Google I/O has begun, the company’s annual developer conference, and amidst expectations of a new all-in-one VR headset, the company announced that Samsung’s Galaxy S8/S8 plus and LG’s next flagship phone will be officially receiving Google Daydream support.
Taking the stage at I/O, Clay Bavor, the head of Google’s VR team, announced that Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phones will finally be receiving Daydream support via a software update this summer. This is the first mention of a specific Samsung device supporting the Daydream VR platform.
LG’s next flagship phone, a yet unrevealed model, will also be supporting Daydream at launch later this year.
When first announced at last year’s Google I/O, Daydream-compatible phones were supposed to come from several manufacturers including Samsung, HTC, LG, Mi, Huawei, ZTE, Asus, and Alcatel.
Because of the lack of onboard electronics, Daydream-compatible phones require highly-tuned inertial measurement units (IMUs) which determine head-tracking latency, not to mention the graphical guts to make the cut. Google Cardboard, the company’s wide-reaching VR initiative that supports a multitude of mid-to-low end devices, delivers a basic but serviceable mobile VR experience. Daydream however, with it’s hand controller and beefier specs, that necessarily push frame rates to 60 fps, delivers what most consider a high-quality VR experience on par with Samsung’s Gear VR mobile headset.
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