Oculus-Powered Samsung Gear VR Releases in December

Oculus has confirmed today that the Samsung Gear VR headset will be available in North America this December.

The mobile VR headset is powered by Oculus technology and uses a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone as its display. Note that both devices have to be purchased separately, though I wish I live to the see a time when new smartphones come bundled with their own VR headsets.

The announcement did not mention an exact release date and so we assume the device to hit the market in the first week of December. It will be priced at $200. For another $50 you can opt to add a Bluetooth gamepad to the bundle as well.

“The Innovator Edition, much like the Oculus Rift Development Kit, provides developers and enthusiasts everything they need to build and experiment with the platform before the hardware and software are ready for consumers,” Oculus said. “There are numerous made-for-VR apps that will ship for Gear VR over the next few months.”

When connected with a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the smartphone’s accelerometer and gyrometer are used to track head movement, thus creating a virtual reality impression.

In related news, we’re still waiting to know when the company plans to release the consumer version of Oculus Rift headset. Many reports suggest a mid-2015 release date.