A lot of tech companies seem to think that virtual reality are the next big thing. Sony came up with its Morpheus headset, Facebook bought Oculus VR, the makers of Oculus Rift, and now Samsung rumoredly has its own VR headset in the works.
Samsung’s VR headset comes with a unique feature that’s meant to set it apart from all the other competitors. According to a recent report, the device will work with Samsung smartphones, pretty much the way the South Korean’s wearables do. Should the rumors turn out to be true, we’ll get to see a Galaxy (?) VR headset by the end of the year.
The Korean tech giant is heading into so many directions and is tackling so many niches that a VR helmet shouldn’t really surprise anyone. That’s a sign of uncertainty, though, and it seems that the company is not sure what the next big thing is going to be. In other words, such a product would help Samsung tick off a checkbox on a list of things tech companies must do in order to remain in the audience’s mind.
Engadget’s source claims that Samsung wants to launch such a product in order to beat Facebook’s Oculus Rift and Sony’s Morpheus in terms of market share. In order to do that, the company intends to adopt an aggressive pricing strategy, and the smartphone (presumably wireless) connectivity should convince shoppers to pick Samsung over the other two.
At the moment, the development version of the headset packs an OLED screen or screens. The device connects easily to Samsung smartphones and tablets, but the final version is said to have an even better compatibility with mobile devices that are yet to be released by the Korean company.
As for the name, given that it will connect to Android smartphones in order to play Android games, there’s no doubt that Samsung’s VR headset will be part of the Galaxy family. Still, this very selling point could be the feature that makes or breaks the product. Samsung would also have to convince Android game developers to offer support for the VR headset, and that’s a huge bet that I’m not sure the Korean company is yet willing to take. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see if Samsung even launches this VR headset or only plays with the idea of doing it.
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