Light Start – HP Elite x3, HTC Vive’s price, Virgin’s new space ship, and Samsung’s car LTE
Brett Venter
HP has a Windows Phone er… phone you might want to pay attention to
Today is the first (official) day of Mobile World Congress 2016 and already Samsung and LG are dominating the news. But that’s not the be-all and end-all of the event, as much as they’d like you to think that. So take a little time to look at HP’s newest Windows Phone handset (yes, really), called the HP Elite x3. Why? We can think of a few reasons. A 6-inch QHD screen, for one, a Snapdragon 820 for another, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are another couple of reasons. And then there’s the microSD support, up to 2TB, in case you needed any more prompting. Also coming for the phone, from HP in case you’ve forgotten how weird this is, is the 16MP/8MP camera setup, USB-C, an IP67 rating, a fingerprint reader and a 4,150mAh battery. Phew… Oh, and HP have given the Elite x3 support for Windows 10 Continuum, so it can technically replace a PC if you need it to. With specs like this, that’s not hard to believe. Cost and launch date? We’re still waiting on that info.
The HTC Vive is going to set you back at least R13,000
We’re still waiting for an official official announcement but HTC’s Vive virtual reality headset, which has been designed with Valve’s input, has been priced and dated. More or less. Some info leaked out ahead of today’s official detailing and the results are… expensive. You’ll be able to get your hands on the HTC Vive from “early April” this year and you’re going to pay for it. Overseas pricing has the VR hardware pegged at $799, which in the States typically excludes sales tax. That means that a straight conversion puts a local version of the headset at R12,300, so we can expect it to cost more than R13,000 this side of the planet. Suddenly that Oculus Rift doesn’t look all that expensive after all.
Galactic is back – Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo has been replaced with Unity
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is no more, meeting its end in a crash almost a year and a half back. The craft crashed in the Mojave Desert, taking co-pilot Michael Alsbury with it. The private space-faring company has been largely inactive since the tragic event but there’s a new space vehicle on the block. Virgin Galactic over the weekend unveiled Unity, the replacement vessel for SpaceShipTwo. It’s largely identical to the crashed plane/spaceship, except that it now includes a mechanical failsafe which will stop the craft from deploying its “feather” system while the engines are running. The feature is designed to help the plane touch down but its use is disastrous when the vehicle is being powered. There are still loads of test-flights planned, though there’s no sign of when said tests will begin. That said, Virgin Galactic are still keen on taking people in space. How nice of them.
Samsung’s little Connect Auto dongle wants to give your car LTE
Ha! So much for needing to purchase the flagship vehicle from a major motor manufacturer in order to get LTE in your car. Samsung have announced the Samsung Connect Auto, a little dongle (we love that word so much) which plugs into a car’s OBD II port. Unless you don’t have one, in which case it doesn’t. But if it does, you wind up with in-car LTE via a WiFi connection. Oh, and it tracks driving behaviour so it’ll help you manage your fuel. Samsung Connected Auto is being aimed at fleet management and the initial rollout is happening in the States later this year but we know at least a few people who would want to privately install LTE in their vehicles. Just… don’t use this as an excuse to watch YouTube videos or post to Facebook while you’re driving.
