HTC Vive pre-orders start on 29 February, watch out Oculus, you’re in a for the fight of your life. Given that virtual reality enthusiasts all over the world were utterly shocked last week upon the news that Palmer Luckey doesn’t know what in the same ballpark means, the HTC Vive might just have the upper hand.
Cher Wang, HTC CEO, has spoken to the Telegraph and said that the company has chosen to shift its focus on virtual reality, and drive away from the smartphone industry, because now, HTC, is more realistic.
HTC has partnered with game maker supreme Valve to design an immersive virtual reality headset. It will sell world-wide starting with April of this year, competing directly with the much-awaited Oculus Rift. Sony’s PlayStation VR is out of the question at the current moment as there is no information available on pricing or release date. What we do know is that Sony has stated, over and over again, that the company will release their virtual reality headset only when they have enough content available – the Japanese company is known for working on more than 100 titles for their VR headset.
For the HTC Vive, Valve will be in charge of the gaming platform with their beloved Steam – as well as offering a place for Oculus Rift lovers.
Even though we have an official pre-order date, we still don’t know what the price of a Vive headset will retail at. Yet, we will have details in the upcoming weeks regarding the cost of a Vive, notes Cher Wang.
But why the sudden shift from the smartphone industry?
Well, because the huge competition from Xiaomi and Apple, with both companies pumping a ton of money on marketing and communications. There are also a lot of other Chinese competitors that offer low-quality devices with staggering specifications, notes the CEO of HTC.
During CES 2016, HTC displayed and demoed their 2nd-gen dev kit, the Vive Pre. Those who were present, were the first to witness the huge difference between the two dev kits.
However, regardless of the change in design, the price needs to meet the expectations of VR enthusiasts across the world so the adoption rate soars, and brands jump on the bandwagon.
You need a powerful PC to run a VR headset. A PC that will make you cough up something between $500 and $1000. Dell’s Alienware has already started offering bundles that shave $200 off the base price of an Oculus Rift, and, Cher Wang says, that HP and Asus will be releasing VR-ready PCs in the upcoming months.
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