New $99 Google Daydream View VR headset announced with three new colors

Google has announced a new generation of Daydream View virtual reality headsets alongside its Pixel 2 phones. The new Daydream headsets still look like squishy, cloth-covered mobile headsets, with the same controller and basic features as the first Daydream View. But they’ve got a new look and a few design tweaks, as well as new (and per Google, improved) lenses. They’ll sell for $99 apiece, slightly more than the $79 original View, and now come in “charcoal,” “fog,” and “coral” editions. Preorders open today, with the headsets launching on October 19th.

The first Daydream View was released in November of 2016 exclusively for the Google Pixel. Several phones have added Daydream support since then; there are now over a dozen Daydream-ready Android devices, including the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and upcoming LG V30. Google initially envisioned Daydream as a platform with multiple headsets, but so far, the View is the only one available in the US. The new View will launch in 11 countries: the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, India, Italy, France, Spain, Japan, and Korea.

In the US, UK, and Korea, anyone who buys a View headset before the end of the year will get a free bundle of popular games. Google is also launching a variety of YouTube VR video series alongside the View.

Google revealed earlier this year that it was working with partners on standalone VR headsets, which wouldn’t need a phone to function. But we’ll have to wait to hear more about those, and when they arrive, they’ll occupy a different market than the View — which is aimed a little higher than the cheap and simple Cardboard mobile headset that Google revealed in 2014.

For an exclusive look at all the new Google devices announced, check out our interview with CEO Sundar Pichai.