Galaxy XR: The first Android XR headset (blog.google)

This looks to be somewhere between a Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, with a price point to match. Is that correct?

So, it's been a few years, but does Samsung still have... issues with devices exploding? I would not want to live out Sword Art Online IRL.

Anyone watched last evening's live event?

The use cases they showed are just as stupid as those shown in Apple's event over two years ago.

Oof, a little late to this bandwagon. Basically every player in this industry is dealing with weak/declining sales.

> Galaxy XR is available starting today for $1799 or $149/month. It includes:

> 12 months of Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium, and Google Play Pass.

Not a bad deal for those who pay for those services.

What does Apple bundles with their Vision Pro for $3500?

This is going to be sick to buy for almost nothing in like a year when it inevitably gets discontinued.

The workspace feature seems like the biggest differentiator between this and the Apple Vision Pro. Full multi window display, with what seems to be desktop app functionality? That's almost tempting.

I realize this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but how can anyone justify buying this when Google notoriously kills off projects? My money says this goes the way of the Pixel tablet.

If Apple couldn't make it work, does Google really think they can? This should be headlining an event, not relegated to a blog post.

1.8k$ that is roughly 10x the amount I paid for my XReal Air 2. Does watching movies. Does work as a display using Android desktop mode and the phone as an air mouse [0] (worked best for me).

Wonder what I get for the other 1.6k, that makes me want it...

[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.htl.agmous...

Microsoft dropped the Hololens and it was in this price range with a much better product. So I have a feeling this will be a google glass type item

I think this is really cool, and the more competition and devices in this space the better. But absolutely no way I will spend that much money for a Google product, that they'll probably kill off in less than a year.

"Apps from top streaming services like Crunchyroll, HBO Max, Peacock, and more"

Is there a fight between Google and Netflix?

Also USD 1800 per headset ... wow.

I feel like this tech always misses real life usecases. I mean yes sure we do watch movies... But are you really going to sit in the headset for 2 hours straight. It's physically... Biologically(?) Uncomfortable.

Then when they say - explore Google Maps - ok. Fun. But for what? 10 minutes? How prominent is that need/activity in our life?

All usecases that Apple and now Google/Samsung showcase are "imaginary", wishful thinking usecases. They don't stick. They are more like "party-tricks" than something that can integrate into our lives and fill in a certain gap.

Samsung's product pages for the Galaxy XR itself:

* https://www.samsung.com/us/xr/galaxy-xr/galaxy-xr/

* https://www.samsung.com/us/business/xr/galaxy-xr/galaxy-xr/

I'm wondering why companies are still trying to sell VR headsets. History clearly speaks: bulky head-mounted devices have all epically failed.

No thanks. Where are the XR eye contacts?

I wonder if there will be a Pixel branded headset next year?

It's interesting that there are essentially no pictures of the actual device anywhere on this page (except for a lone image, from the back of a user's head, where all you can see is the strap and the edge of the front).

I think the most defining factor of it is that you have the play store right there and can just run any normal android app too.

I even installed Termux via F-Droid today, and have a bluetooth keyboard with touchpad connected to it.

This makes me miss Google Cardboard and Daydream.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Daydream

The average lifetime of a Pixel is 5 years of support. Will this be discontinued by Android 18 or 19? How long will it actually be usable before its e-waste? The letters X-R in Galaxy XR do not stand for Xtended suppoRt.

Although developers may be hesitant to embrace this out of fear of Google eventually killing it off, an upshot is that if you develop an XR app with Unity (and its XR Interaction Toolkit library), it ends up being quite portable across different XR devices / operating systems (e.g. Meta Quest, Pico VR, HTC Vive).

I wonder what the preferred ecosystem for VR will end up being.

Seems like there are now ~4 places to buy content (Oculus, Steam, Google Play, Apple App Store).

If you buy on Steam, your catalog is reasonably portable over time - you can buy another vendor's headset and still access your catalog. The cost is that you have to bring a separate device with you to host the catalog (unless/until the rumored Steam Frame comes out).

Oculus and Play are both based on Android. I suspect there will be e.g. guides on Reddit to sideload one vendor's catalog onto the other vendor's device.

I can imagine a world where someone prefers to buy content in one of these stores, to have everything in one place for portability to future devices. You're already seeing this in computer gaming with Steam (and Epic, Xbox, etc.).

Has anyone kicked the tires on the software stack? How is the dev experience for building an AR/Passthrough app?

I really wish they pushed for a 120 hz refresh rate instead of 90. IMO, this makes a huge difference for the immersion. I'm guessing that they didn't want to have stutters if their chip can't handle the higher FPS, but the refreshed Vision Pro will have a significant advantage there.