T-Mobile reportedly set to launch data-only plans on March 30

T-Mobile is reportedly set to start offering new data-only plans for those who would rather skip the voice portion of their cell service. According to a leaked document obtained by TmoNews, T-Mobile will launch the so-called Simple Choice Data Only plans on March 30 with a variety of data bucket sizes and unlimited texts.

The options start out at $20 per month for 2GB of data and cap out at $95 per month for 22GB. Aside from that 22GB option, the prices and data buckets line up with the tablet plans that T-Mobile currently offers.

Data-only plans would offer an interesting option for a number of smartphone users who communicate more via text and services like Google Hangouts and Skype than over traditional voice calls. In any case, we should find out what T-Mobile has in store on March 30.

Sony PS4.5 might arrive with support for 4K games ahead of PSVR launch

It looks like that 4K version of the PS4 will arrive sooner rather than later.

Kotaku reported earlier this month that Sony has been developing a PS4 with more graphical power so that games can run at 4K resolution. It might not be an entirely new console but a new device/add-on that’ll bring the much-needed power boost. Whatever it ends up being, it is currently going by the name PS4.5 and will include an updated GPU to support 4K resolution for games and more processing power for VR games.

The Wall Street Journal has now added to that report, claiming the upgraded version of Sony’s console will be unveiled before PlayStation VR launches in October. The upcoming device will support 4K graphics and come with extra power to handle virtual reality experiences from the PlayStation VR. So, you can expect an updated processor and GPU, bu we don’t yet know when exactly it will launch nor for how much.

The new PS4 at this point seems to be a mid-cycle upgrade rather than an add-on device as first speculated. Either way, most people are losing their minds at the idea of a Sony releasing an upgraded console, especially so soon after releasing the PS4. It debuted in late 2013 and is already considered to be aging/outpaced by modern gaming PCs. Many expected it would be another six years before Sony updated the console.

Although lengthy breaks between upgrades tend to be the standard when it comes to videogame-console releases, Microsoft recently talked about hardware innovations in the console space, leading some to question whether it is considering a mid-cycle upgrade for the Xbox One too.

All we know so far is that, by supporting 4K resolution (four times the pixel size of 1080p), the PS4 would be able to round out its high-res capabilities. It currently outputs 4K photos and videos, but not for games.

Girl’s superhero-inspired 3D-printed arm spews out glitter

When Jordan Reeves was given the chance to create her own superhero-inspired prosthetic arm, she conjured up something other 10-year-old girls can only dream of. She designed a cannon that can slip into her left arm that stops above her elbow and shoot sparkly ammunition: glitter. Jordan designed her “weapon” named Project Unicorn when she participated in nonprofit KIDmob’s and 3D software company Autodesk’s Superhero Cyborgs program in San Francisco. It connected kids with who needed prosthetic arms with engineers who helped them realize their own superhero-inspired designs.

Jordan and the other participants used Autodesk’s 3D design tools, including user-friendly 3D modeler Tinkercad and Fusion 360, to test their prototypes. They then 3D printed actual, working versions of their creations. Kids like Jordan can have fun with their prosthetics, since it’s not advisable to get more expensive ones until they’re old enough not to outgrow them.

Non-profit group Limbitless Solutions once 3D-printed an Iron Man gauntlet for a seven-year-old kid. A startup called Open Bionics is also working on 3D-printed arms inspired by Star Wars, Iron Man and Frozen’s Elsa. While Jordan thinks her cannon is fun and exciting, she says she’d love to have something more practical, as well. Something that can hold her phone and carry heavy things like groceries. According to Fast Company, Autodesk designer Sam Hobish is helping her create a more useful modular arm, so she can swap out her cannon whenever she needs to.

Via: PopSci

Source: Fast Company, Superhero Cyborgs

NASA’s flying methane meter built for Mars finds work on Earth

Just as new military technologies often trickle down to civilian uses, a high-tech methane detector originally developed to detect gases on Mars has found a new role here on Earth. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab built the the Open Path Laser Spectrometer (OPLS) and have affixed it to a standard quadcopter. And given that greenhouse gas emissions are currently at a 30-year high, according to the UN, this pipeline inspector can’t come soon enough.

