The Apple Vision Pro means Samsung’s own XR headset has been delayed
The wait continues
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The arrival of theApple Vision Prohas apparently forced a delay in the launch ofSamsung’s own XR (Extended Reality) headset: the Samsung device is now expected to launch in mid-2024 or later, after having originally been slated for February 2024.
This comes fromSBS Biz(viaSamMobile), and the story seems to be that seeing the Vision Pro forced Samsung executives to rethink their own device. An upgrade to the display sharpness is one of the possible reasons given for the delay.
Clearly Samsung doesn’t want to come out of the gate with a headset that’s notably inferior toApple’s own product, even if it’s also cheaper. The Vision Pro costs $3,499 (about £2,725 / AUS$5,230), and is expected toonly be availablein limited numbers for a while.
Details on exactly what theSamsung XR headsetis going to offer are still thin on the ground at this stage, though it is believed to be runningGoogle’s Android software, and powered by a Qualcomm chipset of some description.
Choose your reality
All these different versions of reality can take some time to get used to. The XR (or Extended Reality) that Samsung prefers is actually referring to all the different types of related technology that we’ve seen to date.
Augmented reality (AR) is where digital objects are overlaid on top of the real world. Then there’s virtual reality (VR), which refers to completely self-contained digital environments. Mixed reality (MR) generally means enhanced AR, where digital objects are aware of and interact with the physical world around them.
The Vision Pro is usually referred to as a mixed reality device, whereas theMeta Quest 3is mostly concerned with virtual reality. Extended reality, or XR, is generally taken to mean a combination of AR, VR, and MR – though there’s still a lot of confusion, as tech companies tend to all use these terms in different ways.
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We’ll have to wait and see what Samsung has been building and what it’s capable of, but the extra time in development should mean a better device – and a more worthy competitor to the Vision Pro when it finally does see the light of day.
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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