Differences between preview and release

There are some behind the scenes changes, yes, but it shouldn't be anything to worry about in terms of the API.

Just make sure you update to the latest SDK (not released yet) as there are some changes there that are necessary to run on final hardware.

Thanks for the info. I look forward to the next version of the SDK.

- Dave

Just to clarify, if you want to distribute something for people to use on the release versions of the developer kit, you will have to re-compile with the new SDK (should be out shortly). Content compiled with the current version of the SDK will not look correct with the final headsets (due to a last minute firmware update we did).

Mostly what this means is that the parameters that are used to calculate the FOV have changed slightly. So you may have to update your code to reflect this, depending on how you calculated the FOV.

Hopefully this is not too big of a deal.

Recompiling with the next version of the SDK won't be a problem at my end.

But does that mean that the reverse is also true? That the next version of the SDK won't be compatible with the preview Rift units? That would be more of an issue as I then won't be able to test things out until I receive my release version Rifts, which will delay releasing the Torque 3D Rift demo.

Or will the SDK provide the correct parameters based on what version Rift is plugged in? All of my FOV calculations are based off of those given in the current examples and documentation, and use the properties as reported by the SDK. If that's the case then I feel more confident about releasing our work when the SDK is released to the general population.

- Dave

Will there be any way to update the firmware in the preview kits?

@davidwyandgg: The new SDK is backwards compatible, so you once you update you can still work with your current unit.

@SiggiG: Yes, it's possible to update the firmware. We'll have an app to do this out shortly.

Thanks a bunch, great news! :)