- The first consumer Oculus Rift (FB +0.3%) model will cost $250 more than the PlayStation 4 and $200 more than the Xbox One. Pre-orders have begun for 20 countries. The VR headset comes with a remote, an Xbox One controller, and a couple of games; it ships on March 28.
- Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe previously suggested the Rift's all-in cost will be around $1500, after factoring the cost of a PC powerful enough to run the headset (a high-end GPU is recommended). GPU leader Nvidia recently launched VR Ready, a program meant to guarantee a given PC or graphics card will deliver a quality VR experience.
- Last June, Oculus announced a partnership with Microsoft to allow Xbox One games streamed to Windows 10 PCs to be played on the Rift. The company has also partnered with Samsung to launched the less powerful Gear VR, a $99 headset that relies on a Samsung phone's display and processor. The Oculus Touch handheld motion controllers ship in 2H16.
- Separately, Facebook has quietly given some developers access to an SDK that lets them create bots that automatically return information/photos, process transactions, and provide other services in response to user interactions. The feature, which brings to mind a similar offering from Tencent's WeChat (dominant in China), supports Buy buttons and can use Messenger's payment-processing system.
- Messenger has 700M+ active users globally. The SDK launch follows a deal with Uber allowing Messenger users to make Uber ride requests, and the launch (in test mode) of a part-human, part-A.I., Messenger assistant service called M.