Consumer electronics company HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday unveiled the HTC Vive Focus, a standalone virtual-reality (VR) headset, at the Vive Developer Conference in Beijing.
The Vive Focus, promoted as the first of its kind to reach the market, has a wireless, tangle-free design and comes with a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon 835 processor, a high-resolution active matrix organic LED display and “six-degrees-of-freedom” tracking.
While the Vive Focus is a standalone device that is not connected to a computer or a smartphone, it has many of the same features as a high-end device, HTC said.
Photo: CNA
“You can essentially do most of the things that you could do on a high-end machine on a standalone,” HTC Vive China president Alvin Wang Graylin (汪叢青) said.
HTC has over the past year dominated the VR market in China, with the HTC Vive taking an 82 percent share in the third quarter of this year.
HTC is to continue to focus on the Chinese market for the rest of the year, Wang said, citing the company’s release of the Vive Wave VR open platform in Beijing alongside the Vive Focus.
Vive Wave VR has been described as “Daydream for China,” in reference to Google’s Daydream VR platform.
Vive Wave VR is utilized by the Vive Focus and features content built specifically for the platform by more than 35 Chinese and international VR content developers.
The platform also features an open interface that allows interoperability among numerous mobile VR headsets and accessories.
Twelve hardware partners, including Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Pimax, Nubia Technology Co Ltd (努比亞) and iQiyi (愛奇藝), have reportedly pledged their support for the integration of Vive Wave VR into their future products.
As HTC continues to focus on the Chinese market, it has decided not to launch a standalone VR headset this year that uses Google’s Daydream.
HTC will not be able to launch a Daydream-compatible product in time for the year-end holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, where Daydream is the VR platform of choice, HTC VR new technology division vice president Raymond Pao (鮑永哲) said.
Separately, HTC has issued an invitation to VR and augmented-reality developers worldwide to participate in its Viveport Developer Awards, which are to recognize creativity and innovation in the field, as the company continues its efforts to build its own VR ecosystem.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RSS