A team of JPL researchers teamed with UC Merced’s Mechatronics, Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) Lab performed initial flight tests of the airborne, gas-sniffing system in late February. These tests involved flying the sensor rig past methane-filled containers at specific distances to gauge the device’s accuracy. However, even from the sky, NASA found its methane meter to be more accurate than the current generation of handheld (or wearable) meters employed by industry inspectors.

“These tests mark the latest chapter in the development of what we believe will eventually be a universal methane monitoring system for detecting fugitive natural-gas emissions and contributing to studies of climate change,” Lance Christensen, OPLS principal investigator at JPL, said in a statement.

Should the system get the go ahead from regulators, it could significantly reduce the amount of effort needed to inspect America’s 300,000-odd miles of natural gas pipelines, not to mention cattle and hog farms, wastewater treatment facilities and other greenhouse gas hotspots.

Source: NASA

What’s on your HDTV: ‘Archer,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ season finale

This week Archer season seven premieres on FX, while The Walking Dead prepares for its season finale. Of course, VR games have arrived including Adr1ft, while the new Rollercoaster Tycoon comes to PCs via early access, and Resident Evil 6 arrives on the new generation of consoles. We also have a day-and-date Ultra HD Blu-ray release, as Concussion is available in 1080p or Ultra HD and, of course, the new Star Wars movie will be available via digital outlets starting Friday, before the Blu-ray arrives next week — I have a (legit) early copy, and it’s as excellent as you would expect. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (VOD – April 1st)
• A Clockwork Orange (Netflix)
• Bob’s Burgers (S5), (Netflix)
• Scrooged (Netflix)
• The Hateful Eight
• Archer (S6)
• Concussion (4K)
• Point Break (3D)
• Humans (S1)
• Big Bad Mama
• Bicycle Thieves (Criterion)
• The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 5 (Everything)
• MLB The Show 16 (PS3, PS4)
• RBI Baseball 2016
• Rollercoaster Tycoon World (PC – Early Access)
• Adr1ft (PC)
• Gunjack (PC)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4, Xbox One)
• Tropico 5 Penultimate Edition (Xbox One)
• Killer Instinct (PC)
• No Time to Explain (PS4)
• The Elder Scrolls Online: The Thieves Guild DLC (Xbox One, PS4)

Monday

• 11.22.63, Hulu, 3AM
• Dancing with the Stars, ABC, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• Gotham, Fox, 8PM
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW, 8PM
• The Fosters (season finale), Freeform, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
• Only the Dead See the End of War, HBO, 9PM
• The Haunting Of: Kesha, Lifetime Movie Network, 9PM
• Bates Motel, A&E, 9PM
• Everything is Copy, HBO, 9PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• James May’s Build a Car in 24 Hours, BBC America, 9PM
• Damien, A&E, 10PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 10PM
• Better Call Saul, AMC, 10PM
• Billion Dollar Wreck, History, 10PM
• Bitten, Syfy, 11PM

Tuesday

• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• Fresh Off the Boat, ABC, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• Real O’Neals, ABC, 8:30PM
• Deadliest Catch (season premiere), Discovery, 9PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9PM
• The Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 9PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 9PM
• Heartbeat, NBC, 9PM
• The Grinder, Fox, 9:30PM
• The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special, CBS, 10PM
• Stitchers, Freeform, 10PM
• Awkward, MTV, 10PM
• Crowded, NBC, 10PM
• Beyond the Tank, ABC, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, FX, 10PM
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Faking It, MTV, 10:30PM

Wednesday

• This is Not Happening, Comedy Central, 12:30AM
• The Path (series premiere), Hulu, 3AM
• The Middle, ABC, 8PM
• Heartbeat, NBC, 10PM
• Unsung Hollywood, TV One, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Rosewood, Fox, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8:30PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• Empire (spring premiere), Fox, 9PM
• Modern Family, ABC, 9PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9:30PM
• The Americans, FX, 10PM
• Internet Ruined My Life, Syfy, 10PM
• The Carmichael Show, NBC, 10PM
• Hap & Leonard, Sundance, 10PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10PM
• Broad City, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CBS, 10PM
• States of Undress (series premiere), Viceland, 10PM
• Nashville, ABC, 10PM
• Underground, WGN, 10PM
• MTV Suspect, 11PM

