When VR first made its major CES reemergence via Oculus Rift years ago, it was jaw-dropping. Those moments, since, are harder to come by. After a 2017 where VR hardware sales flagged and buzz quieted, AR started to gain steam via phone apps from Apple and Google. Meanwhile, the dream of some next-level “mixed reality” …
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I love miniature gaming PCs, and Intel may have just trumped them all here at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. This is the Intel Hades Canyon NUC, a VR-ready gaming rig that’s just 1.2 liters in volume. It’s small enough to fit into a messenger bag, or even a very large purse — and yet it’s got enough power to …
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Facebook will try to “get a billion people in virtual reality,” by appealing to a company in the world’s most populated country: China. Oculus’ VP of VR, Hugo Barra, at an Oculus event in 2017. James Martin/CNET In the middle of a Qualcomm press conference where tech jargon flew at a rat-a-tat rate, up jumped a familiar face in the …
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Mark Zuckerberg wants to turn you — and another 999,999,999 people — into VR believers. As part of Facebook‘s latest quest to make virtual reality an everyday part of our lives, the company’s CEO is bringing out the biggest weapon he can think of to win over customers: deals he thinks you can’t refuse. The world’s biggest social network, which …
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Virtual reality was one of the marquee tech trends of last year, but it’s gone a little stale. Facebook is trying to shake that up with its Oculus Connect developer conference Wednesday. Special guest CNET editor Scott Stein and I talk about what it’s going to take for virtual reality to be something anyone would want — and not just …
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The Oculus Rift, Facebook’s PC-based VR system, has great controllers but it lacks the stand-up camera sensors it needs to work in a full room like a holodeck, like its rival the HTC Vive. That sounds like it’s changing next year with a “Santa Cruz” Rift model that will leave those sensors behind. It was announced in a keynote Wednesday at the Oculus …
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Good news for budget VR shoppers: it’s a good year for discounts. Facebook and Oculus announced that the Rift and Touch, Oculus’ VR hardware for PCs that launched last year, is keeping its summer discount price of $399. That’s roughly half what Rift and Touch used to cost. Hopefully you didn’t buy it when it was more expensive. As we …
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What’s the state of Facebook’s virtual-reality technology? We’ll find out today in San Jose. Oculus, the social network’s VR subsidiary, kicks off its fourth annual developers conference today in the heart of Silicon Valley. But with the virtual-reality movement seemingly stuck in neutral, the company has more to prove than ever. The day one keynote is scheduled to run from …
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“At every step along the way, the future is built by people who believe it can be better.” That’s the message that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, brought to the company’s fourth annual Oculus Connect virtual reality developer conference Wednesday. As in previous years, Zuckerberg took the stage to discuss the promise of what virtual reality can be and to show …
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What would truly get you to buy a VR headset? How about a $199 price? Facebook just announced Oculus Go, a standalone headset that doesn’t require a PC or a phone to get you into VR, at the company’s Oculus Connect developer conference. It’s coming in early 2018 for $199, or roughly £150 or AU$255 converted. According to Oculus …
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