One of the big attractions at Mobile World Congress in 2015 was HTC Vive's debut. At this year's event, the company announced Vive's consumer version reaching stores by April, and pre-ordering commencing on Feb. 29. The flagship model will retail at $799 per unit.
Interest in Vive has grown in the past year of its debut. The special integration of the virtual reality headset allows users to make their calls, text and view calendar without having to dismount the headset.
Even more surprisingly, users can continue playing on either of the two free VR games that are bundled with the head gear. However, users will have to ensure that their Vive has graphics-boosted processor such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or even a graphics card of the AMD Radeon R9 290.
The release, named Vive Consumer Edition Box will include an advanced head set. The head-mounted display has twin controllers that are coupled with Vive Base station. These will be connected to Vive Link Box and a pair of ear buds by Valve.
The headset ensemble is linked to a Personal Computer and comes with a headphone jack for the accompanying buds or personal earphones.
The latest headset is an improved version of the headset made for the Vive Pre. The new additions include a much-needed microphone, ergonomic design and adjustable head strap. The whole contraption has a superior polished finish as well.
The bundled virtual reality games are offered free of cost. Both "Job Simulator" and "Fantastic Contraption" are popular games and are expected to engage users until developers run riot with more content games for HTC Vive. Valve and HTC do not expect to run out of their devices when they ship in April.
They claim that it would not be the same as the January out-of-stock situation of Facebook's virtual headset, Occulus Rift. They hope the price of $799 appears more attractive, over speculations of $1,000 for the HTC Vive Consumer Edition.
