HTC, a Taiwanese consumer electronics company, will start preorders for its wireless adapter for the Vive and Vive Pro virtual reality headsets beginning Sept. 5, the company announced.
In a blog on its official website, HTC will start preorders for U.S. customers for its wireless premium VR on Sept. 5 through Amazon, Best Buy, Microsoft, NewEgg, and Vive.com. The company said the global launch will be held on Sept. 24. According to HTC, the Vive Wireless Adapter is a fulfilment of the company's promise of wireless premium VR.
Daniel O'Brien, general manager of HTC Vive in the United States, said if the company wants to deliver the best of premium VR, it had to be wireless. O'Brien said it took HTC quite some time to deliver a great wireless experience with the help of its smart partners.
According to O'Brien, HTC has brought the engineering expertise to provide gaming aficionados with a first-of-its-kind wireless VR experience. O'Brien also thanked Intel and DisplayLink for making HTC's vision a reality.
During its launching, HTC will include a two-month trial to Viveport Subscription for all Vive Wireless Adapter purchases. The promo will offer access to nearly 500 titles, including Seeking Dawn.
HTC Vive Wireless Adapter To Free VR Users
With the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter, VR users will be freed from tethering back to their personal computer while maintaining the performance requirements for premium VR on HTC Vive and Vive Pro. The adapter costs $299.99, but a customer will cough out an additional $60 if for a compatibility kit for Vive Pro headset.
The HTC Vive Wireless Adapter is $100 more expensive than the Oculus Go, but it has more upside compared to its competition. While the Oculus Go is wireless, the standalone VR experience from the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter is significantly different from the PC-connected wireless one. Also, headsets like the Oculus Go can't handle the same games as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
How HTC Vive Wireless Adapter Works?
Based on a blog post from HTC, installing the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter is pretty simple and will take just minutes. It works by installing an ePCI card and attaching a sensor from the PC that broadcasts to and from the newly wireless Vive headset.
The company said the adapter has a broadcast range of 6 meters with a 150-degree field of view from the sensor. It runs in the interference-free 60Ghz band using Intel's WiGig specification. With the help of DisplayLink's XR codec, the adapter will run on low latency and high performance with hours of battery life. The Vive Wireless Adapter gets it power from the HTC QC 3.0 PowerBank, which can also be used as a charge pack for a smartphone.
