Google Ships Pixel 4 Without Daydream VR Support, Stops Selling Daydream Viewer
Google is effectively phasing out its Daydream virtual reality (VR) platform: The company's latest flagship Pixel 4 flagship phone, which Google unveiled at a press event in New York Tuesday, won't support Google's Daydream mobile VR platform anymore, a spokesperson confirmed to Variety.
[...] "We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VR—being able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience," Google's spokesperson explained. "But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction."
Google launched Daydream in 2016 as the company's answer to Samsung's Gear VR headset. It allowed consumers to access VR simply by putting their phone into the cloth-covered Daydream viewer. However, support for Daydream had always been limited to just a few phones, including Google's own Pixel phones. Without support from key industry players, usage remained low.
Also at Wccftech.
Previously:
Google's Daydream VR Headset Reported to Cost $79
HTC Cancels U.S. Release of a Google Daydream VR Headset, Reveals Own Standalone Headset
Related Stories
The headset, which the company will reveal tomorrow morning [Tuesday] in San Francisco, will likely cost $79, Variety reported Monday. The headset will be manufactured by HTC, the same company rumored to be making the Pixel and Pixel XL, a pair of phones Google is also expected to unveil Tuesday, according to Variety.
The new headset underscores the tech community's growing interest in virtual reality, which promises to transport goggle-wearing users to a computer-generated 3D environment. Alphabet, Google's parent company, is said to be investing big money on content for the platform, much of it going toward development of video games and apps, licensing sports leagues and shooting 360-degree videos.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HTC will not widely commercialize a planned Google Daydream headset, but released more details about the Vive Focus, a standalone VR headset with integrated positional tracking:
HTC has officially revealed the Vive Focus, its all-in-one VR headset. As previously announced, the Vive Focus runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip and uses inside-out positional tracking. It should be the first standalone six-degrees-of-freedom VR headset to see release, though HTC isn't saying exactly when it'll be available.
[...] HTC has only announced plans for the Vive Focus in China just yet, and even then there aren't any details on pricing or a release date. If you were holding out for that Vive-branded standalone Google Daydream headset, meanwhile, there's bad news — HTC and Google have cancelled their plans to bring it to the US.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Friday October 18 2019, @02:50PM
I quite like a bit of VR.
Any chance of playing Elite Dangerous with just a phone, would be fun...
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday October 18 2019, @03:31PM (1 child)
Google cardboard worked.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 18 2019, @10:03PM
No it didn't. It had no mechanism for getting your data back to Mountain View. The engineers who designed it have been executed.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Friday October 18 2019, @08:17PM (1 child)
So, just bundle a VR interface for the smartphone apps these people use throughout the day. Or write equivalents that offer the same features. It's not like their short of the budget to write useful software for these things.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Friday October 18 2019, @08:19PM
s/their/they're/
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 18 2019, @10:37PM (1 child)
::YAWN::
https://killedbygoogle.com/ [killedbygoogle.com]
Almost all their 'products' are "Daydreams", here for a brief moment, then instantly vanished the next.
Best never to have any faith or hope in Google for anything that is important to you, since Google Don't Give a Fuck.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday October 19 2019, @12:43AM
So their motto evolved from:
"Don't be evil."
to:
"We're not evil, we just don't give a flying fuck."
Yeah, I can buy that.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.