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SMD ST1080 - Anyone know what's up with them? News, Info?

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:35 pm
by RejutkaLupex
I finally wanted to cough up the money for a ST1080, but apparently it's not possible to even order one, let alone buy.
Anyone know any details on why there are no news?
I wouldn't be surprised if everyone from CEO to secretary was involved in building more to meet demand (new orders or replacements), but that'd be no reason to be so quiet.

Or am I merely (not) seeing things and they're chatting happily on media I simply don't know/check?

Slightly off-topic - are there other good HMDs in that price class/Resolution/Quality? I know the Rift, of course, and the Sony device. The latter drops out for being from Sony, the former isn't yet available (except for the Dev kit).

Re: SMD ST1080 - Anyone know what's up with them? News, Info

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:07 pm
by cybereality
Well it appears they only made a single production run, and all those units are gone now.

I bet if they get enough interest they could make more, but who knows what the demand is like. Especially since most people in the field are probably all about the Rift right now.

Re: SMD ST1080 - Anyone know what's up with them? News, Info

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:21 pm
by brantlew
It's unfortunate because I really like their product. I'm glad I ordered one early because there were a lot of production delays and miscommunication for anyone who did not preorder the device. Their website is a ghost-town now and I'm not even sure if I could get support for a broken unit at this point. Too bad.

Re: SMD ST1080 - Anyone know what's up with them? News, Info

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:26 pm
by WiredEarp
Its a shame - they had all the people and tech to make it all happen, but I think they were screwed by not knowing what their market really was.

If they'd gone for high FOV like the Rift, they could have had a massive success. The FOV was just too low IMHO for VR, and the main market for 'video glasses' seems to be most interested in top quality, so they lost most of those guys to the OLED displays on the HMZ.

Re: SMD ST1080 - Anyone know what's up with them? News, Info

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:33 am
by RejutkaLupex
I sent them a mail and got a reply - about a day later, so I guess there's still live in them.

To paraphrase: they may have new info about resuming taking orders at the end of spring.
(No word of actually selling, just about taking new orders - but it's something to look forward to in any case.)

Also, the page where you can pre-register to order is still active, but apparently not available from the main page anymore? The reply contained this link:

http://www.siliconmicrodisplay.com/st1080.html

which can be accessed directly, but not found on their website anymore (unless it's merely a problem on my side?).