PRESS RELEASE
- Currys PC World will be one of the first retailers to bring an immersive virtual reality experience to the UK high street, with the ViveTM demo in selected stores from 17th March 2016
- Hands-on demonstrations and pre-order available in key stores for customers to experience VR for themselves
- Product available to consumers from May 2016
London, 17th March – Currys PC World today announces their partnership with HTC Corporation (“HTC”) to bring the first complete consumer virtual reality system to the high street from tomorrow, through ViveTM.
The collaboration between the leading electrical retailer and HTC will see the first complete VR system available on the UK high street, enabling hands-on demonstrations and pre-orders ahead of the product becoming available to consumers from May 2016. The full list of participating Currys PC World stores are:
- Currys PC World, Leeds (Birstall)
- Currys PC World, Reading
- Currys PC World, Tottenham Court Road
Each Currys PC World store will feature a ViveTM demonstration station, open to the general public and which will deliver an incredibly immersive first-hand experience. Customers will be able to go in-store for individual 20 minute sessions, to experience a host of virtual reality content supported by the platform. Customers will also be able to pre-order ViveTM following an in-store demonstration, directly from the Currys PC World store.
Phil Samuels, Category Director of Computing for Dixons Carphone, comments, “Virtual Reality is one of the most talked-about developments in technology, and is an experience that we are excited to bring to our customers. While the technology industry has been talking about VR for some time, this is a technology that is still relatively unknown to the general public. There’s nothing quite like experiencing this first hand and ViveTM will allow our customers to do exactly that, and really bring this technology to life.”
Priced at £689.99, ViveTM is the first complete VR solution, including wireless VR controllers, room scale movement, and HMD featuring a built in camera. For a limited time, ViveTM will also ship with three fully-fledged VR experiences: Tilt Brush (Google), Fantastic Contraption (Northway Games in collaboration with Radial Games) and Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives (Owlchemy Labs).
Full address for participating UK Currys PC World stores as below:
Currys PC World Leeds (Birstall)
West Yorkshire Retail Park
Holdening Way Birstall
Leeds
WF17 9AE
Currys PC World Reading Gate
Unit 5, Reading Gate Retail Park
Reading
RG2 0QG
Currys PC World Tottenham Court Road
145 - 149 Tottenham Court Road
London
W1T 7NE
About Currys PC World:
Currys PC World are part of Dixons Carphone plc, Europe's leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company, employing over 40,000 people in 9 countries.
Focused on helping customers navigate the connected world, Dixons Carphone offers a comprehensive range of electrical and mobile products, connectivity and expert after-sales services from the Geek Squad and KNOWHOW.
Combining Dixons Retail’s successful and sustainable multi-channel approach to electrical retailing, with Carphone Warehouse, one of Europe’s largest independent telecommunications retailers, Dixons Carphone plc began trading as a merged entity on 7 August 2014.
For more information about Currys & PC World, please visit www.currys.co.uk or www.pcworld.co.uk
Follow us on: @curryspcworld
About HTC
HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and HTC Desire lines of smartphones. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com
