HTC is working on a new mobile-based VR headset
HTC is developing a new VR device. Could this be the HTC Vive 2? Sources say it is a mobile device, however, indicating that HTC could be vying to compete with the likes of Google Daydream View and Samsung VR, with a device based around pairing with a smartphone handset.
HTC's Chief Financial Officer, Chia-lin Chang, has not only described the firm as a "VR company", but has also indicated it is working on a new VR device. He added that it will be "a different thing," to the current HTC Vive and will be compatible with the HTC U Ultra and its stable mates, but will not simply be "a phone slapped onto a headset".
You may have noticed already; Virtual Reality (VR) is a big deal at the moment. It's been a big deal for the last year or so where, following the crowdfunding success of the Oculus Rift (which was subsequently purchased by Facebook), every Tom, Dick, and Harry tech OEM has created their own equivalent.
Initially the focus was on PC-based devices mimicking the Oculus Rift, but now with the Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream View, there are many headsets based around pairing with a phone; with the handset docking in front of the viewer's eyes.
Of the PC-based devices, the HTC Vive is probably the most successful VR headset to date; have a quick look on Youtube and virtually every vlogger showcasing VR Let's Plays is doing so on a Vive, and it has the biggest selection of software available, with whole swathes of the Steam store dedicated to it.
Although PC-based offerings such as the Vive are more powerful in terms of hardware, and provide tons of software thanks to the legions of developers plugging away, they are something of a niche market. Tech enthusiasts with powerful, expensive, custom-built gaming PCs, the type who make those Youtube Let's Play series, are quite happy to grab an HTC Vive or an Oculus Rift, but for the mass market things need to be cheaper, less fiddly, and more accessible.
That's where the likes of Google's Daydream View come in, cheap at only £69, easy to use in that you just drop in a compatible phone, and fully supported by Google's ever growing Daydream software ecosystem, itself closely tied to Google's Android platform. The Daydream View is also lightweight and one-size fits all (thanks to the use of flexible sportswear fabrics).
So, are we looking at HTC's answer to Google's Daydream View?
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