Google pushes further into virtual reality with new headset
Google is expected to release its rival headset, alongside new Android VR technology, this year. Like Cardboard and Gear VR, the new headset will use an existing smartphone, slotted into the device, for its display and most of its processing power.
Google Cardboard relies solely on sensors built into modern smartphones to detect the position of a user’s head, while Gear VR is more sturdily built and features extra motion sensors. The updated Google headset will be compatible with a much broader range of Android devices than Gear VR, which only works with a handful of recent Samsung Galaxy smartphone models, as the Alphabet unit tries to bring the technology to a wider audience.
I’m typing this at Best Buy, after doing some Samsung Gear VR demos yet again.
This Google move has to be the biggest deal of the year.
Now I can stop worrying about having to buy a US$800 Samsung phone!
And if I was Tim Cook, I’d start being worried.
Next-day update: Alternate links if Financial Times has a paywall:
Google’s new Virtual Reality headset, VR support into Android this year
Previously here:
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