Ahead of its expected sometime-in-April launch, HTC will begin taking pre-orders for their Vive virtual reality headset as of February 29. That’s seven weeks, or 49 days, or 1,176 hours from today – depending on how excited you are about the new dawn of virtual reality.
If you are one such virtual reality enthusiast, you should check out Phil’s new weekly column: VR your friends.
Speaking to The Telegraph, HTC CEO Cher Wang also confirmed the company have now begun to adjust their focus from smartphones to VR – a medium they deem “more important” – as they aim to “create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality.”
This news means the Vive will be the first head-mounted VR device to officially challenge the Oculus Rift, which, as announced last week, will cost $599/£499. HTC are yet to reveal the price of the Vive, however have suggested in the past it’ll cost on par with the Rift.
The fact that the Vive now comes with a camera mounted to its front might confirm this – it could even drive the price upwards still – but what do you reckon? Will you pick a side at this early-ish stage, or will you hang fire until all the horses have joined the race?