Samsung Rolling Out VR Headset With Dedicated Controller

Samsung Electronics is reportedly gearing up to roll out a new virtual reality headset that has a dedicated controller.

According to a report, one of the knocks on Samsung’s current VR headset, the Gear VR, is that users can’t control it. Control is an area, noted the report, where Google’s Daydream View VR headset stands out from the pack because of its wireless controller that works in conjunction with the headset. Samsung, noted the report, apparently wants to incorporate a dedicated controller in its upcoming VR headset, which is expected to launch with the Samsung Galaxy S8. The report, citing Roland Quandt, an editor of WinFuture and a leaker on Twitter, said Samsung is working on the development of the SM-R234, a Gear VR that can accommodate the Galaxy S8 and will ship with a “single hand controller.”

Samsung isn’t the only one that is making big bets on VR headsets. Streaming video service Netflix announced at the end of 2016 a new app, Netflix VR, that works with Google’s Daydream View VR headset. The video-streaming company’s app is ready to be downloaded to Android devices via the Google Play online store and, for now, is only capable to attach to and work with Google’s VR headset. Experts say that, as other VR headset versions roll out, the app will likely work with them, too. Once into the app, the interface is similar to what Netflix fans are used to. However, the big addition is on the welcome screen where viewers are transported to “their” living room, which has a cabin look, complete with a Netflix red sofa, bay windows, some softly lit lamps, a black coffee table and a flat paneled TV screen showing content options. There, they can interact in the space before deciding which content to watch.