At last week"s IFA trade show in Berlin, Samsung announced its new virtual reality headset, the Gear VR. Designed in collaboration with VR specialists Oculus (now part of the Facebook empire), Samsung doesn"t seem to have rocked the boat too much with its headset, but it is limited by one restricting factor.
The headset on its own is useless - in order for it to work, it needs a second device to acts as an internal display, and for now, the only device that it is supported to act as a screen with the Gear VR is Samsung"s recently announced flagship, the Galaxy Note 4.
VentureBeat had a chat with a Samsung spokesperson at the New York fashion week, who told them that the Gear VR will go on sale later this year for $199. In order to make it usable, though, you"ll have to add the Galaxy Note 4 to your shopping cart as well.
The new scribble-friendly phablet is expected to cost $299 on-contract, or $799 unsubsidized, potentially pushing the total cost of your Samsung virtual reality experience close to $1000.
It doesn"t look like the new Galaxy Note Edge - the version of the Note 4 that features an unusual display that curves around one edge of the device - will support the Galaxy VR, so if you"re planning to pick up the new headset, bear that in mind before you buy.
Source: VentureBeat