Tag Archives: virtual-reality

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 VR headset has eye

I’m standing in front of a mirror, looking at an avatar of a woman that isn’t me. “Blink,” I’m told. But it’s not working for me. One eye is permanently shut. Maybe it’s my glasses? I try lifting the goggles away from my face a bit. Now, it tracks. I roll my eyes around, and …

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HTC Vive Focus standalone VR hitting US later this year

HTC Vive Focus, a mobile standalone VR headset first launched last year in China, is now going worldwide by year’s end, according to an announcement by HTC during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The headset has built-in 6 DoF (six degrees of freedom) tracking that allows movement in a room without added external sensors. It runs software compatible …

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People will spend a lot more on VR this year, IDC predicts

This year a lot more of us will be spending time wearing augmented and virtual reality headsets. Regardless of a growth slump in 2017, the AR/VR headset market is predicted to increase by 48.5 percent year-over-year to volumes of 12.4 million units, according to market research by IDC. The firm also says headsets will grow to 68.9 million units in …

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HTC Vive Pro: premium VR upgrade costs $799, hits April 5

How much would you pay for high-end VR? HTC is betting $799. (UK and AU prices aren’t available yet, but the equivalent is roughly AU$1,040 or £575 converted.) But there’s a catch: This time, that’s only for part of the package. The HTC Vive Pro, a new PC-connected VR hardware update to the original HTC Vive, was unveiled in January …

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You may have to wait for Oculus Go until Facebook’s May event

Can’t wait till you can buy a relatively inexpensive VR headset that doesn’t need a PC or phone? You may need to wait a tad longer than we originally thought. Variety reports that the $199 Oculus Go headset will launch at Facebook’s F8 developer conference on May 1.  While that’s not technically a delay, it definitely stretches the company’s original …

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Disability advocates sue Lyft over wheelchair access in California

First Uber was sued for allegedly discriminating against people in wheelchairs, and now Lyft is getting the same treatment. A coalition of disability rights groups and individuals filed a lawsuit against San Francisco-based Lyft in California’s Alameda County Superior Court on Tuesday, saying the ride-hailing service fails to make wheelchair-accessible vehicles available to people with disabilities in the Bay Area. …

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Google and LG could be fixing the dreaded ‘screen door’ for your next VR headset

Google and LG are expected to unveil the highest-resolution OLED VR display yet at Display Week in May, according to the event’s program guide (as noted on Monday by Digital Trends.) The two companies are heading a session at the conference entitled “An 18-megapixel, 4.3inch, 1,443 ppi, 120 Hz OLED display for wide field-of-view, high-acuity, head-mounted displays.” That spec equates to …

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Now you can use your phone to pay for transport in NSW

Being stuck without your Opal is now less of a problem with Transport NSW introducing contactless payments for light rail and ferry trips in Sydney. From Monday, passengers can tap their Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card on an Opal card reader to pay for trips on Sydney ferries or the metro light rail. Passengers will also be able …

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Facebook Watch gets exclusive rights to stream 25 MLB baseball games

Facebook wants baseball fans to turn off their TVs and instead log on to its social network. The company said Friday it signed a deal with Major League Baseball to exclusively stream 25 games this season on Facebook. It’s the first time the social network has gotten access to games from a major sports league that won’t be shown on …

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Galaxy S9 and Gear VR: How not to break your new phone

The appeal of phone VR is simplicity and affordability: Just use a $100-ish set of goggles and your phone, and you’re set. Samsung gummed that up a bit over the last couple of years by requiring slightly different new models of Gear VR to fit its newer phones, most recently the Note 8 last year. This year, there are a …

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