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Samsung, in partnership with Qualcomm and Google, has introduced plans to develop a brand new prolonged actuality product. XR is a time period that encompasses digital actuality, augmented actuality, and blended actuality applied sciences.
I actually switched from Apple to Samsung in 2015 specifically for Samsung’s Gear VR headset. However when Samsung cancelled the mission, I switched to the Google Pixel to remain near Google’s VR platform. And now, each Gear VR and Google’s platform are gone.
I’m contemplating switching again to Samsung in the event that they launch a brand new XR headset. I’m additionally contemplating ready for Google’s model. But when Apple beats them to it, I’ll swap again to Apple. It’ll be robust after greater than seven years on Android, however I wish to be on the platform that helps the metaverse finest.
What we all know concerning the Samsung XR headset to this point
Whereas the specifics of Samsung’s XR product haven’t been revealed, the corporate’s president and head of cell experiences, TM Roh, confirmed in an interview with The Washington Post that Qualcomm will deal with the chipset, Samsung will manufacture the {hardware}, and Google will present the software program.
“For the chipset, it’s going to be a strategic collaboration with Qualcomm. The {hardware} will likely be us,” he stated. “For the ecosystem, we had been attempting to find out which platform to work with, and ultimately, we determined that it was going to be Google.”
Google and Qualcomm individually confirmed the partnership on XR. A Google spokeswoman, Kaori Miyake, stated, “We’re excited to work with our companions to construct a brand new technology of immersive computing experiences that may additional elevate what customers can do with Google.” Qualcomm CEO, Cristiano Amon, added, “With the shared experience from our companions, we have now the inspiration to make these alternatives a actuality and drive the way forward for the spatial web.”
Roh additionally talked about that Samsung’s XR enterprise will contain service partnerships with Meta and Microsoft, however declined to supply particular particulars.
Samsung’s XR announcement comes at a vital time for the corporate, as global smartphone shipments declined by 12% in 2022, and the corporate noticed its lowest quarterly revenue in years. Roh acknowledged that market demand for smartphones may stay weak for the primary half of 2023, however believes that buyers will proceed to spend money on premium merchandise for the added advantages they supply.
The XR market is anticipated to be crowded, with Apple extensively rumored to disclose its first XR gadget within the close to future, and a number of other corporations, together with Meta and Microsoft, already providing blended actuality headsets.
Those other headsets haven’t been doing well, though. Microsoft just lately stated it can lay off 10,000 workers. In line with media studies, the layoffs embrace its whole Blended Actuality Toolkit group and the AltspaceVR crew, successfully killing Microsoft’s personal Hololens mission.
And Fb has been dropping cash hand-over-fist on its digital actuality initiatives.
In the meantime, Samsung has a wealthy historical past within the area of XR. It was one of many first corporations to develop VR {hardware}, beginning with the Samsung Gear VR platform in 2014, which was paired with the Galaxy Notice 4 cellphone. Samsung Gear VR was the primary high-quality 3DOF cell VR expertise provided to customers. The corporate later launched the Odyssey PC VR headset in 2017 and a revised mannequin the next 12 months. Nonetheless, Samsung has not launched a VR product for the reason that launch of the Odyssey+.
Google has additionally had its share of VR ventures, together with the standalone Daydream platform, which it discontinued in 2019.
The subsequent huge occasion for Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google, the place extra info on the XR {hardware} partnership could also be shared, is Cellular World Congress 2023, which kicks off in Barcelona, Spain on February 27.
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