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On this day 8 years ago, Oculus Rift CV1 was released
Surprisingly, the original Oculus Rift headset holds up well in 2024
If you're in the market for a new VR headset, there are a ton of options available today. However, the situation was radically different a few years ago, when the computing space was filled with clunky, underpowered, and overpriced headsets. All that changed in the mid-2010s, when Oculus began crafting modern VR head-mounted displays, or HMDs.
Meta drops support for original Quest and says it will remove key features
Bad news for original Quest owners, as Meta has announced that it will remove key features and wind down support for the headset.
Unfortunately, original Quest owners were sent an email from Meta notifying them of upcoming changes that would effectively cripple the headset's experience. In an attempt to soften the blow, Meta first thanked its loyal Quest 1 users first before stating that it will no longer be delivering new features to the headset. Furthermore, it announced changes that will be going into effect on March 5, 2023, effectively severing support for Meta Quest Home social features, which means users will no longer be able to invite users to their home or head to a friend's home after the previously mentioned date in March.
Meta accounts are finally rolling out to Quest VR users
After a long wait, Quest VR users will now have the option to create a Meta account. Prevoiusly, users were required to use Facebook.
Back in July, Meta announced that it would no longer require its Quest VR users to sign up and log in with a Facebook account. The company announced plans to introduce Meta accounts giving users more flexibility. Well, four weeks into August, the company has finally made the new accounts available.
Meta reportedly gives up on replacement operating system for VR devices
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has reportedly paused work on its operating system for VR and AR products.
Even before the company was purchased by Facebook (now 'Meta'), Oculus VR headsets were powered by an Android-based operating system. Every self-contained Oculus product since then has used the same software platform, but according to a new report from The Information, Meta has now shut down a 300-person team that was developing a replacement.
You can now root your Oculus Go VR Headset, at least partially
You can now gain root access on the Oculus Go via Chainfire's SuperSU. This is helpful if you want to make system-level modifications.
Oculus -- a part of Facebook Meta makes some great VR headsets for gaming. The Oculus Go was a standalone VR headset from the company which was discontinued last year in favor of the Oculus Quest 2. If you're familiar with the way standalone VR headsets work, you would be aware of the fact that they run a version of Android. The Oculus Go also belongs to that category. Given that it runs a build of Android, there's now a way to (partially) root your Oculus Go.
The Oculus Quest 2 was my best Tech Purchase of the Year, and you should also consider one
The Oculus Quest 2 was my best tech purchase of the year. Find out why I love it and how it completely changed my perception of VR gaming!
Virtual Reality, more commonly referred to as VR, is a concept that has been around for some time now. While consumer VR headsets were first made available way back in the 1990s, it wasn't until two decades later that the tech started to get some shape and gain popularity. In 2014, Google launched Google Cardboard, a DIY project to further familiarize the masses with the concept of VR. Google Cardboard was a platform that enabled consumers to experience VR in a cost-effective way. It involved using your smartphone with a piece of cardboard and a couple of lenses to create an immersive effect.
Oculus Quest 2 goes back on sale with double the storage for the same price
Oculus Quest 2 sales were briefly halted due to a recall, but a new version of the headset with more storage is available at the same price.
Facebook has announced that the Oculus Quest 2 is back on sale after a brief hiatus, and the new version of the VR headset will feature expanded internal storage for the same price. You can now purchase the Quest 2 headset again from the Oculus website, though at the moment, only the $299 base model is on sale.
New Oculus Quest update brings multitasking and wireless streaming to the original headset
A new Oculus Quest update is rolling out which adds mutlitasking and wireless streaming for the original Quest VR headset.
Facebook has rolled out the v30 update for the Oculus Quest and the Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets, bringing a new multitasking interface for Infinite Office, accessibility improvements, and more. Apps can be placed side-by-side, so you can multitask between apps like Explore, Store, Browser, Events, Oculus TV, Oculus Move, Scoreboards, and more. If you own the original Quest, then v30 is an even bigger update, as wireless streaming over Air Link can now be enabled too. Keep in mind that Facebook tends to slowly roll out updates, so you might not get it immediately. It doesn't seem to bring advertisements to everyone yet, though, which is definitely a plus.
Facebook tests showing ads within the Oculus Quest because of course they will
Facebook will soon start testing in-headset ads on the Oculus Quest, breaking Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey's promise.
When Facebook acquired Instagram back in 2012, Mark Zuckerberg pledged to keep the photo-sharing app independent. "We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook," he wrote in a statement at the time. Then, following the WhatsApp acquisition in 2014, WhatsApp's co-founder Jan Koum had said, "WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently...There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product." Today, we're well aware of how meaningless these statements are. But back then, people had some hope that Facebook wouldn't interfere with these companies' operations.
