Yesterday it was announced that finally the Samsung Gear VR had gone on sale. This was Samsung’s take on virtual reality and has already attracted a lot of attention and headlines thanks to issues with overheating and its rather high price tag. For those new to the situation, the Gear VR is the ultimate wearable and can be used in conjunction with a smartphone. Well, to be clear, with one smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. If that was not bad enough, the Gear VR also requires you to fork over another $200 on top of the $800 you would have paid for the Note 4. That said, once you have handed over your $1000 you are good to go…right?
Well, maybe not. It seems on top of the financial levy on owning one of this year’s most interesting pieces of tech, there is also another issue you might want to take note of. Do you remember last week, when we advised that Google had altered its language in relation to Nexus and GPe device update times? If you missed it, then in short, Google stated that their ‘two weeks after update’ policy for Nexus and GPe devices was no longer so guaranteed. Instead, the update window is now carrier-dependent. Meaning, some carriers could take longer to roll out updates than others. Well, guess what. It looks as though it is no different for the Note 4 and Gear VR.
If you do buy the Gear VR and find the unit does not seem to be working out of the box with your Note 4. Then firstly, you are not alone and secondly, there is a reason for this. At the bottom of the recent press release by Samsung (source link below) there is an unfortunate phrase “Software updates required for Galaxy Note 4 based on carrier availability”. Yep, it seems it is not the Nexus and GPe devices that are the only ones now dependent on ‘carrier availability’. As such, it does seem an update is needed for the Note 4 to work with the Gear VR. When you will get this, seems to be dependent on your carrier. Have you bought a Gear VR? If so and if it does not work when it arrives, then this may be why.