Formally unveiled more than six months ago after many years of waiting, (not so) secret development, and incessant speculation over everything from its capabilities to its design and name, Apple's first-of-a-kind Vision Pro is still reportedly oscillating between a commercial debut as early as January 2024 and a release much later in the year.
As if the Cupertino-based tech giant didn't already have enough motivation to rush the production of the highly anticipated (and highly expensive) mixed reality headset, new rumors out of Korea are today calling for a significantly earlier than previously expected launch for another such product we've been waiting for since... forever.
Big plans, very few details
Unlike the Vision Pro, Samsung's so-called "Galaxy Glass" is truly and almost completely shrouded in mystery mere months or possibly even weeks ahead of its freshly rumored announcement.
Of course, the latest gossip from the homeland of the world's top smartphone vendor directly clashes with a report from just last month that foreshadowed a (limited) release scheduled for "the end of 2024."
Will Samsung's Vision Pro alternative look like, well, the Vision Pro itself (pictured here)? We honestly have no idea.
While it's obviously hard to know who to trust and what launch timeline to consider more reliable, word around the watercooler now is that Samsung has managed to "accelerate" the development of its rookie high-end mixed reality hardware effort somehow.
The Galaxy Glass (whose moniker is far from etched in stone) is believed to be just about ready for primetime already, which means that an announcement alongside the ultra-high-end Galaxy S24 handset family next month could well be in the cards.
Today's speculative Korean media report explicitly calls for a potential "release as early as the beginning of the year" (at least if Google's automated English translation is correct), which rules out the possibility of seeing a simple announcement soon followed by an actual commercial rollout way down the line.
But with details being so scarce on exactly what kind of device Samsung is prepping here, there are clearly no guarantees whatsoever in terms of production and launch schedules. Besides, that previous rumor about an initial batch of 30,000 units or so being manufactured and sold in select markets around the world could obviously still pan out.
Does Apple really have anything to fear?
There are a number of valid answers to that question we can reasonably come up with at the moment, ranging from "no one can say for sure" to "anything's possible." But the fact of the matter is the Vision Pro remains highly vulnerable to any and all prospective contenders and rivals due primarily to its obscene price tag.
Knowing Samsung, there's no way the "Galaxy Glass" will cost $3,500 off the bat, although everyone was similarly skeptical of the mainstream success chances of foldable smartphones priced as sky-high as the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Fold 5 just a few years ago, and now look at those global sales figures.
Will the Galaxy Glass, aka Samsung Infinite, aka Flex Magic look like the Gear VR (pictured here)? Almost certainly not.
Previously rumored under the Samsung Infinite codename, this secretive headset is officially confirmed to be developed in partnership with Google and Qualcomm, with the former naturally helping out on the software front and the latter taking care of the chipset manufacturing side of the Vision Pro-rivaling project.
Thanks to a number of recent trademark filings, the name "Flex Magic" is now associated with Samsung's boldest MR/AR/VR product yet, although it's impossible to say how that might be used for advertising purposes. Whatever the tech giant is working on, you can be sure it will be more ambitious, powerful, and independent than the ultra-low-cost Gear VR headsets left to dust a few years back.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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