1st carrier to carry 2nd-gen model which uses smartphone as its display
T-Mobile became the first carrier to offer the Samsung Gear VR virtual-reality headset when it debuted on Black Friday.
Gear VR became available for $99.99 in participating T-Mobile stores and online at T-Mobile.com.
Compared with the $199 Innovator Edition launched last year by Samsung, the new model is lighter and designed to use more Samsung smartphones as their display. The supported phones are the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, S6 and S6 Edge, all with Super AMOLED displays. They connect to the headset via MicroUSB.
The new model is 22 percent lighter and includes new foam cushioning to make it more comfortable to wear. The Gear VR’s touchpad has also been improved to provide greater control while users view films, games, 360-degree video and experiential content.
The Innovator Edition was available initially for use with the Galaxy Note 4 phablet, and a second version came out for the S6 and S6 edge.
Separately, T-Mobile said the cellular-equipped Samsung Gear S2 smart watch will be available for purchase at T-Mobile.com and participating T-Mobile stores at $360 beginning Nov. 15 with a $5/month wearable-data plan offering up to 500GB of high-speed data.
Users connect their phone to the watch via Bluetooth or via the T-Mobile network, enabling users to take a call and receive and send texts and emails. It also tracks calories and monitors daily fitness.
The Gear S2 is a companion device for compatible Android smartphones with Android 4.4 and later with 1.5GB RAM. For best compatibility, T-Mobile advises that consumers use it with Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
