HTC dropped a big hint recently that the company has new VR gear to show off at CES 2019, and we may be getting a first-hand look during a special press event that’s taking place Monday.

The event is scheduled to take place on Monday, January 7th at 1 PM PST (local time here) here at CES in Las Vegas. We’ll feet on the ground at the event and will be liveblogging it as it goes. See the liveblog stream below:


HTC tweeted earlier in the week that “[t]he cases are packed with some new gear we can’t wait to unbox for you.” The picture attached to the tweet shows a number of boxes; one in the lower right corner prominently features a blurred out label.

Image courtesy HTC

While we’re none the wiser what’s in the box, it could be related to the ‘Vive Cosmos’ headset trademark the company filed a few months ago, which is supposed to be the name of a VR headset.

At CES 2018, HTC held a similar press event that saw the unveiling of Vive Pro, the pricey prosumer headset that introduced a number of critical refinements including higher resolution displays, better ergonomics, and SteamVR 2.0 tracking.

We’ll be attending, so tune in for our liveblog, which will be posted below a few minutes before the clock strikes 1PM PST.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Mentil

    My prediction: international launch of the Vive Focus, with 6DoF controllers, for around the same price as the Oculus Quest. It’d be timed to release around the same time as well.

    • Smokey_the_Bear

      That’s a pretty good guess.

      • Żéñ Źdźbło

        That would be disappointing news. Couldn’t care less about the Focus. Hoping it’s new hardware, not just an international release of hardware we already know about.

    • Darshan

      If that’s case VIVE in game again, as recent VIVE PRO pricing has stirred lot of controversy due to exaggerated pricing.

    • James Cobalt

      Yeah, this is the most obvious reveal, so it’s weird that it’s not the leading theory in online discussions. They just announced 6DoF controller compatibility with Focus last week. Further prediction – in addition to the branding change, the processor gets upgraded to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845.

      • MosBen

        I have to say, while I had considered the possibility that HTC would repackage the Focus with tracked controllers to compete with the Quest, I hadn’t considered the possibility that they’d go for a stepped up Snapdragon. I assume that Oculus wen’t with the 835 for cost reasons, but if HTC managed to figure out a way to make it work, that’d be a nice feather in their cap and would definitely get my interest.

        • James Cobalt

          Annnnnnnnd everyone was wrong. No Gloves. No controller. No rebranded Focus. Eye tracking and a completely new type of consumer headset. And still a bit underwhelming oddly enough.

          • MosBen

            The Focus one wasn’t super far off. We don’t know enough about the Cosmos yet to say for sure, but it definitely looks like something designed to compete with the Quest.

      • Bob

        If it’s fitted with the 845 that would be a real blow to Oculus. Casual users wouldn’t care less but all the enthusiastic VR hobbyists and die-hards would jump ship without second thought that is if the Focus is re-purposed for full 6DoF experience.

    • bmichaelb

      The box on the right should be saying ‘Vive Gloves’. It’s their version of haptic gloves.

  • brubble

    The only sure thing in this pile of mystery boxes is ridiculous prices, a near worthless warranty and atrocious customer service.

    Curiosity and interest is zero.

    • Darshan

      This is what current state of HTC VIVE repo.

  • gothicvillas

    If they showcase weak standalone it will be disappointing news

    • Tags I812

      isnt it always?

  • Moose

    love my wireless vive. dont love the fact that htc sells extra batteries that last less than 2 hours for 80 dollars. meanwhile a 40$ battery from best buy last 3-4 times longer. that said i think my next headset will be from another manufacturer.

  • nipple_pinchy

    They need to scale back VR hardware and invest some money in their customer support. I wouldn’t buy a pack of gum from HTC as it stands now.

  • John Horn

    The head cradle for the HTC Cosmos is a horrible decision. It doesn’t work very well on the Samsung Odyssey+ …. to work properly, they need to have a strap pulling the underside to your head as well. Not just from above.

  • MW

    Apple, game industry, gpu prices, and now Oculus and HTC. GREEED! Fast, cheap, mobile. Repeat. It’s easier to make a lot of cheap crap (like mobile games) than create something great.
    What happened to the world…

    • brubble

      Humans happened.

    • brandon9271

      If we’d stop buying crap, they’d stop making it. Blame the human sheep

  • Hivemind9000

    Seems almost identical to the Oculus Quest (and also copying the Oculus home experience). The only intriguing point for me is whether we can stream our PC games to the headset. If we can do that, then color me interested.