From OS to VR Platform
According to industry sources, Google is planning to unveil its new virtual reality (VR) headset, along with an Android VR platform, at its developers conference scheduled for May 18.
Google’s VR headset is expected to compete fiercely with those of Samsung Electronics. The latter cut the price of its VR device Gear VR to US$99 in September last year in order to boost its market share. More recently, it announced that it would cooperate with Facebook in the market with Facebook emerging in the market by acquiring Oculus.
Google and Samsung Electronics have been engaged in a series of competitions in various fields such as operating system (OS), smart car and the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, Samsung Electronics is trying to reduce its reliance on the Android OS in emerging markets like India and Latin America by using its own Tizen OS in wearable devices such as smartwatches. In the IoT market, Samsung Electronics and Google are trying to expand their ecosystems with the IoT module of Artik and the smarthome platform of Brillo, respectively. The companies are currently not working with each other in the smart car sector. Google released the Android Pay service in September last year, a month after the release of the Samsung Pay mobile payment service.