Samsung confirms ‘new XR platform coming this year’ in partnership with Google

At Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, where it unveiled new gadgets including the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Ring, Google was invited to talk all things Gemini AI. But in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, Google confirmed its XR platform plans (an umbrella term for VR, AR and MR). Samsung President and Head of the Mobile Experience (MX) business TM Roh said the fruits of Samsung and Google’s XR partnership would come “this year.”

Since we’re already halfway through 2024, Samsung and Google better hurry. Our best guess is when we hear more at the Samsung Developer’s Conference (SDC), scheduled for October 3, 2024. But what will we see?

Google and Samsung have previously hinted that we’d see a physical device focused on the XR , and that makes sense; what’s the point of a new XR platform if nothing can use it? That could be a Samsung XR headset, or maybe even a pair of glasses – standalones are possible, but we’re expecting something along the lines of Xreal Air 2 Ultras that require a smartphone to run.

If we’re going to use our conspiracy thinking, an October hardware launch makes a lot of sense when you also consider that Google has moved up its next Pixel phone launch event (which normally takes place around October) to August. Perhaps in an attempt to give the new Pixel 9 some breathing room before showing off some new XR tech – whatever it may be – later this year.