TPCast, the eponymous company producing a wireless VR transmitter, is now offering its HTC Vive-specific device for pre-order in US and Canada.

The TPCAST Wireless Adapter for Vive has been available in China since December 2016, with pre-orders only opening up in Europe two months ago. Now the wireless transmitter, a battery-powered device that lets you go cable free, is available for pre-oder in the US and Canada starting today. Shipping is slated as early as November 24th.

TPCast for Vive is priced at US$300, and is sold on TPCast’s website and online retail sites including Amazon and NewEgg.

image courtesy TPCast

The company suffered somewhat of a false start when they first announced pre-order availability in North America back in September. Originally slated for its US release on 9/25/2017 through the Microsoft Store, pre-orders were quickly refunded for no discernible reason.

The company has since launched their wireless transmitter for Vive in several European countries for around €350.

TPCast is also gearing up for the release of its Oculus Rift-compatible trasmitter, with a pre-order page spotted on Overclockers.co.uk. No information on North American availability has been made public yet.

What’s in the box

  • Wireless Transmitter
  • Wireless Receiver
  • Power module and battery
  • Wireless router

Check out the full video guide from the company below to see just what sort of setup the TPCast demands. Spoiler Alert: it takes forever.

It appears Amazon’s link isn’t active yet. Please check back soon.

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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.
  • NooYawker

    The thrill is gone. I’m not spending anymore on hardware or peripherals. Waiting for Gen 2 hardware at this point. I’d rather spend a little more and pick up a PS4 bundle.

    • johngrimoldy

      Thinking the same thing about the thrill being gone. I still use my Vive a lot, but I just can’t see shelling out another $300. I don’t mind the cable harness *that much*. Rather put the $$ towards Gen 2 like you mentioned.

      • dk

        they might announce something in the end of 2018 and gen 2 beginning /mid 2019

        • David Herrington

          I predicted gen 2.0 would come out fall/winter 2018 a while back.

          Only thing to do now is watch and wait.

          • Suitch

            It won’t be quite that soon. Next year will be an awkward year for desktop VR as the companies will be testing standalone headsets that use an integrated computer. We might get glimpses next year but early to mid 2019 will be the soonest they are release with a high likelihood of it being holidays 2019 instead. Disappointing, I know…

          • Meow Smith

            Then if Pi Max’s so called 8K is any good, its going to clean up mid 2018. Its hard to believe Oculus and Vive don’t have anything planned to counter it other than first gen vr headsets.

          • Suitch

            PiMax’s headset is still gen 1 even when compared to the others. It only has better screens. No wireless and no inside out tracking lock it there. A gen 2 headset will have two of those three things. Otherwise there is no true improvement. Better graphics do not a revolution make.

          • JYSquare

            I’m going to have to disagree on this point. Pimax 8K will IMO be on a higher lever than current gen. At least gen 1.5 or arguably next gen. In addition to higher resolution, it packs a huge 200 degree field of view. In the early days with game counsels, next gen would often only increase graphics with no other major functional changes. Not to mention, the Pimax will have add on upgrades that will include more next gen features such as wireless, inside out tracking, and eye tracking.

          • Suitch

            They have yet to deliver on addons. In addition, you are allowed to be wrong. It is gen 1.

          • Meow Smith

            They are using other company’s with already experience to make these add ons and nor do these companies have exclusive access to make these add ons so its not looking quite as bad as you say.

            I have a healthy scepticism wherever a Chinese company can make a product fit enough for the western market(i know generally their quality standards are quite lower in their own country) so far they seem to be heading in the right direction going by what well known youtube reviewers have had to say.

            People are dieing for a wider fov and better resolutions that is a big deal to alot of people.

          • David Herrington

            I would agree with you without one thing. Eye tracking. If Pimax can utilize eye tracking appropriately to get good foveated rendering, then this is definitely a Gen 1.5 upgrade.

          • Denti

            In my humble opinion, at this stage in this fragmented market, the next generation is whatever headset users are willing to upgrade to. For me, the Pimax 8K might be that headset if they deliver on the key things they said they would deliver. Here’s a breakdown of what I care and don’t care about.

