[VirtuaTyKing]

I’d wager most people who bought the HTC Vive love the unit but wish a new version would bring key improvements. A slimmer design and lighter cord, a better fit for the face and more ergonomic controllers without hard-to-reach grip buttons are all near the top of the early adopter wish list.

HTC relies on Valve’s lighthouse tracking technology to make the Vive and its controllers work. Earlier this year, Valve opened up that technology to a wide range of partners. While none of these partners have officially announced products compatible with this SteamVR Tracking technology yet, early buyers are anxious because future headsets and accessories could be lower cost if you already have the VR tracking system installed.

This means anticipation is high for CES next week. Really high. The event, spread across Las Vegas, is one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics conferences. Last year, HTC used CES to offer a first hands-on demo with the Vive Pre developer kits, giving early adopters their first look at what consumer room-scale VR looks like. Given this anticipation, rumors have been circling that HTC is set to reveal the next iteration of its Vive VR headset at CES. To put it plainly: they’re not true.

HTC confirmed to UploadVR that it will not be announcing a “Vive 2” at this year’s show.

“There is no truth to the rumor of launching Vive 2 at CES 2017,” the official statement from HTC reads. “At Vive, we are laser focused on building out a strong and growing ecosystem for current and future Vive owners so they can experience the best room-scale VR with the most compelling content available.”

It is also worth noting that, while we expect major announcements and VR-related reveals next week, Oculus is not listed as an exhibitor at CES this year. Facebook is, but there is no booth listed. Last year at CES Oculus had a very large booth on the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center. That doesn’t appear to be the case this time around. It makes sense on multiple levels, given that Facebook seems to be absorbing the Oculus brand, and they just shipped Oculus Touch a couple of weeks ago. CES isn’t really necessary for Facebook because if you want to check out their latest VR efforts you can go into one of hundreds of stores around the country for a demo of the Oculus Rift.

Source: No Vive 2 At CES, HTC Confirms

[Talkivr]

The disappointment! Well I figured its still too soon and they still want to expand upon their current market or ecosystem. Was hoping to see a Crude vive 2 or some upgrades if anything. TPCAST!

[pjs37]

Yeah too soon I think. They need to at least recoup their costs on the original Vive first. I think there isn't too much improvement they could do at the moment to justify a new unit without pissing off the customer base they have and its too soon to do that.

[jayblazer]

I think with the price they are getting for these units they should give them a 4-5 year life.

[VirtuaTyKing]

I think with the price they are getting for these units they should give them a 4-5 year life.

I agree. Plus immense GPU power is needed for an increase in HMD resolution. Which for me is the greatest area in need of improvement.

[papernut]

Give me wireless with the current Vive and I am happy!

[pjs37]

Give me wireless with the current Vive and I am happy!

I think as we are seeing this can be done without shipping a new unit. Which is good. I like modularity.

[Chemy JMHT]

I think right now we have something to play with, but we need more power from our computers so maybe the next step will be done by AMD and NVidia, maybe even Intel and Google.

I was expecting not having any news about the next generation of HMD because the people could be afraid of paying any amount of money worrying of a next release too soon.

[pjs37]

I think right now we have something to play with, but we need more power from our computers so maybe the next step will be done by AMD and NVidia, maybe even Intel and Google.

I was expecting not having any news about the next generation of HMD because the people could be afraid of paying any amount of money worrying of a next release too soon.

I don't think we have had enough movement to justify replacing the HMD's yet. As you said we need faster graphic adapaters mostly (Though what we have is pretty damn good now) and more impoprtantly software that makes it all worth it.

[GustavMahler]

Is it possible that it will be released in 2017 though? Or the new headset is always to be presented in CES before release?

[pjs37]

Is it possible that it will be released in 2017 though? Or the new headset is always to be presented in CES before release?

Anything is technically possible. It is just a matter of if it is worth it to them. I think we will see controller and lighthouse improvements first though sold as separate upgrades. New headset if it does come out likely will be no earlier then a year after its initial release though likely to just wait until next year or do some sort of modest comfort improvements.