HTC's Vive Goes Wireless With New Adapter; New High-Res Vive Pro Also Revealed

HTC has unveiled what's next for its PC virtual reality platform, Vive. As part of its CES announcements, HTC revealed an upgraded version of the Vive headset and a wireless adapter for both the new and existing headsets.

The aptly titled Vive Wireless Adaptor uses Intel WiGig technology and runs on the 60 Ghz band, which HTC describes as "interference-free" and will, as a result, provide "lower latency and better performance." A price was not shared, nor was an exact release date, but HTC said it will be the first to market. It's due out sometime in Q3, meaning it'll be out between July and September.

That will support both the existing Vive and the newly announced Vive Pro. This is described as a head-mounted display (HMD) upgrade "built for VR enthusiasts and enterprise users who want the best display and audio for their VR experiences." It offers two OLED displays with a combined resolution of 2880x1600, which is a 78% increase over the 2160x1200 resolution of the standard Vive. Thanks to that bump, HTC says "text, graphics, and [the] overall experience all come into sharper view."

Gallery

Vive Pro comes with integrated headphones and a built-in amplifier, as well as a new headstrap. This is meant to be more comfortable and can be customized with a sizing dial that reduces the amount of weight on the front of the headset, the company said. Pro also includes dual microphones with active noise cancellation and two front-facing cameras.

Again, a price and release date for the Vive Pro were not shared; those details will be provided "soon." Unfortunately, we didn't get even a release window for when to expect the premium headset.

Additionally, HTC announced an update for Viveport that will replace the existing 2D catalog the service provides. Instead, users will see "fully immersive interactive previews." These VR previews are "interactive glimpses of content that give customers a room-scale preview of an experience and the opportunity to interact with content before purchasing or subscribing."

Finally, HTC has released a new update for the Vive Video app. It improves the UI and adds new features, and content from Vimeo can also now be accessed right through the app.

For more from the event, check out our look at the coolest gaming hardware at CES 2018.