            * Higher resolution – care a heck of a lot! The SDE has become something that is keeping my out of my HMD (Vive).
            * FOV – care a lot, this is a solid impact on immersion
            * Optics – care a lot, the Vive’s are terrible
            * Eye tracking – care but it’s not a “must have”, it’s a “nice to have” that can wait until perfected
            * Wireless – don’t care, I’m not bothered, nor are my friends
            * Inside out tracking – don’t care, lighthouses work fine

            So as you can see, the top two things I care about is resolution and FOV. Now, I might be a in special segment because I already own the Vive. Can’t say what new users would prioritize, maybe it’s inside out tracking, wireless, and so forth.

          • CURTROCK

            I don’t think Oculus & VIVE need to do anything in regards to Pimax. As cool as 200 degree POV & higher rez will be, I doubt it will be Pimax who brings it to mainstream. Their successful Kickstarter was impressive, but that doesn’t guarantee that they can become a player to rival HTC/Oculus. Unless there is about a Billion $$$ investment about to be thrown their way. I wish them all the success they receive. They made a lot of lofty promises. I will be following their post-Kickstarter fulfillment, to see how it plays out over the next year.

          • David Herrington

            I know this is all just speculation but I hope you are super wrong for both our sakes. ;)

          • MosBen

            Yeah, I’ve been predicting fall/winter 2018 for a while too, but the release schedule for Santa Cruz has made me a bit skeptical of that, at least on the Oculus side. We’ll know more when we hit CES, but like Suitch says, we may end up with 2018 being a mobile focused year and then Gen 2 PC HMDs in 2019. That’d put them at a 3-year lifespan, which isn’t bad.

          • David Herrington

            While a 3-year lifespan isn’t bad for consumer electronics, with many other players coming into the mix (Pimax, Windows Mixed Reality, etc.) I would think that they would lose a lot of sales to competitors rather than picking them up themselves. Even if Oculus has a more mobile centered 2018 I would think (hope) that HTC would focus more on their cash cow PC VR.

        • NooYawker

          2019 is ok with me, it’s not like there will be a huge onslaught of AAA VR games being released in 2018.

  • Lee Swain

    Damn, $300 is steep. Was so excited for this but at this point I think I am better off saving my $300 and waiting for Gen 2 hardware, which might have this built in! I’m more excited for improved screens at this point. Eradicating lens halo’s and the screen door effect is even more important to me than getting rid of the cable.

    • Reuben Ahmed

      When is gen 2 coming? Early adopters don’t wait….

  • Jamie Low

    If you plan to play multi-player games or other social apps like BigScreen, be aware that this release of the TPCast does not allow you to speak through the microphone to other players. They don’t plan on fixing it until the 2nd generation release, which has not been announced and likely won’t be anytime soon.

    From their customer support chat:

    “Please be aware that current release of product is limited by the microphone function.
    This function is currently not available by TPCast Wireless Adaptor for VIVE. This function can be supported by next release of product. Please pay attention to http://www.tpca
    stvr.com for most recent update.”

    • Zachary Scott Dickerson

      Considering all I play is Onward and Pavlov, this won’t work for me. I do use wireless headphones, but I can’t see how they will fit over top of this tpcast box.

      • Caven

        When Norman Chan from Tested tried out the TPCast, he was wearing headphones, and had the headband tilted forward 45 degrees so that the headband ran between the headset and the TPCast module. Not sure that would work well with all headphones, but it seemed to work well enough in his case.

        https://youtu.be/Z-CWz8nAFgs?t=230

        • Zachary Scott Dickerson

          yeah, I think that would work, as long as the headphones stay put, then I can use my wireless mic on the headphones. Did anyone confirm if this would work for pimax 8k ?(not the 8kX)

    • Jeff

      There is a microphone solution called OpenTPCast that fixes the mic issue.

  • Zachary Scott Dickerson

    Meh, now I’m getting a piMax 8K, so too late. That is too expensive anyway for such short battery. Cords are only issue in a few games, ‘Onward’ I never even notice.

    • David Herrington

      Doesn’t the 8K come with a $100 coupon for wireless anyway??

