Earlier this year, during the launch of the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung announced that it was working with Google and Qualcomm to create new immersive XR (Extended Reality) experiences for consumers. During the Google I/O 2023 keynote event last night, Google reminded us again that it is working on the XR experience with Samsung.
On the stage, Google reconfirmed its partnership with Samsung and said that they are working to create an immersive XE experience via Android. While the company didn't specifically mention a special version of Android for XR devices, it seems like it is building something that suit's the XR headset form factor.
Samsung could launch the first XR headset built in partnership with Google and Qualcomm
Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management at Google, said, “We are excited about our new Android collaboration [with Samsung] on immersive XR. We will share more later this year.” It is possible that Google will reveal a new version of Android UI that is designed for XR headsets and devices, and Samsung could announce the first product based on that software toward the end of this year.
Google already had a UI called Daydream for VR headsets. However, it was killed a few years ago when the standalone VR headset market failed to take off. Now, it seems like Google, Qualcomm, and Samsung are working to bring an XR headset to compete with Apple's upcoming MR/XR headset that could be revealed in July 2023.
