Update: An update to the TPCAST website claims the Vive system adds less than 2 milliseconds of latency, and HTC addressed skepticism surrounding the accessory.
Yesterday we brought you news that HTC and Vive X company TPCAST were planning to release a wireless upgrade kit for the HTC Vive, with pre-orders going live today. Clearly, a lot of you wanted one.
Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive at HTC, told UploadVR that the kit had completely sold out of its initial stock, set to ship in Q1 2017, in 18 minutes. Pre-orders went live just over an hour ago at 7 a.m. Pacific. The device was only available to pre-order through Vive’s Chinese website, but Graylin previously confirmed that anyone across the globe could order one through there.
The upgrade kit has two SKUs, one of which has an extended battery. Only the standard model was available to pre-order. Graylin stated that the model with the larger battery should be available in Q1 too, though it won’t be a part of the first production run, meaning these sold out units will likely be shipped first. HTC is prioritizing existing Vive owners, and the purchase process asked for the serial number of your unit. Graylin said another wave of pre-orders may arrive next month, and that they might be more accessible to international customers.
TPCAST’s product is an accessory that attaches to the Vive and wirelessly connects to a PC, allowing you to play any Vive game without having to physically tether the headset to the machine. Graylin told us that there was “no noticeable difference” when using the kit compared to a regular Vive, though we haven’t been able to go hands-on yet to verify that for ourselves. A translation of TPCAST’s website notes that the kit has a “lowest latency” of 15ms, however.
We have plenty of other questions about the kit, and we can’t wait to try it for ourselves.
