that. See, the bad news is that there will be a limited number of Gear VRs available, and it's not accessible to everyone flying Qantas: only folks in Business Class aboard an Airbus A380 going from LA to Sydney or from Melbourne to LA can borrow one. Even then, they're expected to use it only for a limited time, so other people can take their turn.
Fox's journey into virtual reality begins with 'Wild'
Virtual reality is going to the movies and Hollywood's excited about it. Or, at the very least, the execs at 20th Century Fox's specialty division Fox Searchlight are cautiously and thoughtfully wading into the deep end of this new medium. For its film Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, the studio has crafted what it's calling a companion VR piece with the help of Montreal-based VR artists/directors Paul Raphaël and Félix Lajeunesse, and it was demoed at CES in Las Vegas this week for select press.
Looking into the future: Samsung Gear VR review
You can finally buy a virtual reality headset and use it in your home. Right now -- today -- that is possible. It doesn't cost $10,000 and it doesn't come with caveats like, "This is made for developers." Samsung is officially the first to market with an accessible, impressive virtual reality headset, all powered by software from Facebook's recently acquired Oculus VR team. That alone is very exciting: We are standing at the precipice of a new medium, finally technologically possible. Wireless, consumer-grade virtual reality! In your home! Today! Samsung's Gear VR is both an astounding feat and an illuminating vision into our near future; it's the closest anyone's come to making virtual reality into a palatable consumer experience, and a stark example of how far we still have to go before that dream is completely realized.
$200 turns your Galaxy Note 4 into a VR headset
Moments after Samsung announced that you could get a Gear VR as early as next month, Oculus released an all-important detail: its price. Oculus and Samsung are selling two versions of its Gear VR Innovator Edition -- the headset alone is $199, but if you want the Bluetooth gamepad as well, you'll have to pony up $249 for the bundle. It's worth noting that this particular Gear VR is designed for the Galaxy Note 4, which you will have to supply yourself in order to get that whole virtual reality experience. Seeing as a Note 4 will likely cost you around $300 on contract and upwards of $800 without, the total Gear VR experience is looking to be quite expensive -- starting at around $500 and almost $1,000 if you decide to go off-contract. That's considerably more than the $350 Oculus Rift DK2, though bear in mind that Oculus has yet to announce the consumer retail price of its Rift headset.
