Facebook and Oculus may formally introduce a mid-tier VR headset during the Oculus Connect 5 conference on September 26 and 27. This is an assumption based on a response regarding the “Santa Cruz” headset that sources now claim will arrive in the first quarter of 2019. An Oculus representative wouldn’t comment on the rumor, but instead said “OC5 will be really exciting.”
There’s really no big secret regarding the Santa Cruz headset, except for when it actually hits the market. Oculus confirmed with Digital Trends in March that the headset would serve as a mid-tier product nestled between the high-tier Oculus Rift and the low-tier Oculus Go. It won’t be tethered like the Oculus Rift nor will it be limited to head movements like the Oculus Go.
That said, the Santa Cruz headset will target the stand-alone VR market. It will include built-in cameras to track your physical environment, allowing you to move freely through open space without a tethered PC while remaining in the virtual environment. You also don’t need external sensors — like those used with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive — to track your physical position in the play space.
Of course, without the wires and external sensors, you’d expect the real world to spoil your virtual fun by throwing walls, furniture and even kids into the mix. Oculus solves this problem with its “guardian” system that throws up a blue grid when you approach a scanned object or wall. Google’s WorldSense technology for its stand-alone Daydream headsets supposedly does something similar.
One of the sessions during the Oculus Connect conference next month will talk about porting Oculus Rift apps to the Santa Cruz headset.
“The introduction of stand-alone means the arrival of more approachable devices and, for developers, a broader range of consumers to target,” the listing states. “The good news is you’re already ready. We’ll start with an overview of the device and basic considerations and walk step by step through the process of reviewing and optimizing textures, scene geometry, and lighting.”
The Oculus Go, launched in May, merely tracks your head movement and incorporates input from a motion controller. The 32GB model costs $200 while the 64GB retails for a higher $250. It supports all VR applications provided through the Oculus Store for Samsung’s Gear VR platform. That said, most of what you purchase for Samsung’s smartphone-based headset will work on the Oculus Go, which doesn’t require a smartphone.
Meanwhile, the Oculus Rift costs $400 and includes the headset, motion controllers, external sensors and so on. It requires a tethered PC and pulls content from the Oculus Store and Steam. That said, we presume the upcoming Santa Cruz headset will have a starting price of $300 for it to fall between the two headsets currently on the market.
The mid-tier Santa Cruz unit is expected to arrive in March 2019 to celebrate the second anniversary of the Oculus Rift’s availability on the market. The original headset arrived on March 28, 2016.
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.