The Oculus powered Samsung Gear VR is coming soon; or at least the Innovator Edition is. Much like the Oculus Rift Developer Kit, this version of Samsung’s virtual reality headset is meant for enthusiasts and developers to get a head start on messing around with an early build of the hardware.
Samsung will be selling the Gear VR Innovator Edition for US$199, or US$249 in a bundle with a Bluetooth gamepad. Naturally, this does not include the Galaxy Note 4 that is necessary to make it all work. There are no alternatives for pairing the Gear VR, as Samsung has decided that it will only work with one device so far. It might not be too hard to imagine more smartphones being added to this list; but that is more likely to happen after the full launch of the headset.
At the moment, there are not too many apps available for the Gear VR; although whatever there is will be made free for users until Oculus is able to finalise the payment system on the Oculus Store. It should be noted that the Oculus Store will be the only way that users will be able to get apps for the Gear VR.
Samsung has already posted a page for developers to register for updates about the Gear VR, although it doesn’t quite list the regions in which the Innovator Edition will be made available. It should be safe to say that North America is on the list, but everywhere else may have to wait until Oculus is done with its development.
[Source: Oculus]
