The Ghost Howls

MAY 17, 2021

Image by HTC Vive). HTC launches Vive Focus 3 and Vive Pro 2. In the end, the rumors were correct and HTC launched two headsets at VIVECON: the Vive Pro 2 and the Vive Focus 3 Business Edition. But this device got also some criticism: first of all , HTC has not released new controllers and still sells it with the old Wands.

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Road to VR

JUNE 22, 2023

It had a compelling reason to exist, which is why Microsoft directly competed against iPod Touch over the course of three device generations before eventually giving up the goat in 2011 and discontinuing the third-gen Zune. Even with viable hardware on your side, it’s not an easy thing to do.

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Road to VR

JANUARY 16, 2023

Despite its dominance (or perhaps because of it), Meta has continued to make very good hardware while struggling deeply with its software. Sony’s PSVR1, meanwhile, has largely lost any remaining relevance since the announcement of the upcoming PSVR 2. On the Horizon for 2023. Real Competition for Meta?

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ARPost

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

One of the reasons that HTC VIVE is an ARPost perennial favorite headset manufacturer is because the company doesn’t turn out a headset every day. Sony makes some of the coolest VR accessories of any company out there. The makers of the Valve Index sell one of the most expensive consumer headsets on the market.

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Image by HTC Vive). HTC expands its Cosmos offering and teases the future with Proton. This has been a pretty interesting week for HTC Vive. And it is nice that HTC with this new Cosmos line is satisfying the needs of a broad share of VR people : from the casual gamer that wants something cheap to the professional.

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 7, 2022

In the case of VR, we all remember the competition between HTC and Oculus in 2016, with HTC clearly winning the market until Oculus used Facebook’s money to slash the price of the Rift around 2017. Hero view of PSVR 2 (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). No one can compete now. Let me show you what are some of them.

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AR Insider

APRIL 13, 2020

AR Insider readers know that we’re obsessed with collecting clues for VR hardware penetration. Because hardware sales figures aren’t disclosed ( except from Sony ), this becomes an ongoing exercise in piecing together known quantities to extrapolate unknown ones.

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The Ghost Howls

JULY 4, 2022

Of course for some ad-based tech companies, the current economic situation is not the only problem, but there is another big one which is Apple and its new privacy features embedded into iOS. It’s incredible how we will have the first smart contact lens product before 2030… it seems like hardware coming from a sci-fi movie!

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

This is huge because we know that Samsung is able to always deliver good hardware. An operating system that in the future may expand to other headsets, of course. So basically Samsung is bringing to XR what already happens on phones: Samsung makes the hardware, Qualcomm the chipset, and Google the operating system.

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

But in China, they are very famous, and now they are also organizing a big event about XR called FBEC with hosts from all the major VR companies (HTC, Unity, Alibaba, Huawei, etc…). For example, we invited senior executives from HUAWEI, JBD, HTC, Alibaba, iQIYI, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and so on.

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Road to VR

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Appearing this week on the stage of Oculus competitor HTC at the Tokyo Game Show , Oculus founder emeritus Palmer Luckey affirmed that he’s continuing to work on projects within the VR industry. Sony, HTC, other companies. I think HTC is doing the same thing, so of course I’m going to say good things about HTC.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 11, 2022

PlayStation VR 2 Logo (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). HTC Vive Wrist Tracker. HTC Vive Wrist Tracker. HTC Vive Wrist Tracker (Image by HTC). HTC has made an announcement at this CES and it has been a pretty cool one. Click to read the thread on Twitter… it is worth it. Further references.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 18, 2023

Of course not. HTC Vive XR Elite HTC Vive XR Elite (Image by HTC Vive) The star of the event has for sure been the Vive XR Elite, HTC’s latest flagship headset. One is the high cost: HTC markets it as a consumer device, but at that price, not many consumers are going to buy it, so it will be a prosumer one.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 20, 2021

Every year since when I entered VR, someone says that “this will be the year of VR” and then of course this never happens. 2020 has been a good year for the sales of VR devices : Half-Life Alyx and the launch of the Quest 2 have created a big spike in the sales of VR hardware and software. The Quest will still be the king.

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Road to VR

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Wedged somewhat inconsiderately at the very start of every year (it’s OK CES organisers, no one in the tech industry have families they want to spend time with), the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas is still the biggest event for hardware in the world. The HTC Vive (DK1), SteamVR Controllers and Laser Basestations.

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The Ghost Howls

DECEMBER 2, 2022

Disclaimer: HTC provided three of their Vive Tracker 3.0 What is an HTC Vive Tracker? Whilst the first part of this article looked at the history of the HTC Vive Tracker and its three different versions, the second part will focus on some practical experiments with the latest HTC Vive Tracker 3.0. HTC Vive Tracker 3.0

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Top news of the week (Image by Meta) Meta launched Quest 3 The main piece of news of the week is of course the launch of the Meta Quest 3 at the Meta Connect. The last big feature is of course mixed reality: Zuckerberg defined the Quest 3 as the first consumer mixed reality headset.

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Road to VR

JUNE 11, 2017

We know that Samsung has confirmed more than 5 million Gear VR units are now in the wild for example, and of course the headlines of Sony surprising themselves with PlayStation VR’s early sales figures – approaching 1 Million going in to 2017. But just how much is VR on people’s radar? Nielsen’s ‘ U.S

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 7, 2022

Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). The channel says that according to “credible sources”, Sony may launch PSVR 2 sometime in Q1 2023. The reason behind that is, of course, the chip shortage. But for sure this rumor, and the rationale behind it, shows why Sony has not announced a release window for PSVR 2 yet.

