Big news from Samsung is on the way. The Korean tech giant is teasing major VR-related announcements during its Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event on February 21. The address will be part of the Mobile World Conference taking place this year in Barcelona, Spain.
Check out how the company used Samsung Gear VR to tease the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g3O94WALV8
Samsung’s Unpacked events are lightning rods for major news and announcements specific to the diversified company’s line of smartphones. Unpacked 2015, for example, took place in New York City and unveiled the release dates for the Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ in addition to a myriad of new features, accessories, and design updates that would be released throughout the year. Announcements at Unpacked shows traditionally gravitate around a central theme. Last year, the focus was on screen resolution with a heavy emphasis being placed on Samsung’s curved and bevel-free displays. The Unpacked 2016 teaser makes the focus for this year’s event crystal clear: Virtual Reality.
The Samsung Gear VR was one of the seminal VR institutions of 2015. The relatively cheap headset combines with Samsung smartphones to deliver immersive VR gaming, photo and video experiences. With this year’s Unpacked teasing Gear VR, expect big announcements about the future of the headset.
Gear 360
According to SamMobile, the project formerly known as “Beyond” from Samsung will be renamed Gear 360 in connection with the event, to be announced alongside the Galaxy S7. The site suggests the camera will shoot in 180 or 360-degree mode, have its own power supply and will ship with software that allows for a connected S7 smartphone to become either a gallery or a viewfinder for the camera. The viewfinder application is said to allow adjustment of basic settings like exposure and light balance while watching a live feed from the camera. Resolution will vary depending on the capture mode enabling 3840 x 1920 pixels when shooting in dual lens mode, or 1920 x 1920 pixels in single lens mode. We hope SamMobile is right about this all, because the camera sounds awesome. The gadget’s price is currently unknown.
The company is also spearheading the scene’s expansion into new territories such as film by starting a VR movie studio in New York. We hope the Rink controllers also make an appearance. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked will be live streamed from Barcelona on February 21 on YouTube and the company’s website.
