Last week HTC announced a new all-in-one head-mounted display (HMD), the Vive Standalone, would see release in China later this year. Today, a representative of the company has confirmed to VRFocus that this HMD is in fact the same announced at Google I/O back in May 2017.
The HTC Vive Standalone will include all processing and storage on-board the device itself, removing the need for a smartphone to be inserted into the HMD or tethering to a nearby PC. However, the only technical specification revealed thus far is that the device will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, and that the device will be packaged with a three degrees-of-freedom (3DoF) controller, similar to that of the Google Daydream controller.
At the time of the announcement many wondered how the HMD aimed towards the China market would differ from the previously announced unit for western audiences. VRFocus has confirmed that the differences will simply be that of software distribution; the China market will receive their content via Viveport while the western audiences will have access to the Google Daydream library. This alternate distribution chain is due to Google’s lack of penetration in China, according to a HTC representative.
Both versions of the HMD will launch within the 2017 calendar, though no specific dates or price points have yet been announced. VRFocus will be following developments on the HTC Vive Standalone very closely, and will keep you updated with further developments.
via Mint VR