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Road to VR

JANUARY 26, 2017

Over the course of the last 50 years, capital markets have significantly codified a generational model approach consumer technology products. With no mention of next generation headsets from any of the major players at CES 2017, I put the question to HTC’s China Regional President of Vive, Alvin Wang Graylin.

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The Ghost Howls

JULY 3, 2023

The shutdown of its main XR hardware project makes us all think that Google will try to do in XR what it is already doing with smartphones: become the software platform that many hardware OEMs use. This is very interesting, but of course it is not for consumer use , but more for research or healthcare centers.

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VRScout

JANUARY 1, 2017

The first bit to point out, of course, is that 90% of startups in any industry fail. In October, we wrote about how HTC took the lead in opening the first Vive-branded cafe in Shenzhen. Expectedly, the many seized the opportunity for a feeding frenzy. But leaving that aside, a bit of background. Now, that number hovers around 10.

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Road to VR

MAY 30, 2017

Among a range of topics discussed, Luckey spoke of the timeline of future VR headsets from major hardware players. The hardware will not change. Of course there might be hardware from new companies entering the market, but the hardware of the major players in the market will stay the same.

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Road to VR

JANUARY 3, 2020

As a standalone VR headset built on smartphone hardware, Quest can’t compete in the graphics department against high-end PC VR headsets, but there’s no question that it’s the class leader in ease-of-use (a place where tethered headsets are still struggling). Image courtesy HTC. Valve Index. Image courtesy Valve.

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Road to VR

JUNE 6, 2019

Each month, Valve collects info from Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the platform’s population, and to see how things are changing over time; that includes which VR headsets are connected to users’ computers. Doing so suggests some 2.15

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

DECEMBER 11, 2016

It’s been about nine months since the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive officially launched the age of consumer-ready virtual reality and there’s no denying we’ve had some great times immersed in our personal holodecks. Of course, there is that big Catch 22. That’s a fundamental problem and can stall the mass adoption of VR hardware.

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The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

PSVR 2 Hero view of PSVR 2 (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment) I had big hopes for PSVR 2. I’m pretty sure that Sony is waiting the next few months to make some moves, there’s still the Black Friday and the Christmas Holiday that have to happen, but at the moment I do not see this device as disruptive to our ecosystem.

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Road to VR

MARCH 19, 2017

.” 2016 saw the arrival of 3 major consumer virtual reality headsets, the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. But it’s reasonable to say that the high cost of VR headsets and the gaming hardware needed to support them, is keeping high-end VR accessibility low right now. billion in 2021. billion in 2016 to $18.6

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 1, 2024

Both Apple and Google already have very popular stores , they have full suits of tools (think about the Google Docs suite) and entertainment channels (think about Apple TV), and they have enormous expertise in building hardware and operating systems. And they are entering it to dominate it. This is the moment of the truth for Meta.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Luckily, Sony included a demo disc with PSVR that includes over two dozen demos, a huge variety to give you an idea of what is possible. Sony has also worked with partners and its own developers on casual experiences for the PlayStation VR platform. Oculus Rift costs $599 and the HTC Vive costs $799. Point, Sony.

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Road to VR

JUNE 2, 2016

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has poured scepticism on the hype surrounding VR post launch by voicing concerns about the cost and requirement of current systems, mostly (by the sounds of it) the HTC Vive. ” See Also: HTC Vive Review: A Mesmerising VR Experience, if You Have the Space. That’s not what we have in America.”

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 4, 2020

The biggest news of the week is the one that you can see in the above graph: i n the Steam Hardware Survey for April, it is possible to see a big spike of connected headsets. More info (Steam Hardware Survey) More info (Facebook’s revenues for Q1 2020) More info (Quest and Rift S stock, updated) More info (SuperData’s report).

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 6, 2023

HTC has made its moves at MWC, too. HTC is one of the best companies when it comes to XR for enterprise and it’s good that it is expanding its offering in the field. Of course, the Quest 2 is by far the most sold headset and accounts for the majority of that number. We can see that number in many ways.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

NOVEMBER 22, 2016

It is also the home of Steam VR which allows the owners of both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets access to hundreds of VR games and applications. Universalism is a drum that the VR scene has been beating since before the hardware was even officially available. ” The OSVR update to Steam is available immediately.

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Road to VR

MARCH 13, 2017

This report is the fifth edition of Greenlight Insights’ annual report providing a comprehensive perspective on the virtual reality industry, including hardware unit forecasts, market revenue forecasts, industry and technology analysis, and other special topics for industry executives.

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Road to VR

MARCH 18, 2018

When it comes to HTC, most everyone’s mind is on the Vive Pro. With GDC being the last major event in Q1, hosted just a week before the end of the quarter, and given the presence of HTC at GDC in years past, it certainly seems like the appropriate place and time to reveal the price and release date of the Vive Pro, if not a delay.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 25, 2022

Networking libraries, VR hardware, AR glasses, common standards… nothing is ready to build the metaverse in the short term. Of course, the device that is reaching (or has already reached) this magical number is the Oculus Quest 2 , which has literally taken VR out of its quicksands, becoming the first mainstream device.

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