This March we were excited to announce you that Facebook closed one of the most important deals in its history: the purchase of the Oculus Rift VR headset. Playing the game of virtual reality is a tough one, not for the gamers themselves, but for the tech giants which feel the need to be one step ahead of their competitors.
Sony invested in its Project Morpheus, soon to be synced with the Play Station 4, while Apple itself did a great job adding the Rescape Game Controller to its portfolio. Facebook followed the crowd and spent quite the money for the Rift and so did the race begin!
But this world also has Samsung, a company which was very well (metaphorically) described by the guys from Cult of Android:
Samsung’s like the spoiled brat you went to school with: they have almost everything, but if another kid comes in with a toy that’s not part of their collection, mummy and daddy will make sure they get it. Rumor has it the South Korean company is now developing its own virtual reality headset that will work alongside Galaxy devices — and it is desperate to get the product to market before Facebook and Sony launch theirs.
Spoiled or not, it seems that Samsung plans to launch its own VR headset in the next two months, according to the rumors and leaks provided by Endgadget. Do not mistake this peripheral with the alleged “Galaxy Glass”, a futuristic gear along the lines of the Google Glass. The Galaxy Glass is said to be showcased this September in Germany, during the IFA tech event and seen as a future competitor to the real Glass.
Samsung’s upcoming VR headset is powered by the Galaxy flagship smartphones and tablets, but a true consumer version is also said to need next – gen Galaxy gadgets, which haven’t been announced yet, of course.
This headset is going to be marketed as a peripheral, as we said, and also advertised as being cheaper than its competitors. As cheap as such device can be, warn us the specialists. So far, it seems that the VR headset is currently under development, but it uses OLED display technology, making it pretty similar to the Rift. Rumors also say that Samsung’s in-house operating system, Tizen, won’t be a part of the future Samsung “Gear Solo”, as the VR was named.
To what purpose Samsung plans to launch its own VR headset?
Samsung fathered a very wide area of wearables and smart devices, so trying to get a bigger slice of the cake is what a good company is supposed to do, especially in an emerging field such as virtual reality headsets. The ultimate goal is to offer Android game players a “mind-blowing” gaming experience and a full immersion in the game. We don’t have other details about this upcoming spectacular device, but stay tuned, as we will find out more!