When I think of virtual reality, the word ‘gimmick’ hovers in my mind. Yes, I’m aware of all the wonderful things it can do, and is aiming to do. Yet VR remains — especially in gaming — a big investment. And no one wants to invest in tech that feels half-baked.
I’d love to experience stunning open world role-playing games and adrenaline-fueled action games in a way that makes me feel I’m really there. That’s the romanticized version of VR gaming that many headsets are trying to sell. In truth, the technology isn’t quite there, and most of the experiences I’ve tried so far have a shelf life of 30 minutes. They’re fun at first, but become annoying (or even nauseating) after an hour in the headset.
That could change with the Oculus Quest. After demoing the Oculus Quest at CES 2019, I suddenly found myself more comfortable with the idea of picking up a VR headset. Portable, user-friendly, and more affordable than its technologically advanced older brother, the Oculus Quest has hardware that’s just good enough. It could be the mid-range headset that fully converts me to a VR fanatic.
The Quest is a true all-in-one headset. There’s no high-end gaming PC, no heavy, tangled wires or tedious external sensors, and you don’t need to convert your basement into a VR den. Finally, I put on a VR headset that didn’t make me feel like the Predator. That might sound cool — and it is at first — but once the novelty wears off it becomes repetitive, claustrophobic, and a little sweaty.
While you will need space to use the Oculus Quest, as it is still a standing and moving experience, the headset comes with internal sensors that can be calibrated to the space you’re in and will show the limits of your VR play space in-game. That will keep you from colliding with furniture, and since there’s no cords to worry about, you space won’t be restricted by the length or positioning of cables.
The controllers are nearly identical to the Oculus Rift, but wireless, and with their own internal sensors. Just like the touch controllers, they are easy to pick up and use, fitting comfortably in your hands with adjustable wristlets that can be tightened so they don’t slip off and go flying in the middle of an intense VR session.
During the demo, we played two games — Super Hot and Project Tennis Scramble — both of which worked without a hitch. That, too, is an important point. Earlier wire-free headsets, more of which relied on smartphones, had serious issues with both smartphone heat management and overall performance. These issues aren’t present in Oculus Quest, and the two games we tried felt just as smooth as they would on an HTC Vive.
While there’s no doubt that the Oculus Rift will continue to be the best option out of the Oculus VR lineup for top-notch gaming, the Oculus Quest is a perfect mid-tier offering that feels like it could be the headset that brings VR to the mainstream.
The Oculus Quest arrives in 2019 for $399.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.