During its Oculus Connect conference Facebook-owned Oculus showcased wireless Oculus Go and Santa Cruz wireless headsets.
| |  |  | | with Edward C. Baig | | Would life be better as an avatar? Facebook gives virtual reality one more push | | |  | | The chief roadblocks holding back virtual reality for the masses have been the basics: cost and comfort. The most compelling VR experiences require you to not only spend oodles of money but also to tether the headset to a computer or video-games console. | | At the Oculus Connect conference in San Jose, Calif., this past week, Facebook-owned Oculus took a promising step towards tackling both these issues with the announcement of an upcoming $199 wireless VR headset called Oculus Go. Think of it as an in-between self-contained VR headset. It doesn't require a phone, nor a hookup to a computer. Oculus plans to start shipping Go early next year. | | Oculus separately announced it was lowering the price of the earlier Oculus Rift headset to $399. | | Whatever positive buzz Oculus got out of Oculus Connect, not all the VR news from Facebook this past week came off well: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to apologize for a tone-deaf virtual tour of hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, using the socially-oriented Facebook Spaces VR app. | | Tech executives have been far bigger enthusiasts of virtual reality than the billions of users who can't leave their smartphones dormant for more than 5 minutes, but have shown little interest totally blacking out the real world. | | Will the consumer ever get on board? We'll see. For now, you can watch what it's like to become an avatar in Facebook's social VR space, via columnist Jennifer Jolly's report from inside the Facebook Spaces app. (Anyone find their legs?) | | Speaking of new realities, in other tech news this week… | | ---Richard Branson invested in Hyperloop One , the futuristic transportation system that is built around pods carrying passengers or cargo through a low-pressure tube at speeds as high as 700 miles per hour, suggesting you might someday be able to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about a half hour. The Hyperloop concept was concocted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Branson's fellow billionaire visionary. As part of the Virgin Group founder's investment, Hyperloop One gets rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One. Of course, there are various hurdles that must be addressed before any viable system becomes a commercial reality, from safety to regulatory hurdles. But Branson told CNBC that building could start in two years. | | ---Kindle Oasis: How badly do you love to read? Enough to read in the swimming pool or bathtub, perhaps? That's how Amazon hopes to make a splash with the pricey new Kindle Oasis e-reader it unveiled this week, the first Kindle that is waterproof. Oasis also incorporates the Audible audiobook service that Amazon owns and boasts a 7-inch screen that is larger than the 6-inch display on other Kindles. Alas, such features come at a lofty price: $249.99 on up. | | --Hulu initiated a price cut that drops the price of its entry-level plan with limited commercials to $5.99 a month, down from $7.99. The streaming service's plan with no commercials is still available for $11.99 a month. The price cut is only available for a limited time and is restricted to new customers. After the first year, the monthly price reverts to $7.99 price. Only a week earlier, rival Netflix raised prices. | | ---RIP Windows Phone: It has been a fait accompli for some time now. But a top Microsoft executive made the inevitable official: Windows Phones is dead. If you're one of the few people still using a Windows Phone, Microsoft says it will continue to support the platform, fix bugs, issue security updates. But you won't see any new Windows Phone hardware. | | --But wait, there was even more VR news: The National Basketball Association announced this week that it is pressing on with the technology, following up on the progress made last season. NBA Digital is teaming up with NextVR on a virtual reality schedule for the upcoming season featuring all NBA 30 teams. | | Subscribe to the #TalkingTech newsletter, usat.ly/2qaIVVQ, the #TalkingTech podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Tunein and wherever else you like to hear great online audio and follow Jefferson Graham @jeffersongraham and Edward Baig @edbaig on Twitter. | | | | | | | MOST SHARED USA TODAY STORIES | | | | Continued after advertisement | | | | | | | | | | | | | FOLLOW US Thank you for subscribing to Talking Tech. © 2017 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC.
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