The Google Daydream virtual reality (VR) platform will soon support the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, the Mountain View-based Internet giant announced during the opening Keynote of its Google I/O 2017 developer conference. The announcement was made by the company’s VR chief Clay Bavor who revealed that Samsung’s latest pair of Android flagships will become a part of the growing Google Daydream ecosystem this summer. As Bavor didn’t explicitly clarify on the matter, it remains to be seen whether the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus receive Google Daydream support in a matter of weeks or months.
The Alphabet-owned firm already revealed that it’s collaborating with Samsung on VR development and the Daydream platform in particular last year, but the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer has yet to update any of its devices with Daydream support and has so far been focused on growing its own VR ecosystem centered around the Gear VR (2017) and older variants of its smartphone-powered head-mounted display. Some industry watchers previously speculated that the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will launch with Daydream support out of the box seeing how their hardware is already in line with Google’s requirements and the two companies have been jointly developing VR technologies for a while now, and it’s currently unclear whether the hiatus between the release of Samsung’s flagship series and the rollout of its Daydream support is intentional or necessary. Samsung may have opted to delay Daydream support for the Galaxy S8 lineup in an effort to avoid hurting the growth of its own ecosystem, though the two firms may have simply been unable to develop the feature in time for the launch of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. That question will likely be answered with the release of the Galaxy Note 8 that’s scheduled for the second half of this year and may or may not sport Daydream support out of the box.
Bavor also said that the Google Daydream platform will be supported by LG’s upcoming flagships, likely referring to the upcoming LG V30 that’s expected to be released in late summer or early fall, as well as the successor to this year’s LG G6 that should hit the market next year.