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Meet the Daydream View VR Headset from Google, arriving in November for $79

As part of Google’s special presentation today in San Francisco, the company announced their two new Pixel phones officially, the Pixel and Pixel XL. While these two new devices feature a lot of ‘firsts’ for Google, one of them happens to be regarding Google’s new Virtual Reality platform called Daydream. Both devices are the first official phones for Daydream to use with the headset Google has been developing. Today they also made the new headset official and it is called the Daydream View.

For those of you who may have missed our previous coverage of Daydream, Google let out that they were making a new platform for Virtual Reality during this year’s Google IO. Well, they made it official at that point, it had already been whispered about during GDC 2016. The new platform was being designed to fully integrate VR into Android, which will be then accessible when wearing a supported headset, similar to what Samsung did with their Gear VR. Even at that time Google was saying that it will be more powerful than the Gear VR, while hopefully being at a lower price point. It seems like they have accomplished this goal today.

The Daydream View, which is the official name for the headset by Google, will support a number of devices that will be coming out in the near future which are ‘VR Ready’. The Pixel and Pixel XL being the first two to get that label. It won’t be specifically for ‘By Google’ devices though and will support other OEM devices from companies like HTC, Motorola, and so on.

The headset will come with three different styles to choose from: Snow, Slate and Crimson. It will also come with a controller which looks similar to that of a Wii controller/remote. When not using the controller and headset, the controller will be stored inside the actual headset to prevent people from losing it. When buying the headset, the controller will come with it as well, so it isn’t a separate purchase which is nice. The Daydream View remote looks very minimalistic, but actually contains a lot of different sensors inside it. This is to help navigate the virtual worlds you happen to be roaming around in.

Other specs for the Daydream View include the fact that it is 30% lighter than similar headsets, hopefully making it much more comfortable. It will also fit easier over eyeglasses as well. It was also designed to be very easy to use, according to Google. To use the Daydream View, just open the front latch, remove the controller (if you have it stored at that moment in there), pop your phone in, close the latch and you’re good to go.

Google Play Movies will be compatible with the Daydream View. You can also use it with Google Streetview, YouTube (especially with YouTube 360 videos), and Google Photos. There will be 50+ app for the Daydream View by the end of the year, with ‘hundreds more on the way’. This isn’t including any games already out that would work with this headset, these are just Daydream specific titles. Hulu and Netflix are also planned to arrive for Daydream in the near future. Google did show off a Harry Potter themed VR game called Fantastic Beasts (and where to find them) which will be for the Daydream View.

So when can you grab one of these headsets? The Daydream View will be available sometime in November and will cost you a mere $79.

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