New hardware from Steam Deck maker Valve has been certified by the South Korean National Radio Research Agency - but what is it?
Despite mostly being known as the overlords of Steam, Valve has had a fairly good run of tech hardware releases in recent years. The most recent example of this is, of course, the excellent Steam Deck, which basically brought handheld PC gaming back to the forefront of many people's minds, and undoubtedly helped spur on other devices like the ROG Ally.
The one before that was the Valve Index, which still remains one of the most visually impressive virtual reality headsets, albeit one that can feel laden down with wires for anyone used to the more affordable and wire-free Meta Quest 2. It's no surprise then, that Valve has just gotten certification for a new low-power wireless device via South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency.
We basically don't know anything about the device yet, aside from the fact that it's got a different model name to the Index or the Steam Deck, and that it is a bit of tech with wireless access, which could be basically anything from a new wireless VR headset to a smart toothpick. One of those is more likely admittedly, but it's Valve, so we're not ruling anything out.
The information comes via dxpl on Arca.Live, which got picked up by Brad Lynch on Twitter, and then reported on via The Verge. Nobody in that chain knows for certain what we'll be getting though, although The Verge report suggests a few things, including that the Steam Deck's current APU could potentially work in a VR headset.
Virtual reality is in a bit of a weird place at the moment, as it has been for some time. It's still a luxury product, beyond even something like the Steam Deck, and while those who've played VR will nearly always sing its praises, even the low initial price of the Meta Quest 2 wasn't enough to make it ubiquitous. Depending on the price of a device created by Valve, maybe they'll be the ones to crack the more general market?
Of course, it could also still be a smart toothpick, or just a refresh of their existing hardware, or something that we'll never even see. We'll keep you updated no matter what it ends up being though.
