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Oculus Home update on Samsung Gear VR adds custom Avatars, web browser

In recent months, I've done a fair bit of complaining about the deficiencies of mobile virtual reality headsets like the Samsung Gear VR versus higher end options, but some of those complaints were erased on Wednesday. 

Samsung has finally taken the wraps off the updated Gear VR controller, and along with the new input device Oculus has added several major updates to the mobile version Oculus Home, the software that powers the Gear VR experience. 
I had a chance to preview some of the new features rolling out Wednesday and the first thing you'll realize is that the opening menu has been reorganized and is now called Oculus Explore, streamlining the process of browsing for new VR apps in Oculus Home. 
While looking around Oculus Explore I also noticed that the entire Home environment looked noticeably crisper in terms of resolution. Oculus' head of mobile product, Max Cohen, told me that's due to some backend code tweaks that not only improve resolution but increase power consumption efficiency, allowing users to get up to 30 percent more battery life while in Oculus Home. 

Another major addition to the Oculus mobile environment is the Oculus browser, a tool that gives you a virtual keyboard and traditional browser interface, allowing you to peruse the web while in VR. 

This update is huge because it will likely encourage Gear VR users to stay in Oculus Home longer rather than slipping the Gear VR headset off when looking to read something on the web or conduct something as simple as a Google search. 
But my favorite part of the update is the Oculus Avatar Editor, a powerful tool that brings the same level of Avatar customization found on the Oculus Rift to Gear VR users. We're given the same Avatar Editor customization room found on the Rift (even the gleaming city outside the window is there, sans animations) allowing for a wide array of color, gender, clothing and face shape customizations.
All these software updates work seamlessly with the new Gear VR controller, taking us one tiny step closer to burring the lines between the Gear VR and the Oculus Rift experience. 

Although the Gear VR's controller is arriving long after the debut of a similar mobile VR interface controller from Google's Daydream headset, the Gear VR's controller delivers a better design (love the front-facing trigger) and is fairly responsive. 
I put the controller to the test in VR games Drop Dead, Rangi, A Night Sky and a mobile version of the popular Oculus Rift VR game Dead and Buried. In all cases, the controller worked well, and the build quality of the device is reminiscent of the attention to detail paid to the Oculus Touch (albeit with far less functionality).

The next phase of Oculus Home on the Gear VR is not only a powerful feature update likely to help drive social VR on mobile, it's overall a more immersive experience that makes spending extended time in mobile VR a lot easier. 
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