You may soon be able to officially install Android apps on the Oculus Quest 2
New evidence suggests Oculus Quest 2 owners may soon be able to officially install Android apps on the VR headset.
The Oculus Quest 2 has access to a wide variety of apps and games that are available through a specially curated store, and the number of apps you can download might get a lot larger. That’s because new evidence suggests Quest 2 owners may soon be able to officially install Android apps on the VR headset.
Oculus Quest 2 update introduces Air Link feature and 120Hz mode
Oculus has announced a number of new features for the Quest 2, including a way to wirelessly play PC VR games on the headset.
Oculus has announced a number of new features for the Quest 2, including a way to wirelessly play PC VR games on the headset. The company said its v28 software update will be available to users soon.
Oculus is bringing multi-user accounts and app sharing to the Quest
Facebook-owned Oculus is bringing options to add extra users to your VR headset and share app purchases, as it tries to expand usage.
Facebook-owned Oculus has announced plans to bring two of its most-requested features to the Oculus Quest VR headset. (Sadly, neither is the ability to log in without a Facebook account). Multi-User accounts, which will allow several accounts to log into the same device, and app sharing, which allows those users to access each other's apps.
Facebook unveils the Oculus Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2, 90Hz refresh rate for $299
Facebook has officially unveiled the Oculus Quest 2, a new VR headset that will retail for $299 and be available on October 13.
Facebook-owned Oculus on Wednesday officially introduced the Quest 2, the company's second-generation standalone virtual reality headset. It's launching October 13 at a starting price of $299 for the base model—that’s $100 less than the original Quest. Interested buyers can pre-order the Oculus Quest 2 beginning today.
Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 will have Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2, according to a leaked promo video
Leaked promo videos have revealed Facebook's Oculus Quest 2, a brand new VR headset that will include better specs and an improved design.
Leaked promotional videos have revealed Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, which could be available as early as this week. The videos were accidentally published to Facebook Blueprint, the company's e-learning platform, before they were taken down (via The Verge).
A Facebook account will be required to use Oculus VR in the future
Facebook-owned VR platform Oculus will soon require users to log into their VR devices using a Facebook account.
Popular VR platform Oculus has announced that the company's VR headsets will soon require users to log in with a Facebook account, much to the dismay of Oculus users worldwide. In a blog post on the matter, the Facebook-owned company said that the change will go into effect starting October 2020 and new users will need a Facebook account to use their VR devices while existing users will have to merge their existing Oculus account with their Facebook account.
Here's what Facebook's new Oculus Quest will look like
A series of leaks reveal the design of the upcoming Oculus Quest 2020 along with the tentative launch date of September 15th.
Since Facebook took over Oculus VR Inc. in 2014, the company has released two standalone VR headsets. Oculus Quest is the newer one out of the two and was launched in mid-2019. This headset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and has OLED displays with 1440×1600 resolution per eye and a refresh rate of 72Hz. Following this, Oculus has reportedly been working on a revamped version of the Quest VR headset with 90Hz displays. Now, it looks like the upcoming Oculus Quest with 90Hz displays has been revealed in a bunch of leaked renders and hands-on images.
Samsung is killing off its XR service and VR Video apps
According to a recent update on the Samsung XR website, the company will kill off its XR service and VR Video apps by September 30, 2020.
Samsung has been a dominant player in the mobile VR space thanks to the Samsung Gear VR, which was made in collaboration with Oculus VR — the makers of the popular standalone VR headset Oculus Rift. The company was known for offering Gear VR headsets with its previous Samsung Galaxy flagships, but that ended with the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ that launched in August last year, as both devices were incompatible with Gear VR. Then in October 2019, the company pulled the Gear VR from its online store and it was no longer available on Amazon or Best Buy in the U.S. Now, according to a recent report from CNET, Samsung is killing off its XR service and VR video apps.
Facebook is making a new Oculus Quest standalone VR headset that's smaller and refreshes at 90Hz
According to a new report, Facebook is working on a successor to the Oculus Quest. It will be smaller, lighter and will support higher refresh rate. Read on
In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR Inc. for $2 billion, twice of what it paid for Instagram. In its early days, Oculus's VR efforts were largely focused on PC gaming. But that finally changed under Facebook and the company went on to launch Oculus Go, its first standalone VR headset that didn't need to be tethered to a PC. The Oculus Go was developed in collaboration with Xiaomi. It was powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC and featured an LCD with a resolution of 1280x1440 per eye and 60Hz refresh rate (and optionally going up to 72Hz). In mid-2019, Facebook followed up with the Oculus Quest, its second standalone VR headset. The Quest is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and has a PenTile OLED display at 1440x1600 resolution per eye and refreshed at 72Hz. Now, a report from Bloomberg has revealed that there’s a third standalone VR headset on the horizon.