This month saw Google announce Daydream, the company’s big push into the virtual reality (VR) market. The company has grand plans for the platform as a whole, including launching its own headset, plenty of apps, and support for a variety of phones.
However, it sounds like the support department for devices to enjoy those VR experiences on will be pretty thin at launch later this year. According to a report from RoadToVR citing a confirmation from Google’s VR chief, Clay Bavor, current devices that are on the market won’t be “Daydream-ready” when the platform launches. That includes high-end flagship handsets like the HTC 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and others.
It’s an interesting turn of events, considering Google has been telling developers to use the Nexus 6P, last year’s flagship, as the platform to work for. Based on this report, it doesn’t sound like the Nexus 6P will be a certified Daydream-ready device. For what it’s worth, the 6P does feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor under the hood, which might be an important distinction, because as Engadget points out, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 is a chipset that supports VR out of the box. Of course, devices like the HTC 10 feature a Snapdragon 820 under the hood, so it sounds like the finer details will really make the difference.
As it stands, it sounds like those who want to make sure they have a Daydream-ready device should wait to upgrade until late in the year, or maybe even early next just to be on the safe side.
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