Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC Corporation has joined hands with Qualcomm to come up with a solitary unit of Vive virtual reality headset exclusively for consumers in China. The device has been tagged as a premium merchandise and will supposedly run apps from HTC's Viveport. It is powered by Snapdragon 835 Soc and will be in the line of high-end tethered headsets.
HTC has not revealed any further information regarding the headset that is branded by the name of HTC Vive Standalone. HTC will share the cost, technical specifications and release date of the device in months to come. The device was introduced at the ChinaJoy entertainment expo.
HTC Google Daydream is a similar product that also awaits release. The two gizmos look identical and the only difference they might cater is the Daydream's reliability on Google Play for apps and games whereas HTC Vive will have a Viveport support. It is only logical since China has banned Google services and Play Store is occasionally available to masses.
Recently there was news about Oculus partnering with Xiaomi to come up with an all-in-one headset for the Chinese market. Oculus Rift has had a shoddy history and the failure of its headsets has rather motivated it to explore global markets with unexplored opportunities.
HTC, on the other hand, enjoys a fan base in China and a headset independent of a smartphone or a PC is certainly an interesting piece of a device from consumer's point of view. It also makes for a great venture opportunity and it will solely depend on the marketing strategy of the products.