Thursday

• You, Me, and the Apocalypse (season finale), NBC, 8PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• American Idol, Fox, 8PM
• WWE SmackDown, USA, 8PM
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 8PM
• Life in Pieces (season finale), CBS, 8:30PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• Prey, BBC America, 9PM
• The Eighties (series premierE), CNN, 9PM
• Archer (season premiere), FX, 10PM
• Rush Hour (series premiere), CBS, 10PM
• The Catch, ABC, 10PM
• The Real World: The Big Leap, MTV, 10PM
• Shades of Blue (season finale), NBC, 10PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 10PM
• Adam Devine’s House Party, Comedy Central, 12:30AM

Friday

• The Ranch (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Lost & Found Music Studios (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Dead 7, Syfy, 8PM
• Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 8PM
• Grimm, NBC, 9PM
• Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
• Motive (season premiere), USA, 10PM
• Banshee (season premiere), Cinemax,
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals, HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• World Figure Skating Championships, NBC, 9PM
• Party Over Here, Fox, 11PM
• Saturday Night Live: Peter Dinklage/Gwen Stefan, NBC, 11:30PM

Sunday

• Cooper Barrett’s Guide Surviving Life, Fox, 7:30PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 8PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
• Little Big Shots, NBC, 8PM
• Call the Midwife, PBS, 8PM
• The 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, CBS, 8PM
• The Circus, Showtime, 8PM
• The 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards, TBS, 8PM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 8:30 & 9PM
• Grantchester, PBS, 9PM
• The Carmichael Show, NBC, 9PM
• Vinyl, HBO, 9PM
• The Walking Dead (season finale), AMC, 9PM
• Crowded, NBC, 9:30PM
• Mr. Selfridge, PBS, 10PM
• Elementary, CBS, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10:30PM
• Quantico ABC, 10PM
• Togetherness, HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

(All times listed are ET)

Leaked photos show the Huawei P9 from all angles

Though it’s not the first look we’ve had at the Huawei P9, some new leaked photos show what is reported to be the Chinese manufacturer’s upcoming smartphone at all angles. The shots below, first reported by 9to5Google, once again show off the Huawei P9’s dual rear camera setup, what looks to be a USB Type-C port and the rear fingerprint sensor.

Huawei has already announced that it will be holding an event on April 6, and it’s expected we’ll get our first official look at the P9 there. As for what the phone may be packing, prior rumors point to the possibility of a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a Kirin 950 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a large 3,900mAh battery.

Be sure to check out all of the pictures in the gallery below, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Pichai unveiled Cardboard before seeing the final design

Deep within a long, expansive profile piece about Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, BuzzFeed’s Mat Honan has offered a fresh tidbit about the unveiling of Google Cardboard. Clay Bavor, VP for virtual reality at Google, says he was summoned to Pichai’s office in 2014, eight and a half weeks before the company’s I/O developer conference. Pichai was impressed with Bavor’s work and told him to get Cardboard ready for a launch at the event.

With such a tight timescale, Pichai wasn’t able to keep tabs on the project. “He said, ‘Okay, Clay, run,’ and he didn’t see me, or Google Cardboard, for the next eight and a half weeks,” Bavor recounts to Honan. The idea originally was to put a headset in each of the swag bags handed out at the registration desk, but the night before, Pichai had a change of heart. He wanted to announce Cardboard on stage, during his keynote, and then have Google’s employees hand them out to delegates afterwards.

“He had not even seen the final version of it, or the final version of the software.”

The decision was made and at 11pm, a mad scramble ensued to make it so. The next day, as we know, it was launched without a hitch. “He stood up onstage and announced this product,” Bavor recalls, “and he had not even seen the final version of it, or the final version of the software.” Pichai had put his complete trust in Bavor and the team working on Cardboard.

The rest of Honan’s piece is equally insightful. It delves into Pichai’s history, growing up in India and working through the ranks at Google. His not-so-undercover exploration of CES and a speech at the University of New Delhi stadium provide a snapshot into his busy schedule and how he’s running one of the most important technology companies in the world.

Source: BuzzFeed

Uber recruits engineers with coding puzzles during rides

Uber knows it has a captive audience during rides, and is trying to pick out the coders among them with a new app feature called “Code on the Road.” It pops up in the main app and offers “hacker challenges” that are basically 60-second timed coding and debugging tests. Some riders offered the quizzes (like Twitter user Graham Gnall, below) actually work as engineers, but Uber assures Business Insider that it’s not tapping any personal info. Rather, it’s rolling out the feature in cities with large numbers of tech workers, so you might see it in places like Boston, Seattle and Portland.