      • Zachary Scott Dickerson

        Yes, but not sure when it will be available or for how much etc.

    • dk

      tpcast were working on something like 4k signal from the start

  • SandmaN

    TPCast support says the microphone issue is not resolved yet, but it will be fixed in an upcoming release of the TPCast adapter. Also just fyi for everyone, you can’t use more than one of these in the same space due to interference issues – the TPCast Business Edition will be available at some point which supports up to 6 headsets, but they can’t tell us as of yet when it will be released.

    • PK

      oh that doesn’t help a bit part of their target market, i imagine vr arcades and such would be some of their biggest customers. and people like me would still be willing to spend $300 but without working with social vr there’s no point. also it has to fit onto the deluxe strap, which i’m not sure it does.

      • Jeff

        It does fit the deluxe strap, and the mic issue has been resolved via 3rd party software called OpenTPCast.

        • PK

          oh yeah? i hadn’t heard either of these facts before. so i can attach it to my deluxe strap without removing any other functionality? and opentpcast works perfectly?

          • Jeff

            The Deluxe Audio Strap compatibility was announced officially long ago- you’re welcome to search on YouTube- SweViver has a video of unboxing and setup with DAS. So far as OpenTPCast, search google or reddit and see. My TPCast should be here in about 3 weeks, as NA orders just went live, so I don’t know for a fact if it works perfectly, but I have read that it works both on VR Forums, and reddit.

          • PK

            If you have a chance, I’d love it if you could respond here in 3 weeks and give us an update. I can’t really afford this peripheral especially with knuckles coming out soon too, but if it works flawlessly then I may not be able to resist.

  • Firestorm185

    Honestly I still get VR thrills with my gen 1 hardware from time to time, but I’m so busy with college right now that I don’t have enough time to use my Vive to warrant spending another 300$ on it. I haven’t even bought the new headstrap yet! (keeping in mind I own a Rift + Touch and use it a lot more). If it was 150$ I could maybe see spending the cash on it, but I’m going to wait until someone comes up with a solution that can be used for both headsets before I buy anything like this… unless they come really cheap and work well.

  • VRgameDevGirl

    I’m glad I read the comments first! I almost just bought it.

    • dk
      • VRgameDevGirl

        I already watched reviews. The fact that the microphone doesn’t work is the reason ill wait.

        • Jeff

          The mic works with OpenTPCast software.

  • Lucidfeuer

    Would have been great to get in 2016…

  • VR Geek

    I too was pumped to get this last year but $300 in late 2017 with new HMDs on the horizon…I would rather save my money. I am waiting for Gen 2.

  • CURTROCK

    Unfortunately for TP Cast, like so many other companies that the VR revolution has spawned, this product is:
    1. too late to market
    2. cost just a little too much
    3. lack of mic support = deal breaker for many
    $300 sounded more reasonable when HMD’s were closer to $1000 bucks. Now that you can get Rift for $399, ($350 on Black Friday) it’s a tough sell. Not to mention, standalone VR products already on the horizon. I want wireless PC VR, but not with reduced functionality @ almost double the cost of an HMD. The cable doesn’t bother me THAT much.

    • Jerald Doerr

      Yup! You can add me to the list of a no go.. way too late.. Thanks for typing all that out CURTROCK! I feel the same!

      • CURTROCK

        Indeed. Cheers!

  • The setup never ends…

  • Chris Richardson

    Does it work with the mic? The vive one doesn’t.

  • Jerald Doerr

    So is anyone getting it???

  • Tigerman

    why a third object on the equation?
    wireless needs transmitterreceiver.
    station vive, why a router in the middle ????

  • So many questions… like why does it need software when it’s just handling end-to-end video itself? It uses all of VIVE’s existing boxes, it should be self contained and the PC shouldn’t even know there’s a difference. WTF are they installing on your computer??

    Or, how about a biggest question: WHY ARE VOICE OVER GUYS SO F’N LAZY??? He’s a native English speaker. He knows when a sentence should have a “Of” or “The”. Is he really such a greedy loser that he can’t spare a moment to correct these tiny oversights? The man is paid to read copy, it’s a cake job, DO IT RIGHT!