Samsung Prepares Android XR Headset: Developer Version Releases October 2024

Samsung's Android XR feedset will launch in October (photo: x @EvereImagineTech).

JAKARTA - Samsung ended the launch of the Fold 6 and Galaxy Watch Ultra this week by announcing that its newest XR platform will be coming this year. The latest report provides more details on when the Samsung Android XR headset might launch.

According to Business Insider, the current internal timeline for Samsung's Android XR headset supported by Qualcomm with the name code Moohan will be released for the developer version in October. This will be followed by a launch for consumers in March 2025.

There are no other details about the upcoming availability, including how the gadget will be announced and what will be displayed. For example, will there be a keynote facing consumers in October serve as a public announcement? Or will the hardware remain kept secret and announced by Samsung at a later date.

The launch of this headset was originally planned for Q1 this year, where Apple Vision Pro came out in February. But the launch has been delayed repeatedly, where company leaders are concerned this device isn't good enough to amaze users.

There is internal speculation that Samsung will be the first to also make glasses with Google AR software, according to two employees familiar with the matter.

Google itself has no plans to create a consumer XR hardware. An employee in the report said, 'Google is out of first-party play for glasses for the foreseeable future.' In January, Google dismissed its first-party augmented reality hardware team, which allegedly worked on Iris. The project was the result of North's 2020 acquisition and was canceled in June 2023.

This decision may help convince partners that Google will not compete with its own hardware in the near future.

Google is making a prototype display with microLED (Raxium) companies it bought in 2022 to show off its software to partners. Last month, as part of a broader overhaul, Google brought the display team into the Android XR division.