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Samsung, Facebook's Oculus Plan November Launch For $99 Gear VR Headset 56

An anonymous reader writes: Samsung has unveiled a new version of its virtual reality headset, the Gear VR, that it plans to sell starting in November for $99. The headset will be compatible with all of Samsung's flagship smartphones. "With mobile VR, you only need a great mobile game device and a smartphone," said Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, speaking at the company's developer conference.
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Samsung, Facebook's Oculus Plan November Launch For $99 Gear VR Headset

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  • TFA says: "The headset, called the Gear VR, will cost $99 and work with mobile devices, including Samsung's lineup of phones from this year"

    Not exactly stellar reporting there by Cnet.

    • Not exactly stellar reporting there by Cnet.

      I remember when Cnet was good.

      Oh, wait, no I don't. Cnet was never good. It was always the go-to place for viruses and malware, conveniently bundled with their craptastic "downloader" program.

      • by narcc ( 412956 )

        You must be new. It didn't always have that craptastic downloader.

        • You must be new. It didn't always have that craptastic downloader.

          No, not new, but Cnet was never very good. I remember John Dvorak and his paragraphs of pompous pontificating, riddled with random blobs of bold text that never seemed to make much sense.

          • To be fair, his keyboard was quite cool and he wrote the Hovis theme tune.
          • Are you sure that wasn't a nom de plume for Alexander Peter Kowalski (APK)?

            • Are you sure that wasn't a nom de plume for Alexander Peter Kowalski (APK)?

              That's an interesting theory, and I can't disprove it.

    • Ars Technica article [arstechnica.com] says:

      The consumer version of the Gear VR will support "every 2015 Samsung handset," Koo said, including the Galaxy Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+.

      Don't know if the earlier phones are too slow, incompatible geometrically, or lack some special feature. I would guess if older Samsung phones are not supported, then the chances for other vendors are even slimmer.

  • He's also pushing it in Vanity Fair [vanityfair.com], like the true geek he is.
  • by Sez Zero ( 586611 ) on Thursday September 24, 2015 @06:05PM (#50593055) Journal

    With mobile VR, you only need a great mobile game device and a smartphone

    So a mobile game device and a high-end smartphone and the headset? Sure, piece of cake!

  • by turkeydance ( 1266624 ) on Thursday September 24, 2015 @06:09PM (#50593083)
    but only got this crappy VR.
  • by binarylarry ( 1338699 ) on Thursday September 24, 2015 @06:21PM (#50593149)

    Can't wait to buy an $800 phone to use this $99 vr screen.

    • Can't wait to buy an $800 phone to use this $99 vr screen.

      I get your point. Still, the phone is the screen.

    • You can also use the phone.

    • Samsung Galaxy S6 is $540 on Amazon. There might be better deals. And it also has other uses.

      I agree with your general point though. I am quite happy with my $170 Motorola smartphone. I would consider this VR attachment if I already had a compatible phone. As it stands, I will probably wait for Oculus Rift V2. Facebook intends to price them competitively, and there's a chance that second consumer version will be usable without too much headache.

    • The target market for the Gear VR is people who already own a Samsung smartphone. I.e. you'd buy the $99 device and plug in the phone that you already have.

      If you don't already have a Samsung smartphone, you'd probably be more interested in a dedicated VR headset like the Oculus Rift that's coming out next year.

  • Since FB is a social networking site, I see the Rift's most obvious FBooky application a souped-up version of Second Life. FB's real names policy appears not to cover profile photos, so by extrapolation users could adopt catgirl or Spock avatars so long as they have an ID or tag of some sort identifying who they really are.
    • by Zobeid ( 314469 )

      Keep in mind that Linden Labs are working on "Sansar", which is supposed to be a successor to Second Life optimized for VR.

      As for Facebook World? I tried to imagine FB doing something like SL, and then I laughed. . . and laughed. There would be massive culture shock, that's for sure. Just imagine Facebook trying to deal with Militant Nudists, Goreans, Voreans, Fatfur Pokemorphs, etc.

      SL is what the word "counter-culture" should have really been coined for.

      • Keep in mind that Linden Labs are working on "Sansar", which is supposed to be a successor to Second Life optimized for VR.

        As for Facebook World? I tried to imagine FB doing something like SL, and then I laughed. . . and laughed. There would be massive culture shock, that's for sure. Just imagine Facebook trying to deal with Militant Nudists, Goreans, Voreans, Fatfur Pokemorphs, etc.

        SL is what the word "counter-culture" should have really been coined for.

        You sound like you're one of the dozen people who ever used SL more than once.

  • still not pricing, availability or pre-order date for the actual consumer Oculus Rift...
  • I wanted one when I read the price and the Oculus label, but after researching a bit more it looks like I can't have one. I needs a Galaxy thingy to stick in it (just like with Cardboard, but Samsung-only), and I am not willing to give Samsung any money. I'm with LG now and I'm very happy. My second choice of brand is HTC. Samsung is somewhere near the bottom due to quality concerns (they're cutting corners(tm) and such).

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