If you take the relatively simple tests and show coding aptitude, you’ll be offered an email address to apply for an engineering position. “The option to play gives interested riders the opportunity to show us their skills in a fun and different way — whether they code on the side or are pursuing a career as a developer,” a spokesperson says. Uber has been recruiting engineers and researchers lately as it tries to develop new tech, including self-driving vehicles. It also launched a $10,000 bug bounty program aimed at improving the security of its app and technology.

Playing uber’s hacker challenge in the backseat. Beats snake. pic.twitter.com/BXdhmno6xH

— Graham Gnall (@GGnall) March 12, 2016

Via: The Verge

Source: Business Insider

Pre-order the first Ubuntu Linux tablet

If you’ve been talking a lot about using Ubuntu Linux away from your PC — or using a mobile device as your PC — you now get to put your money where your mouth is. BQ has started taking pre-orders for both the HD and full HD versions of the Aquarius M10, the first official Ubuntu tablet. Shell out a respective €259 ($289) or €299 ($335) and you’ll get a 10-inch slate using Canonical’s open source software, which can switch to a desktop PC mode when you attach an external display, keyboard and mouse.

As you might have guessed from the names, what you pay mostly dictates the screen quality. The HD model is frugal, with a 1,280 x 800 display and a modest 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor. Splurge on the full HD version and you’ll get both a sharper 1,920 x 1,200 panel and a speedier 1.5GHz chip. Neither is especially powerful between their 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, rear 8-megapixel camera and front 5-megapixel cam. However, they might still scratch the itch if you crave something Linux-based besides Android — just be ready to wait until the second week of April to get yours.

Via: Phoronix

Source: BQ (HD model), (full HD model)

Oculus Rift review: High-end VR is here — if you can pay

Phones and tablets are getting boring. And the excitement around smartwatches was, to put it kindly, short-lived. And then there was virtual reality. What used to seem like a science fiction pipe dream has, in the span of a few years, become the next potentially groundbreaking technology platform. So saying that the Oculus Rift has a lot to prove is an understatement. If it fails, it could destroy the virtual reality market before it even gets started. No big deal.

But after spending a week with the Oculus Rift, I have no doubt that its approach to virtual reality is indeed the real deal. It’s well built and easy to set up, and there are already a few games and apps that’ll make VR believers out of the most ardent naysayer. The only problem: It’s $600 and requires a powerful gaming PC. Just as with every new technological milestone, it has the potential to change the world. But at this early stage, only a few can afford it.

Hardware

The Oculus Rift is basically a head-mounted box holding two OLED displays (one for each eye) running 1,200 by 1,080 pixels at 90Hz. There’s an integrated gyroscope and accelerometer, and the headset also works together with the included IR sensor for 360-degree head tracking. Oculus has even added built-in headphones, and there’s a microphone embedded as well. But perhaps more important than all of that technology: The Rift is also light (around 0.8 pounds) and easily adjustable.

Indeed, after living with the second Oculus development kit for over a year, the consumer Rift feels like a major step forward. It even feels lighter than a Gear VR with a phone attached (no surprise, since the Rift doesn’t need much hardware on the headset.) There’s only one main cable leading from the headset, and it splits into USB 3.0 and HDMI cables. It’s far less cumbersome than the Vive Pre, which is heavier and has four long cables coming out of its headset.

You can adjust the Rift with three velcro straps: two on the side and one on the top. The headphones can also be maneuvered in a variety of ways to suit your ears, and you can take them out entirely if you’d rather use your own headphones. (As I explain below, that’s not really necessary.) There’s removable padding around the sides of the headset (Oculus also includes a replacement face pad), as well as soft cloth lining surrounding the actual displays. A sensor inside the headset turns on the displays when it’s covered (which avoids burning them out), and there’s also a small switch on the bottom to adjust the lenses to your pupillary distance.

Inside the (impeccably designed) box, you also get the aforementioned sensor with a desk stand (it can also be mounted on a tripod), a small Oculus remote and an Xbox One controller and wireless adapter. No, there aren’t any motion controllers yet. We’ve seen (and felt) them over the past few months, but Oculus still hasn’t announced when they’re coming or how much they’ll cost.

