Earlier this year Alcatel ventured into virtual reality when they launched the OneTouch Idol 4S. This was a handset that came in a box that also doubled up as a set of VR goggles. However if you’re not a fan of such a setup and would prefer something more complete and not have to rely on a smartphone, Alcatel might have something for you.
The company has announced the Alcatel Vision, a dedicated VR headset that does not require your smartphone for it to work. In fact if there is one advantage to this headset it is that it doesn’t even require you to connect it to a computer, unlike the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, as it is entirely self-powered since Alcatel basically stuffed the innards of a smartphone inside the device.
In terms of specs, we’re looking at dual 3.8-inch AMOLED displays with a resolution of 1080×1020 each. It is powered by an octa-core chipset with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and will come with the usual host of sensors such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and so on. There is also support for Bluetooth, LTE, WiFi, and it will run on Android Marshmallow.
Unfortunately pricing has yet to be determined but according to Mashable, they estimate it should cost between $500-$600. It will be first released in China towards the end of the year, and will be available in the US in the first quarter of 2017.
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