Samsung Gear VR: A limited edition portable Oculus Rift

Facebook's Oculus VR is creating the Rift. Sony's PlayStation is creating Project Morpheus. Google is... well, Cardboard exists. And now as expected Samsung just unveiled Gear VR. The company’s first virtual reality headset was developed with direct help from Oculus and it works pretty well. The Gear VR is a virtual reality headset powered by the Note 4. Gear VR is a virtual reality headset with a removable front cover where Samsung's newly announced Note 4 slips in, acting as the screen. 

Gear VR Innovator Edition is an add-on to the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4, using the phone’s GPU/CPU to power the device and the Quad HD low-persistence 5.7 inch 1440p AMOLED screen as the display. One of the best aspects of mobile VR is the completely untethered, easy-to-use experience: you connect the Note 4 to the headset, you put it on, and you’re in. That level of accessibility, combined with Oculus software to easily launch and transition between VR applications without taking the headset off, really makes the experience magical. 

The Gear VR is powered by the new Oculus Mobile SDK, and also uses variations of the Oculus Tracker and firmware built into the headset for extremely accurate, ultra-low latency 3DOF tracking. It’s impossible to deliver a high quality mobile experience without this kind of deep end-to-end hardware, software, and firmware optimization. As a result, we’ve been able to achieve sub-20 millisecond motion-to-photons latency, roughly equivalent to the most highly optimized experiences on DK2. 

Using the Gear VR is very similar to using the Oculus Rift: it's a completely immersive experience that detaches you from your real environment. But unlike the Rift, there are no wires tethering you and the Gear VR to a computer, so you can freely move about and walk around.  And since you strap the Gear VR to your head, you don't have to hold up to your face the entire time like Google Cardboard.  

The only information on availability is "this year," and there is no price just yet; it'll be available for purchase online and through "select carriers." Considering how low-tech Gear VR is, and the fact that Samsung's pushing a product into a market that doesn't really exist just yet, I expect the company will aim as low as possible in terms of pricing. 

Read More: OculusVR

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Smartest Smartwatch ever: Introducing Samsung Gear S

So here we are with Samsung's sixth — yes, a full half-dozen — smartwatch, Samsung Gear S but unlike most smartwatches, the Gear S has two very special features. The first is a curved 2-inch, AMOLED display, and the second is 3G connectivity, allowing the smart watch to be used independent of a smartphone. 

A fast look at the specifications, Gear S has a curved display measuring in at a 260×480 resolution, and under the hood you’ll find a GPS sensor, an accelerometer, gyroscope, UV detector, barometer, and heart rate monitor, alongside 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM. It’s all powered by a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor and Tizen, Samsung’s own mobile operating system.  

Sporting its own 3G connection, the watch can be used independently of your smartphone, unlike the majority of smartwatches on the market. Users can receive messages, emails, get directions, and even make calls all with the smartwatch itself, which is being debuted alongside the Samsung Circle Bluetooth headset. 

Samsung says it has more than 1,000 apps in its store that will work with the Gear S. 

The biggest issue with the Gear S, is that it’s too big for most people, and still a little awkward to use. Also the bands the company is offering to go with the Gear S are way too wide and heavy to look very good on your wrist. Beyond its bulk, is that, like Samsung’s initial Gear smartwatches (not the current models that run Android Wear), it works only with Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones. Don’t have a Galaxy phone? Then no watch for you. 

The biggest road bump that Gear S will feel will be form Moto 360, LG G Watch R and the rumoured Apple’s iWatch. Since the first two doesn’t have any restrictions like that of “Galaxy Smartphone” they already have upper hand at Gear S. Although pricing is not announced, Gear S will be available in October in Korea. 

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