There’s not much to report about the Xbox One controller: It’s exactly the same as what comes with Microsoft’s console, and you’ll be relying on it as your main gaming controller. I’ve also been using Microsoft’s wireless controller adapter since it came out last year, and it goes a long way toward making PC gaming feel like just playing on a console. You use the Oculus remote to navigate apps while wearing the display, and it also lets you control the headphone volume.

Setup

Before you can do anything with the Rift, you need a Windows PC that can actually handle it. At the minimum, you’ll need to have an Intel Core i5 4590 (or equivalent) processor, 8GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD Radeon 290 video card. Those aren’t excessive specs — you’d find the same sort of hardware in a midrange gaming PC — but if you’ve got an older desktop, or you’re starting from scratch, it might cost you a bit to upgrade. To make things easier for newcomers, there are also “Oculus ready” PCs from the likes of Alienware, ASUS and Dell starting at around $1,000 with the purchase of a Rift. And of course, you’ll have to add at least another $200 for a monitor.

I spent most of my time with the Oculus on my home-built desktop PC, which is powered by an Intel Core i7 4790k CPU running at 4GHz, 16GB of 2400MHz DDR3 RAM and an R9 Fury X GPU on loan from AMD. (I chose most of those parts last year, aside from the video card, with the express purpose of being ready for the rise of VR. For once, I wasn’t burned by planning ahead.) I also received, from Oculus, an ASUS ROG G20 gaming PC powered by an NVIDIA GTX 970 for testing, which gave me a sense of how a slightly slower machine handled VR.

Once you’ve got a capable rig, it doesn’t take much to get the Oculus Rift up and running. Just plug the headset into a USB 3.0 port and HDMI port on your video card, then insert the sensor’s cable into another USB 3.0 port and place it somewhere on your desk. From there, the Oculus Windows app leads you through the process of configuring and customizing the Rift. You might be prompted to install some video card updates before you get started (I had to download some freshly baked Radeon beta drivers myself).

Learning how to put on the Rift, and customizing it to be comfortable for long periods, takes a bit longer. It’s extra difficult for me, since I need my glasses to fit comfortably under the headset. If you’re wearing contacts, or have good vision, the whole process will probably be a bit easier. I only had to adjust the side velcro straps once, but the top strap is something I’ve ended up readjusting every time I wear the Rift. After a couple of days, I figured out how to put on the headset pretty easily, though it still takes my glasses off whenever I remove it. Every. Single. Time.

The built-in headphones were surprisingly one of my favorite parts of the Oculus Rift. They swing up so they’re out the way when you’re putting on the headset, and they can articulate in many directions to fit a wide variety of ears. They also sound pretty great, with a decent amount of clarity and bass oomph. That’s not something you see very often with over-ear headphones. You can always remove them if you’d rather use your own, but I’ve always found it difficult to juggle a VR headset with extra audio gear. I wouldn’t be surprised if most Rift users just stick with them.

Software

You’ll have to rely on the Oculus app for just about everything, and thankfully, it’s pretty easy to use. It’s clean and well designed, with an overall layer of polish that’s surprising for a first-gen product. It highlights some games and apps from the Oculus store, but it’s also fairly simple to browse through categories or search through titles.

Taking a cue from every other app store out there, each entry includes screenshots and a description and also lists the VR comfort level. “Comfortable” describes games with little movement, “moderate” steps that up a bit, and “intense” is reserved for experiences where you may be running, jumping or turning your head quickly. The app store also lets you know if a gaming controller is required.

Naturally, the Oculus app also houses your entire library of content, and lets you configure settings for your headset. Grabbing content from the store is fairly straightforward, though you sometimes have to click through an extra dialog to finish installing an app (due to Windows permissions limitations).

Just a year ago, I was relying on ugly software with complicated settings every time I wanted to do something with the Oculus DK2. Just getting a game to launch properly in that headset was a chore. Now you just have to launch the Oculus desktop app, put on the headset, and pick your virtual poison. It’s that sort of ease of use that Oculus — or any VR company, really — must offer to appeal to consumers.

