Xiaomi launches Mi VR Play Headset for Rs 999 with Mi Live App

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

By tech2 News Staff /  12 Dec 2016 , 15:00

Xiaomi launched Mi VR Play headset on 11 December on Facebook as well as other social media channels like YouTube and the Xiaomi Mi Live App. Mi VR Play headset is the first VR headset by the company and it is priced at Rs 999. It will go on sale from 21 December. The headset is Google Cardboard compatible and will provide an immersive experience to the people wearing it.

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

One interesting thing to note is that the headset will incorporate a unique two-way zipper design with the entire thing made out of lightweight Lycra. The company has included Anti-reflective lenses to ensure that the Mi VR Play provides clear images through aspherical lenses. In addition, the headset comes along with a metal button for interaction.

Mi VR Play will support smartphones ranging from 4.7-inch to 5.7-inches. As outlined in the Livestream and later on the website, Mi VR Play headset is the easiest way to experience immersive theatre or cinema experience with compatible smartphones and headphones says Xiaomi.

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

In addition to the normal VR apps from third party developers, you can scan the QR code to download the Google Cardboard app and use the app along with Cardboard Camera app to experience new VR content until the time Google Daydream comes to budget smartphones. Some interesting apps that you can experience include YouTube VR app for 360-degree video content almost a host of games like VR Theatre.

Xiaomi also launched the new Mi Live app, a new live streaming app which will use content sourced from local content creators. The content creators will get a chance to showcase their talent to the Mi Live app users. Mi Live will also support VR content with the help of Mi VR Play headset. The company announced that the app will go online in India and China from today. Xiaomi also bragged that Mi Live is the only live streaming app in India to support VR live streaming. Currently, only the Android app is on Google Play Store, there was no announcement for the iOS version of the app.

Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer and Asus will ship Windows 10 VR headsets starting at $299

By tech2 News Staff /  27 Oct 2016 , 10:46

At the big Microsoft event held in New York, the company made its keen interest in virtual and augments reality, among other thing quite evident. Interestingly, the company also said that third-party vendors will now offer ‘affordable’ virtual reality (VR) headsets for Windows 10 PCs.

Acer, Asus, Lenovo, HP, and Dell are said to the companies that will begin offering the headsets soon, starting at $299 (roughly Rs 20,000). The headsets will offer users the experience of reality content like 3D version that has been customised in the new Paint 3D app on desktop.

“By supporting the launch of these new devices, Microsoft wants to avoid the cost and complexity of powerful VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, and even Microsoft’s own HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headset. And because they’ll work with Windows 10 PCs, they might not require all the high-end specs you’d find on a powerful desktop VR rig — a laptop may be just fine on its own,” VentureBeat explains.

Furthermore, these headsets are said to be the first to come with inside-out six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) sensors. “We are building Windows for each of us (and enabling) people to experience computing in new ways,” Chief Executive Satya Nadella said at a New York event to launch the new products.

According to reports, revenue for the Windows and computing unit fell 1.8 percent last quarter to $9.29 billion. It forecasts division sales of as much as $11.6 billion for this quarter, well below year-earlier results of $12.7 billion. However, Microsoft is riding high on its fast-growing cloud business, which companies can use to host their websites, apps or data. Shares of Microsoft have doubled since August 2013, with Nadella restoring investor confidence by focusing on mobile and cloud computing rather than PCs.

Sony’s PlayStation VR does work on PC and Xbox One, but it’s a crippled experience

By tech2 News Staff /  14 Oct 2016 , 17:43

Sony’s PlayStation VR headset is the cheapest VR headset around today. While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will set you back a whopping $799 each (with controllers), the PSVR will set you back by $550 (with all accessories). But there’s a catch.

Unfortunately, the PSVR headset is only compatible with Sony PlayStation 4 and later consoles and there’s no way to get the device running on a PC or laptop or other such device. Or is there?

Various reports have surfaced on Reddit indicating that the headset is indeed compatible with more than just the console. Apparently, you can simply plug your PSVR into any HDMI ready device, including an Xbox One, PC or even Nintendo Wii, and enjoy your game in a virtual 2D theatre of sorts on the PSVR.

There are theories as to why this works of course. The PSVR connects to the PS4 via HDMI, but not directly. There’s a processor unit in play, and it’s function isn’t entirely clear. Sony says that it handles virtual reality audio processing, but it also seems to determine if the headset is connected to a PS4 or not. Lacking such confirmation, the headset seems to be adapting all 2D video streams (that you’d see on a TV or monitor, to some kind of theatre experience. ArsTechnica gave the system a spin on the Xbox One and reported that the tracking capabilities don’t work. The virtual screen stays static. There is currently no way to get head-tracking or the controllers to work on the Xbox or PC.  

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ArsTechnica also points out that the Rift and Vive already have such modes, but those modes support tracking capabilities.

If the PSVR actually ends up working on PC—via a third-party hack or official support—it’s pricing alone might be enough to let Sony steal a march on HTC and Oculus.

Best Buy to host PlayStation VR midnight launch events at 350 stores

By Shawn Knight on September 29, 2016, 12:45 PM



Sony’s PlayStation VR headset is scheduled to arrive in just a couple of weeks. Looking to cater to those that absolutely can’t wait any longer than humanly possible, Best Buy on Thursday said it will be hosting midnight launch events at around 350 of its stores across the country.

Shane Kitzman, Best Buy’s media relations leader, said in a post on the company’s corporate website that select stores will open their doors at 12:01 a.m. EDT on October 13. This trickles down across time zones moving from east to west, meaning stores in the Central time zone will open at 11:01 p.m., 10:01 p.m. for Mountain Time and 9:01 p.m. on the West Coast.



This seems like the best approach versus each time zone opening their stores at 12:01 local time, resulting in people on the East Coast getting the peripheral three hours ahead of gamers on the West Coast.

You can check out Best Buy’s Gaming Events page to find a store near you. As I quickly discovered, 350 stores sounds like a lot but depending on where you live, you may be out of luck. The closest late-night opening in my area, for example, is more than four hours and two states away.

Kitzman said there will be limited quantities of its VR gaming accessory at each Best Buy store nationwide the next day in the event you can’t get to an early opening. Of course, there’s also the far more convenient option of ordering online and having it delivered on launch day.