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HTC Streamlink turns VR headsets into big screens for console gaming
One surprise announcement coming out of today's Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen is HTC's Streamlink, an in-house VR app that lets your PC-powered or standalone Vive headset -- like the new Vive Focus Plus -- receive HDMI signal from any USB video capture card -- some of which can be bought for as low as $65 per piece in China, according to an HTC rep. There are many potential use cases here, of course, but HTC is specifically pitching this as a new way of playing games on your consoles -- namely PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One S -- as well as watching videos from your set-top box.
The Vive Focus Plus is HTC’s answer to the Oculus Quest
Back in October, HTC offered a dual 6DoF controller dev kit for its Vive Focus standalone headset, in the hopes of offering a truly untethered and more immersive VR experience -- something which the original single 3DoF joystick couldn't fully simulate. As such, it comes as no surprise that the company is soon releasing a new Vive Focus Plus bundled with two 6DoF controllers, meaning you'll be able to naturally wave around -- as you do with the controllers for the PC-powered Vive headsets -- without having to regularly recalibrate.
HTC’s standalone VR is available in the US, starts at $599
Almost a year after it was released in China, the HTC Vive Focus is finally available in the US and Europe, making it a total of 37 markets (including Japan recently). There is a catch, however, in that these headsets are geared more towards enterprise customers on this side of the world. The kit will sell for $599, and by paying an extra $150, it'll come with the Vive Enterprise Advantage service package, which includes commercial licensing, dedicated support, tailored hardware warranties, batch configuration feature and more.
HTC's standalone Vive Focus will soon get 6DoF VR controllers
While Facebook's Oculus Quest won't arrive until the spring of 2019, its seemingly beefier inside-out tracking plus 6DoF controllers may already pose a threat to HTC's Vive Focus, as well as to other Vive Wave-based standalone VR headsets -- including Pico's Neo (whose ultrasound-based 6DoF controllers are still missing) and the more recent G2. As such, HTC's first order of business is to release a developer kit for adding not one, but two 6DoF controllers to substitute the Vive Focus' single 3DoF controller -- one that relies on software to simulate a 6DoF feel, but also often requires re-centering.
HTC prepares Vive VR for the 5G future in China
A lot more people might buy standalone VR headsets like HTC's Vive Focus if they have access to faster and stronger mobile internet connection. That's why HTC has teamed up with China Mobile (CMCC) to launch the "5G Devices Forerunner Initiative," which aims to conduct large scale tests of pre-commercial 5G devices. HTC Chairperson Cher Wang said: "With the coming advancements in next-generation mobile technologies, the proliferation of 5G networks will facilitate new classes of use cases for VR/AR not possible in the past, leading to more rapid mass adoption and more natural interaction models for immersive technologies..."
Seagate's hard drive/battery fanny pack is made for VR
In addition to the major software update for the Vive Focus standalone VR headset yesterday, HTC also unveiled the Seagate VR Power Drive which, as the name suggests, is a hybrid of a power bank and a portable hard drive. This isn't an entirely new idea, of course, but it's the first of such kind designed with VR usage in mind. Specifically, this device packs 5,000 mAh of battery juice -- almost doubling that of the Vive Focus -- plus 1TB of storage space (but no speed specs yet), and it has a detachable belt clip which can be locked at every 90 degrees.
Vive Focus VR update lets you take calls from the real world
Even though the Vive Focus won't be available outside of China until later this year, it's already getting a major update which will make it a lot more versatile. At the annual Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen just now, HTC announced that as of today, its standalone 6DoF (6 degrees of freedom) VR headset can install a "System Update 2.0" which adds a handful of notable features. One of the main highlights here is the added ability to receive calls, social notifications and messages from a paired HTC smartphone, with the recently unveiled U12+ being the first model to take advantage of this immersive feature. This is nothing new for existing Vive users, of course, as the Vive companion mobile app already supports the PC-powered headset on this end.
HTC Vive Focus headset will be available outside of China soon
If you're interested in the HTC Vive Focus VR headset but you don't live in China, you've basically been out of luck. That is, until now. Today, HTC announced that the Vive Focus would be available in international markets later this year. It's the first 6DOF (six degrees of freedom) headset that's commercially available.
