First batch of Oculus Rift prototype development kits for second generation headset to ship this month

Oculus has announced (via its website) that the first batch of preordered prototype Dev Kit 2s has left the company's manufacturing facilities and are en route to distribution centers—they will begin shipping to people that preordered them starting July 14. Those in line to receive a kit will be sent a notification email—unfortunately for those that placed their orders later rather than earlier, the first batch will only be 10,000 units, thus, they will have to continue waiting—preorders were made for over 45,000 units. The company reports that a second batch should be ready sometime in August and adds that they are working to ramp up production.

Oculus announced its second generation virtual reality headset development kit back in March and began allowing interested customers (developers) to preorder them for $350—interest was pronounced as over 12 thousand kits were preordered in just the first 36 hours. At the time, Oculus said it didn't know exactly when the kits would ship, but the goal was sometime in July. Now it appears the company is going to meet that goal, though many more will be left waiting than will receive the kits this month. Those that preordered a kit perhaps became more optimistic regarding delivery timelines due to the infusion of cash the company received from Facebook, but that doesn't appear to have had an impact—at least not yet.

The second generation Dev Kit bumps resolution for the headset to 1080p and will allow for external motion tracking from a camera—this, the company hopes will prevent the motion sickness that occurred with users using the first generation headsets. It should also be noted that there is still no timetable set for the sale of the headsets to the public at large. The kits allow developers to create applications for the device prior to launch. The huge numbers of preordered kits suggests developers believe the headset will be a big seller.

Oculus is still taking preorders for the development kit, which includes a headset—which means that anyone who wants one can order one, whether they know how to develop applications for it or not. Non-developers who order will be disappointed of course when their kit does finally arrive, as no applications have been distributed yet.