If you’re looking for a powerful Samsung phone that will work with your Gear VR headset, you’ll have to look past the Galaxy Note 10, new phablet from Samsung. The Gear VR headset is a shell that users can slide their mobile phones in to experience VR. The Gear VR has been notorious for supporting a broad range of phone, especially all the phones that Samsung has released since the Gear VR debuted.
This seems to be a change of direction by Samsung, yet Samsung says they remain committed to innovating in the AR/VR space. They still hope to deliver incredible new experiences to their consumers, they said in a statement to the tech press.
Smartphone VR is in Decline
Smartphone created a massive inconvenience for it’s users. They would end up of locking your phone into a single-purpose headset – which prevented them from using their number one communication and connectivity device as they normally would. Then once they were don’t use the headset, they would unmount the phone to return it to its normal use case.
Compare Smartphone VR experience to the Oculus Quest experience and you’ll start to get an idea of how much better a standalone, independent VR Headset really is.
The Google Daydream has also been reemphasized over that last year and Google hasn’t put much time into releasing to features or promoting existing ones. Google even stopped supporting the Daydream movie service that they launched specifically for daydream users.
How this Impacts Standalone VR
We could all be really bummed about this news, and think that the announcement of no support for the Gear VR is a bad Oman of things to come. Or, we could see this for what it really is.
It’s clear that Facebook is dominating the Standalone VR Headset market with the Oculus Quest (there aren’t really any other players in this space today). Facebook is also dominating with the Oculus Rift and rift Rift S – together those two headsets make up over 50% of the computer-connected VR headsets in use today.
Samsung and Google are realizing they they need to solve the standalone VR headset problem with a legitamit standalone VR headset. One that doesn’t require the user to tether their phone, lock it up, or render it completely useless while experiencing VR.
In short, Samsung and Google need their own version of the Oculus Quest, one that runs Android or some other self-contained operating system. Just like the Oculus Quest.
Standalone VR is Here to Stay
While the oculus quest is definitely best in class, it still has a very long way to go before it can be a device that is useful beyond playing games. A real VR headset that can go the distance will need to start incorporating more functionalities that will replace the other devices in the lives of the users.
The operating system that runs on the phones that were being used for the Gear VR and the Google Daydream have all the functionality that anyone would need to really feel like they could carry on with their day without having to leave VR. Including connectivity, communication, creativity, and productivity. Mobile phones can do it all. But, you couldn’t do any of those things while wearing the Gear VR or Google Daydream. You could watch a movie, or see a 360 degree video. But you couldn’t perform the tasks that really matter – and that is why it never took off. That is why VR isn’t necessary today.