Flying with a VR headset isn't as dorky as it sounds
As a somewhat regular flyer, I had always been intrigued by the concept of wearing a head-mounted display for some immersive in-flight entertainment. However, I never really found the "cinema" part of existing "personal cinema" headsets pervasive at all. Watching a tiny video through those headsets is like sitting in the last row of an empty theater. I'm not going to pay $800 for that. Then came the smartphone-powered VR headsets, but their three-degree-of-freedom (3DoF) tracking for just the head was never precise enough for prolonged usage. It wasn't until the Vive Focus, HTC's $630 standalone 6DoF VR device for China (about $100 of which goes to local taxes), that I finally decided to give virtual reality a chance to prove itself as a worthy alternative to those in-flight touchscreens. Luckily for me, my wife didn't forbid me from bringing this bright blue headset to our vacation, as long as it would fit into my carry-on.
I can finally do cartwheels in VR with HTC's Vive Focus
After fully unveiling the Vive Focus, HTC finally allowed lucky folks like myself to properly test out the six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) standalone VR headset. For the first time, I can actually walk around in VR without being tethered to a PC nor confined to a fixed space. It's a truly mobile VR solution -- more so than smartphone-based VR headsets, which only let you look around on the spot (3DoF). Naturally, I used this opportunity to test this 6DoF tracking to its limits, even if it meant doing cartwheels while wearing the Vive Focus.
HTC's standalone Vive Focus launches in China for $600
While we've already taken a good look at the Vive Focus standalone VR headset with 6DoF "world-scale" tracking, HTC had yet to reveal its detailed specs nor price, but almost a month later, we finally have some answers. First of all, as of December 12th, the device will be available for pre-ordering in China starting from 3,999 yuan or about $600, with shipment commencing in January next year. The base price isn't far off from the original PC-tethered Vive which is priced at $599 before tax in the US (in China it costs 5,488 yuan which is about $830). Better yet, that price applies to a new white version which, in my opinion, is much better looking than the original "electric blue" -- that's now a limited edition priced at 4,299 yuan (about $650).
HTC Vive dropped its Google Daydream headset to focus on China
Throughout the Vive Focus event today, HTC never once referred to the headset as a Daydream VR device, which was a little odd given how it was first teased as one of the two standalone Daydream devices back at Google I/O. Then came this baffling statement from HTC shortly after the keynote: "We still have a great relationship with Google, but will not be bringing a standalone device to the Western markets on Daydream." In other words, the aforementioned Daydream collaboration between HTC and Google is no more, even though the Vive Focus lives on by way of the Vive Wave VR open platform. This cancellation was later confirmed by Clay Bavor, Google's Vice President of Virtual and Augmented Reality, though he also implied that the other standalone Daydream headset from Lenovo is still in the pipeline.
HTC Vive Focus hands-on: a promising start for next-gen mobile VR
We've already heard the news about HTC's Vive Focus, so it was only natural to get my hands dirty with this standalone 6DoF (six-degree-of-freedom) VR headset. As it turned out, HTC delivered pre-production units to several developers two weeks ago, in order to prep the demo area today. Soon after the opening keynote, I rushed over to the other room and managed to go through seven demos. Given the limited preparation time, the results were unsurprisingly mixed, but the best ones seem to prove that there's a lot of potential in this piece of kit.
HTC Vive Focus is a standalone VR headset with ‘world-scale’ tracking
After a couple of teases earlier this year, HTC has finally unveiled its upcoming standalone VR headset at today's Vive Developer Conference in Beijing. Dubbed the Vive Focus, this all-in-one device features inside-out 6-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) "world-scale" tracking, meaning it doesn't require external base stations nor sensors, so you can get positional tracking anywhere at any time -- even on a train or plane, should you wish to. While at least a couple of Chinese manufacturers have announced standalone 6DoF VR headsets before, HTC claims that the Focus will be the first of such kind to actually hit the market.
