Oculus Touch preorders, Samsung vs. Apple at the Supreme Court, and more in the week ahead

October 10th, 2016

After a busier than usual month of news, the tech industry will be taking a relative breather this week.

It begins with preorders for the Oculus Rift Touch controllers going live later today. The $199 bundle is scheduled to ship on December 6th and includes two controllers, a second sensor, a connector for Rock Band VR, and two titles — VR Sports Challenge and The Unspoken. Note that if you preordered your Rift through Oculus.com then your place in line is already reserved for the Oculus Touch. To claim your priority status you have to order by October 27th at 11:59AM PT, according to Oculus. For everyone else, good luck — the original Oculus Rift preorders were plagued by months-long delays. Oculus promises 35 Touch-compatible games at launch, some of which you’ll see teased in the trailer below.

Then on Tuesday, the nine eight US Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments in the case of Samsung Electronics vs. Apple. Samsung says it shouldn’t have to pay the full $399 million in damages awarded to Apple because the penalty reflects the total profit of the 11 smartphones that jurors found to be infringing Apple design patents. Instead it should only be required to pay Apple a percentage of the profit directly related to the design patents infringed. The Wall Street Journal notes that this is the first time in more than 100 years that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a design-patent case, underlining its significance.

Before that, though, let’s take a look back at the weekend that was.


  1. Samsung is suspending production of the Galaxy Note 7, says Korean news agency

    Samsung is suspending production of the Galaxy Note 7 after a number of replacement phones — those that Samsung claimed were safe after a recall — caught fire and sent at least one person to the...

  2. Here's a first look at Microsoft's new Paint app for Windows 10

    Details on Microsoft's plans to redesign its famous paint app for Windows 10 started leaking over the weekend, and now an early version of the app has appeared online for anyone to download....

  3. Poop 101: A beginner’s guide to reading your own poop

    The next time you ponder your poop before you flush, one thing to keep in mind is that your feces passed through a lot of important organs on their way out. (And if you don’t take a peek, well,...

  4. Meet the incredible cosplayers of New York Comic Con

    One reason to go to any sort of convention is to take in the craftsmanship of the costumers who flock to the event, portraying their favorite characters. Some work for months to assemble their...

  5. 11 new trailers you should watch this week

    I was born at the very end of the '80s and never really cared to watch the decade's classic teen comedies and dramas when I was growing up. For the most part, that hasn't been a problem — it's just...

  6. Tesla planning two product events in October

    Tesla is planning a pair of product events in October, according to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk. The first is a "Tesla product unveiling" on Monday October 17th that Musk says was "unexpected by...

  7. Feast your eyes on this new batch of spectacular photos of Mars

    Thanks to the Indian Space Research Organization and a little help from the Planetary Society, we just got a new batch of spectacular photos of the Red Planet. The images come from the Mars...

  8. Samsung knew a third replacement Note 7 caught fire on Tuesday and said nothing

    Another replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has caught fire, bringing the total to three this week alone. This one was owned by Michael Klering of Nicholasville, Kentucky. He told WKYT that he woke...

  9. The creative team behind Harley Quinn on letting an icon grow

    Harley Quinn might be unstoppable. Even though she started off as a throwaway henchwoman in Batman: The Animated Series, she’s since exploded in popularity to become one of the most recognizable...

  10. How to be human: coping with depression

    Leah Reich was one of the first internet advice columnists. Her column "Ask Leah" ran on IGN, where she gave advice to gamers for two and a half years. During the day, Leah is Slack’s user...

Ride of the day