Announced during the Samsung Developer's Conference, Gear VR will release an Innovator's Edition in early December. There were a few on the showfloor was able to demo during the conference. It hasn't gone through any hardware changes since its IFA debut - rather all the improvements have been software focused. When you strap on the HMD (head mounted display), you're now taken to a home screen, otherwise called "Oculus Home." You can tilt your head to move a cursor around and use the touchscreen on the side of the headset to select items. It's a weird experience at first but it didn't involve neck breaking maneuvering. The tracking was intuitive enough to pick up on slight head movements. The UI didn't seem completely finished - though it may have been an unfinished demo version or lack of content. The full version will look akin to most console and television UI's except the tiles will float in space and have a 3D effect. The Oculus Mobile SDK was also released to developers which means Gear VR should be getting more new content soon.
Project Beyond demo A new 3D, 360-degree camera called Project Beyond was also announced. Apparently, it will work in tandem with Gear VR to stream videos straight to your face for "more immersive experiences."
The flat, Roomba-like camera houses 16 stereoscopic cameras and a top-view camera - all of which 3D capture video in Full HD. 35MP per frame - over a gigapixel per second - can be captured and processed then streamed to the device both in real-time or to be viewed later. Samsung promises Beyond will deliver high-speed connectivity, ultra wide-angle optics, adaptive stitching and stereoscopic depth. Multiple Gear VRs can be used to connect to Project Beyond at any time.
My experience with Project Beyond wasn't exactly great, however I can see its potential. It was like living inside a video version of Google Street View but with horrible lag. Every time I turned my head to look around, the image would falter and jitter. I thought it might have been poor streaming quality but a rep told me it was a pre-loaded, low-res demo on the Note 4 which explained the quality. Early verdict Where the Oculus Rift is tethered and feels like a "grown up" version of virtual reality, the Gear VR feels more accessible as a mainstream product. But this December may be too soon for Gear VR to hit the market. Sure, it's targeted at early adopters and developers but making it widely available doesn't seem to be the right move. Given more time to improve latency and allow more content to flow in, it could very well be a hit.
Paying $249 (about £157, AU$285) for a headset bundled with a Bluetooth gamepad or $199 (about £126, AU$228) for a standalone headset also seems reasonable - if you already have a Samsung Galaxy Note. The addition of the phone will likely be a sore spot, and in its own way a completely different kind of tether.
Project Beyond demo A new 3D, 360-degree camera called Project Beyond was also announced. Apparently, it will work in tandem with Gear VR to stream videos straight to your face for "more immersive experiences." 
The flat, Roomba-like camera houses 16 stereoscopic cameras and a top-view camera - all of which 3D capture video in Full HD. 35MP per frame - over a gigapixel per second - can be captured and processed then streamed to the device both in real-time or to be viewed later. Samsung promises Beyond will deliver high-speed connectivity, ultra wide-angle optics, adaptive stitching and stereoscopic depth. Multiple Gear VRs can be used to connect to Project Beyond at any time. 
My experience with Project Beyond wasn't exactly great, however I can see its potential. It was like living inside a video version of Google Street View but with horrible lag. Every time I turned my head to look around, the image would falter and jitter. I thought it might have been poor streaming quality but a rep told me it was a pre-loaded, low-res demo on the Note 4 which explained the quality. Early verdict Where the Oculus Rift is tethered and feels like a "grown up" version of virtual reality, the Gear VR feels more accessible as a mainstream product. But this December may be too soon for Gear VR to hit the market. Sure, it's targeted at early adopters and developers but making it widely available doesn't seem to be the right move. Given more time to improve latency and allow more content to flow in, it could very well be a hit. 
Paying $249 (about £157, AU$285) for a headset bundled with a Bluetooth gamepad or $199 (about £126, AU$228) for a standalone headset also seems reasonable - if you already have a Samsung Galaxy Note. The addition of the phone will likely be a sore spot, and in its own way a completely different kind of tether.
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