Update: Google today announced that both the Huaewi Mate 9 Pro and Mate 9 are Daydream-ready devices via an Android update. No word yet on the upcoming Huawei-made Daydream headset, though.
Original story: Daydream’s launch yesterday was just the first step in a long journey. The first headset, Daydream View, works with the first Daydream-ready phones, Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL, but other companies will be bringing new devices to the ecosystem over time. It looks like Huawei could be the next to do so.
Earlier this month the China-based smartphone maker revealed its latest handsets, the Mate 9 and enhanced Mate 9 Pro. The latter of these two devices had already been rumored to support Daydream, but Google’s VP of VR, Clay Bavor, just confirmed it. Speaking at Recode’s An Evening With Code Mobile event this week, Bavor stated that the Mate 9 Pro will be “Daydream-ified over a software update soon.” He didn’t say how soon, though the Mate 9 Pro isn’t even available in western territories yet and we don’t know when it will be.
According to GSM Arena, the Mate 9 Pro boasts a AMOLED 5.5 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920. It’s powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 960 processor and has 4GB RAM. That’s not a make of chipset we’re familiar with, though if it’s Google-approved for Daydream it obviously meets to quality standards the company has laid out for its mobile platform.
Huawei is just one of many companies making Daydream-ready smartphones, though, and we’re still expecting to see handsets from Samsung, ZTE, LG, Asus, Lenovo and others, as well as new takes on the headset.
We don’t know which of those we’ll see next, but Bavor did drop a hint as to when we might here some news. “I’ll just say it, I think CES and Mobile World Congress will be very exciting for VR,” he said later on in the interview. CES takes place in January while Mobile World Congress gets underway at the end of February. Daydream-related reveals for both events seems likely.