Putting on the Oculus Rift automatically launches a slightly more interactive version of the Oculus desktop app within the headset. You’ll be able to do everything you can with the desktop program, but you have the added advantage of easily jumping into games. You also return to the core Oculus application whenever you hit the home button on the remote, or the Xbox One remote. (Yes, it’s a bit weird that hitting the giant Xbox logo brings you into a Facebook-owned app.)

In use

Two words you’ll hear a lot when it comes to VR are “immersion and presence.” In this context, they refer to creating experiences that fully make you feel like you’re a part of a virtual world. Long before the Oculus was a glimmer in founder Palmer Luckey’s eye, VR researchers were focusing on these concepts. It’s worth remembering that the schlocky gear we saw in 1992’s The Lawnmower Man doesn’t look much different from what we’re seeing today.

So how does the final Oculus Rift hardware fare when it comes to the concepts of immersion and presence? Surprisingly well, it turns out. Over the past week, I’ve been a space pilot dogfighting in distant galaxies in Eve: Valkryie. I’ve been a part of a live-action Adventure Time story. And I’ve seen aliens up close up on their home planets with Oculus’ own Farlands. Of course, the quality of VR experiences varies, but it’s heartening to see some quality content so early in the game.

You do have to look beyond some limitations of the Oculus Rift to fully immerse yourself, though. Sometimes the resolution of the OLED displays can make things look noticeably pixelated (this is one area where 4K mobile displays are going to be a big help). The nature of the Oculus’ optics often makes the imagery shown on the sides of the displays blurrier than what’s in the center. You still have to deal with a long cable coming out of the headset. And of course, most of the time you’re still just sitting in a chair with an Xbox One controller. I haven’t yet tested out the final, consumer-ready version of the HTC Vive, but the Vive Pre developer kit ended up delivering even greater presence in some games with its motion controllers.

I didn’t run into any performance issues with my home PC, but most games are also smart enough to choose the best settings without stressing your system. I cranked the visual performance all the way up to “Ultra” in Eve: Valkryie and felt nothing but pride. I also had no complaints with the ASUS ROG G20 desktop, even though it was running a slightly slower video card.

One question I keep getting asked about VR: Will it make me sick? Fortunately for me, I’m not very susceptible to motion sickness, but I’ve talked to some people who feel woozy after even brief VR demos. If you’re the sort who needs to pack Dramamine when you travel, be sure to pay close attention to Oculus’ comfort levels. Oculus has also implemented a new feature called Time Warp that should help avoid some graphic issues that lead to motion sickness.

I was able to wear the Oculus Rift for about an hour typically without needing a break. Eventually, my face would get a bit sweaty and my eyes would start to feel dry. It might just be my sensitivity to light, but wearing any VR headset eventually makes me feel like I’m sitting through Clockwork Orange–esque torture. And, needless to say, I also learned that it’s not smart to spend time in VR ahead of bedtime. If blue light from our phones and computers can interfere with sleep, just imagine what a bright OLED screen right in front of your eyeballs does.

Games and apps

I basically had a smorgasbord of VR content at my fingertips while testing the Oculus Rift, but mostly I ended up returning to Eve: Valkyrie and Lucky’s Tale, both of which are bundled with the Rift. In fact, they’re impressive enough that I’d dare call them the first VR killer apps.

If you were a fan of the Battlestar Galactica reboot, or just always wanted a believable spaceship shooter, Eve: Valkyrie will make you a believer in VR. It’s the most graphically impressive VR title I’ve seen, with richly detailed space environments. I often simply flew around just to take in the scenery.

When the action gets hot and heavy, though, Eve also shows how VR lets you do things that would be impossible on a normal screen. To target enemies with your missiles, for example, you have to physically look in their direction with your headset. That leads to some truly head-turning maneuvers if they’re flying above or right beside you. I was also able to target enemies around me while also hammering away at the pour soul in front of me with my front guns.

Lucky’s Tale is far less violent; it’s more reminiscent of 3D Mario games (with a lead character who looks suspiciously like Tales from Sonic). You get a third-person camera view with the VR headset, and you control the main character as he hops around and fights enemies, just like a typical platformer. That may sound disappointing, but the game’s real beauty is in letting you simply look around.

Peering right usually shows you all of the obstacles ahead in a stage, and you can also look back on everything you’ve conquered. You can peer over ledges and, surprisingly, even lean down to get a closer look at character models and environments. (I particularly enjoyed getting a close look at small things, like butterflies floating around, or dandelion spores that get blown into the air.) Lucky even gets a bit cheeky when you try to get down close to him. It also helps that the game itself is genuinely fun to play, with a charming soundtrack and colorful environments.

