Samsung’s answer to Apple Vision Pro will be announced soon

There was no latest information about Samsung/Google/Qualcomm headsets during the summer unpacked event Located in Seoul, South Korea. But as hundreds of journalists flocked to Seoul for the event, Samsung’s president of mobile experience TM Roh said plans for the new XR headset and ecosystem are on track and will be announced soon. suggested.

Six months ago, at Samsung’s February Unpacked event in San Francisco, President Roh took the stage with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Google Senior Vice President Hiroshi Lockheimer. Announcing strategic partnership to build next-generation AR/VR products.

again: All products announced (and unannounced) at Samsung Unpacked

In Seoul this week, ZDNET’s Cho Moo-hyun quotes President Roh Referring to AR/VR partnerships, he said, “We don’t want to be satisfied with launching a single product or building an ecosystem of one company. What we are doing is opening up the XR ecosystem in the not-too-distant future.”

President Roh also added, “Predictions about the XR market are polarizing. However, we believe this will be the next growth engine, just like smartphones.”

This is clearly consistent with Apple’s long-term ambitions. AR headset As a platform that could eventually become as pervasive as smartphones and computers.

Roh Moo-hyun’s declaration this week sounds like some event or announcement is imminent, but don’t forget President Roh told the Washington Post in February, The announcement is “not too far away”.

Getting the various teams within Apple to work together is difficult enough for the world’s largest tech company, and it reportedly took seven years to reach an agreement. Announcing Vision Pro in june. Samsung faces the challenge of bringing together Qualcomm’s chip team and Google’s Android software experts in a joint venture that is only a year or two old.

Of course, Samsung and Google’s VR and AR roots go back a decade.but Apple raises the bar significantly with Vision Pro, with a level of display quality never before seen on a consumer device. Apple also has the advantage of deep content relationships with the software developers that create apps, and Hollywood bringing popular content to new devices.

again: I tried the Apple Vision Pro and it far exceeded my expectations

It might be wise for Samsung, Google and Qualcomm to start on a smaller, less ambitious path. And there are signs that just that is on the way.of Interview with CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco in Seoul this week“In the short term, we will probably have a lot of functions and experiences,” said President Roh. [in] Mixed reality will be related to [the] smartphone. “

In that interview, President Roh further elaborated that Samsung sees two avenues for the XR. One will be based on smartphones and the other will be an “ecosystem that can be independently generated by mixed reality.”

If there are any Samsung product announcements in the second half of 2023, it’s reasonable to expect ecosystem announcements to come first. high end smart phone At the same time, we share a vision of what kind of headset hardware Samsung sees as the future for next-gen XR experiences.

Disclosure: Jason Hiner’s trip to South Korea for Unpacked was covered by Samsung, a common practice for long-distance travel in the industry. The judgments and opinions of ZDNET’s writers and editors are always independent of the companies they cover.