New Trademark Labels HTC Standalone Headset As Vive Focus

This is likely the name of HTC’s standalone VR headset coming soon.

When Oculus first revealed its prototype standalone VR headset, code-named Santa Cruz, back in 2016, we all new a response from HTC was inevitable. Earlier this year those suspicions were proven correct when HTC as well as Lenovo announced their own upcoming versions of standalone VR hardware at the Google I/O Conference.

Well thanks to a trademark application in the U.S. and Europe we may now have the official name for HTC’s upcoming Daydream-based headset: Vive Focus.

Earlier today Dutch publication LetsGoDigital revealed an application made by HTC last week to both the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the name. The request was made by Grünecker Patent und Rechtsanwälte PartG MBB, the same corporation that managed the original HTC Vive application in Europe back in 2015.

The HTC standalone headset will operate on the Google Daydream platform, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835. The hardware is also confirmed to feature a 3DOF motion controller just like the one used for the Google Daydream View. The newly-labeled headset will include “Worldsense” inside-out positional tracking, no external hardware required.

HTC has yet to announce a price, though you can expect to be paying somewhere between the mobile HMD (Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream View) and PC-powered headset (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift) regions. 

Image Credit: HTC