Did you get your HTC Vive this morning? Pre-orders for the $799 headset began today , and eager VR enthusiasts will get their hands on the product April 5 — mere days after competitor Oculus Rift ships .

The pre-order bundle is costly, but arguably it comes with more goodies to sink your teeth into: along with the headset, users will get two wireless controllers as well as base stations and other accessories. The Vive will also come with three apps — games ‘Job Simulator’ and ‘ Fantastic Contraption ,’ and Google’s ‘Tilt Brush’ .

The pre-orders only apply to select countries, so make sure you’re included when you preorder. Some Oculus pre-orders were cancelled due to bad transactions or attempts to ship outside of supported countries, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to dupe HTC into sending your headset to a country that’s not included.

More or less, it’s clear that this Spring will be the kickoff of the great VR hardware race. Oculus and the Steam-powered HTC are bringing a lot of appeal, and have the edge in hitting shelves before Sony’s PlayStation VR. But it will be hard to see how the devices compare and contrast until users have them in their hands.

Things are heating up.

➤ HTC

Amazon’s $289 crazy thin Kindle Oasis has a battery cover that adds months of charge

Yep – the leaks are true . Amazon’s newest e-reader is called the Kindle Oasis , and is the company’s thinnest e-reader to date.

We got a hands-on preview of the device last week and it is significantly tinier than the Kindle Voyage . While the screen size and resolution remains the same at 300 ppi, the borders of the device have shrunk down and in my hand, it feels thinner than most smartphones today.

In fact, the Kindle Oasis is 30 percent thinner than previous models combined, and is 20 percent lighter without the battery cover. On the back, it’s got a ridge that acts as a grip when you’re reading it without the cover – similar to a folded magazine or newspaper.

This also lets you use it with either hand without an awkward upside down Kindle logo. To turn the page, you tap the screen instead of the sides like you did with the Voyage. Amazon says it was able to engineer the device down to this thinness by using a 200 micron display backplane that’s about as thin as a sheet of aluminum foil.

But while a thinner, smaller body may be cool, its major selling point is the leather battery cover that comes with the device. It attaches to the Kindle Oasis via a magnetic connection to add months of battery life. Amazon wasn’t specific about exactly how many months, but depending on your usage, we’re guessing a three-month minimum should be a significant improvement from older Kindle models, which lasted around six weeks per charge.

The Kindle Oasis is available for pre-order today at $289 and will ship on April 27. Amazon admits that this price point is its highest ever for a Kindle launch, but says the Oasis aims to cater to big e-book readers who will want that kind of battery life and portability.

With the launch of Oasis, Amazon’s also dropping prices on its older Kindle models. “If we made money off devices, we would launch one every year,” said Neil Lindsay, Vice President of Amazon Kindle. But most of its revenue comes from its e-book marketplace which is still growing year over year, so as long as consumers choose a Kindle that’s right for them, the team’s happy with that too.

“A lot of people ask us why we’re still making Kindles when we’re also making tablets,” Lindsay said. “The purpose of the Kindle is to let you get lost in your reading without getting distracted by the constant notifications or the Web, and we think the Oasis will let you do just that.”

The Kindle Oasis comes in your choice of three leather cover colors: red, brown, and black. If you’re a super heavy reader or like to match your Kindle to your outfit, you can also purchase the covers separately.

View-Master’s retro VR headset is getting bigger and better this Fall

Mattel revived its iconic View-Master toy brand last year when it unveiled a $30 VR headset that supported Google’s Cardboard platform. It’s now set to launch an improved version this fall that it demoed at the ongoing New York Toy Fair.

The upcoming View-Master Viewer DLX includes enhanced optical lenses with a focus wheel for adjusting sharpness. There’s also a headphone connector so you can enjoy more immersive sound than your phone’s speakers will afford you.

Gizmodo says the DLX also features an improved latch for the phone enclosure that ensures your handset won’t suddenly drop to its death, as well as a new mount that can accommodate a wider range of device sizes.

Along with the headset, you can purchase ‘experience reels’ for $14.99 each that let you view various sights around the world as as well as from outer space, in 3D.

The Viewer DLX will reportedly retail for $40 when it launches later this year, along with Mattel’s $300 ThingMaker 3D printer which is now available to pre-order.

➤ View-Master [Twitter via Gizmodo ]