Lucky’s Tale is a great example of how even third-person camera angles can benefit from VR. It’s not just about getting a first-person view; simply being able to look around and appreciate the scope of environments can add to a game’s presence. I also noticed something similar with the Adventure Time VR game, which isn’t as detailed as Lucky’s Tale but really makes you feel like a part of its cartoon world.

We’ve already written impressions about some of the 30 titles launching with the Oculus Rift, but I also dabbled in just about everything I could find. Chronos is a solid attempt at creating a Zelda-like adventure game, with a tad of Dark Souls in there for good measure. It also uses a third-person camera, but it’s in a fixed perspective, similar to the early Resident Evil games. Some of those angles were creative, but I would have preferred a free-floating camera like in Lucky’s Tale.

For a change of pace, there’s Into the Dead, an infinite running game that has you zipping through a field of zombies. It’s fairly simple: move left or right, acquire weapons, and try to avoid getting eaten by zombies. The gameplay is a bit limiting, but it still manages to make you feel like you’re surrounded by countless zombies. I also had fun with Radial-G, a futuristic racing game similar to Wipeout, as well as Project Cars, an elaborate racing simulation.

On the entertainment front, I sat through plenty of 360-degree videos in the Oculus Video app and JauntVR, as well as Oculus’ original VR series Henry and Lost. For the most part, they were all things I had already seen on the Gear VR and other demos, so they weren’t as exciting as fresh new games. It’ll be interesting to see if more companies start producing higher-quality 360-degree experiences, though. Right now, many of the VR videos are surprisingly low-res.

Since you have access to all of the same videos on the $100 Gear VR, watching any sort of media on the Oculus Rift almost feels like a waste. I’d rather be diving into virtual games that take full advantage of my computer’s hardware. VR videos are also far more suited to viewing on a completely wireless device like the Gear VR, rather than a complicated headset tethered by a cable.

Ultimately, the Oculus Rift proves that virtual reality is a viable way to experience games and new types of media. I’ve played games projected on a 100-inch screen, and that’s still not nearly as immersive as what the Rift provides.

The competition

Do I really have to spell this out? Over the next few months, it’ll be the Oculus Rift and HTC’s Vive, which is powered by Valve’s SteamVR platform, battling for VR dominance. At $800, the Vive is a bigger investment up front, but it also includes two motion controllers, sensors for room-scale VR and slightly better VR imaging technology. You’ll be paying more for the Oculus motion controllers later this year (and we still don’t know by how much). The Vive doesn’t come with an Xbox One controller, but that’s something most PC gamers probably already have lying around the house. The two platforms also share the same minimum specifications.

Really, your choice between the Oculus Rift and Vive comes down to games. The Rift comes bundled with Eve: Valkryie and Lucky’s Tale, while the Vive comes with Fantastic Contraption, Google’s Tilt Brush and Job Simulator. It wouldn’t be a platform war without exclusives, either. Right now, Lucky’s Tale will be exclusive to the Rift and, naturally, anything developed by Valve will stick with the SteamVR-powered Vive.

And of course, the PlayStation VR is coming this October for $400 to $500, depending on which bundle you get. That may be the easiest option for most gamers, since it requires just a PlayStation 4. But given that that console makes use of aging components, you won’t be reaching nearly the same level of graphical quality as you would with the Rift or Vive on a gaming PC.

Wrap-up

Even after spending the better part of a week with the Oculus Rift, it’s still hard to fathom that virtual reality is something I can just jump into at home. It’s almost as easy as flipping on a game console or turning on the radio. It’s even harder to believe that we have a first-generation technology product that mostly lives up to all of the hype, and decades of geek fantasies.

But as with any first-gen product, there are a few flaws with the Oculus Rift. The imaging technology still isn’t perfect, and it requires a significant amount of powerful gaming hardware. The price is understandable, given that it’s leading us into an entirely new form of computing. But it’s also hard to champion the Rift completely when few people can afford it. It’s the very definition of elite technology.

Hopefully in a few years, when the hardware gets cheaper, VR will have something for everyone. Right now, though, the important thing is that it actually exists.