Toward the end of last February’s Unpacked 2023 event, Samsung brought on executives Google and Qualcomm to hint at a future mixed-reality platform that the three companies would team up to build. At the time, Google senior vice president Hiroshi Lockheimer spent some time going into detail on the special version of Android that will run this potential AR, VR, XR platform.
Fast forward to Galaxy Unpacked event today (July 10), where Rick Osterloh, now Google’s senior vice president of platforms and devices reminded us that this partnership is ongoing with a mixed reality product on its way.
To draw a line under Osterloh’s comments, Samsung’s TR Roh then appeared to confirm that “a new XR platform is coming later this year.”
And that was the extent of what Galaxy Unpacked told us about this upcoming announcement. The event ended right after that teaser.
There have been rumors that Samsung is working on a headset device similar to Apple’s Vision Pro called the Samsung Infinite. Qualcomm’s part in the headset involves creating a new “super chip” to rival Apple.
It’s believed that Samsung’s version will be a more affordable option to the Vision Pro, with rumors that Samsung wants the price to be closer to $1,500 rather than the $3,499 that Apple charges for its headset.
Last year, around the February 2023 Unpacked event, Roh told The Washington Post, “Many different companies…have been making these announcements about different realities…so we have also been making similar preparations.”
Before today’s surprise announcement, we weren’t expecting this elusive headset or platform until 2025 at the earliest.
Unfortunately, neither Google or Samsung announced much more beyond a 2024 launch date. What the headset would look like and more detail about its features will have to wait.
Perhaps Google will go into more detail during the Made by Google event slated for August 13, where the company is expected to launch the Google Pixel 9 phone as well as as the Pixel Watch 3 smartwatch and potentially a new foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google is also working on its own version AI/AR smart glasses that the company teased during Google I/O back in May.
