HTC will be ready to take pre-orders for the HTC Vive come Feb. 29, although the virtual reality devices might not be available until April 2016.
HTC CEO Cher Wang told The Telegraph that the date is confirmed to be the day that virtual reality fans can start putting in pre-orders for the upcoming HTC Vive, the company's take on the virtual reality headset. The Vive has been under development by HTC with the help of game developer Valve for the past couple of months. The VR headset is set to compete with Facebook-backed Oculus and their Oculus Rift, and Sony's Playstation VR.
At the recently concluded CES 2016, a second generation of the HTC Vive was presented showing a more compact design and some additional features. One of the more notable additions is the Chaperone, which is a smart sensor made available through a front-camera that prevents headset users from bumping into walls, shelves or any other obstacles.
According th HTC Vive's official blog, HTC made 5 demo rooms available to give eager fans a first hand experience of the virtual reality experience that the Vive would provide. The HTC Vive Pre, which is what the company is calling the second generation prototype, also has improved visual system with brighter and more stable displays. The headset has also seen a redesign as edges have been refined and the fit made more comfortable.
As HTC and VR fans start putting in their orders for the Vive come this Feb. 29, they will need to wait a while longer before the systems start getting shipped out. It's still believed that the Vive will start shipping out in April.
There is still no news on how much the Vive will sell for, but it's expected that HTC will be announcing that soon to allow buyers some time to pool some money together considering that VR headsets still don't come cheap. Oculus recently revealed the price point of the Rift to be $599, and there are reports that the Vive could be the same price or even more expensive.
