The virtual reality ecosystem got another boost with the recent launch of two software development kits for Samsung’s new Gear VR headset, which allows users to experience VR through an app played on Samsung’s Note 4 smartphone.
Irvine-based startup Oculus VR Inc. released a free kit designed for the Gear VR Innovator Edition kit, both of which provide developers and tech enthusiasts with design tips to build and experiment with the new platform before hardware and software are commercially available to consumers.
Consumers can preregister for the Samsung edition, which will be available in the U.S. next month. The $249 version includes a headset bundled with a Bluetooth gamepad. The $199 version includes only the headset.
Oculus has been working with Samsung engineers on its Mobile SDK for more than a year “to deliver the first ultra-low latency, mobile virtual reality headset” and “support for other regions,” the company said in a blog post, its preferred medium for announcing news.
Several apps for Gear VR will roll out in the coming months.
It’s expected to be the first VR headset available to consumers and has drawn another OC company into one of the hottest and most-talked-about tech segments today.
Laguna Beach startup NextVR partnered with Oculus and Samsung to supply ultra high-definition, three-dimensional virtual reality technology and content to create 360-degree video in the Gear VR headset in one of the sector’s first content deals.
NextVR has raised $5 million from private investors. Oculus was acquired by Facebook Inc. in July for $2 billion.
Company Name Change
One of OC’s fastest-growing companies a few years ago has changed its name to better reflect its evolution from a consultancy to a software provider.
Gen-E is now known as Resolve Systems and recently relocated from San Clemente to a bigger headquarters in Irvine as it aims to scale the business globally.
“We were a consulting firm focusing on immediate resolution, but we’ve evolved into a licensing application company that focuses on delivering packaged software,” said Chief Executive Martin Savitt, who was hired in March to take the company to the next level.
The company was recognized by the Business Journal in 2012 for its 30% sales jump in two years to $24 million. Savitt would not disclose a revenue figure this year but said Resolve Systems was at or above the earlier figure.
Resolve employs about 75 and is a portfolio company of Solis Capital Partners, a lower-middle-market private equity investment firm based in Newport Beach.
Freeze Tag Looks to Buy
A lightly traded Tustin mobile gaming developer has signaled its intent to grow business “through the strategic acquisition of successful mobile game companies,” according to a regulatory filing.
Freeze Tag Inc. aims to build an alliance of mobile game developers in the highly competitive free-to-play market. The company, traded under the symbol FRZT on the over-the-counter board, posted revenue of nearly $146,000 last year and a loss of $3.5 million.
