HTC’s second-generation Vive headset, controllers leak online

HTC’s Vive VR headset was just delayed to 2016, but a pair of leaked images may have prematurely revealed new iterations of the hardware that people can now look forward to.

The HTC Vive, jointly developed by HTC and USA video game supplier Valve, was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) show in March.

The news coincides with HTC’s developer forum in Beijing called HTC Vive Unbound.

The controllers have received an even more drastic makeover, with the hexagonal heads replaced by concave, circular design, with a trigger on their underside alongside their trackpads, which are the same that were featured on the Steam Controller. The sensors have been sealed in, though the distinctive sensor divots remain. As a result of this new breakthrough, HTC has made a decision to 86 the old product, and will ship the new one instead.

The refresh rate of HTC Vive is 90 Hz, the viewing angle is 360 degrees and works alongside two controllers that can track hands. Based on the attention to aesthetics and reduced number of wires, both components seem to have been designed with consumers in mind. But how is the virtual reality headset going to look like when the device arrives at CES?

We were sad to hear about last week’s delay for HTC’s Vive virtual reality headset, but it sounds like the wait will be worth it: HTC is talking up a second version of the unit that promises some kind of big improvement over the last.

What exactly that big advancement is, however, is anyone’s guess although Wang said we’ll find out at CES.