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And Samsung is even worse: remember GearVR ? I had a Note device that on launch was compatible with GearVR, but they killed support for it in one of the few th

And Samsung is even worse: remember GearVR ? I had a Note device that on launch was compatible with GearVR, but they killed support for it in one of the few the Android updates. This was back when getting 3 Android updates was "lucky". i.e. they launched and completely killed GearVR (paperweight level) all within 5 years.

SunlitCat 1y ago
Especially Samsung. I’m still very salty about Samsung never officially releasing their Samsung Odyssey VR headset in Europe. It was the best VR headset among the Windows Mixed Reality headsets at the time of their release. Of course, the HP Reverb was better, but it came out much later, too late for WMR to really take off. I still believe that if Microsoft had forced Samsung to release the Odyssey VR headset worldwide, WMR could have been a success. And I’m pretty sure Samsung won’t release this one (the Galaxy VR) worldwide either, which will be the reason it fails and Google will probably take that as an excuse to shut down the project as well.
- gs17 1y ago
  > I still believe that if Microsoft had forced Samsung to release the Odyssey VR headset worldwide, WMR could have been a success. I'm not sure if Microsoft actually wanted to try to make it a success. They made a lot of decisions that didn't help it succeed, with one of those decisions leading to every headset being a brick (officially, although Oasis fixes them) now. I could go on and on about it, because I love my Odyssey+ and it's frustrating to see how they screwed the ecosystem up so badly.
  - SunlitCat 1y ago
    That’s true, tho! But I still remember the uproar in various communities about Samsung’s decision not to release what was, at the time, the only premium-tier WMR headset, with higher resolution and refresh rate, a wider FOV, mechanical IPD adjustment, and a few other features. Only the HP Reverb WMR headset, released about two years later, offered comparable premium features and launched in more regions. But in my opinion, by then it was already too late. The thing is, even at a slightly higher price point, the Samsung Odyssey would have been a great entry into PC VR for many people, since it was still one of the most affordable headsets compared to its competitors at the time, like the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift. That alone could have helped WMR gain more traction. But many reviewers weren’t too impressed by the other WMR headsets from different manufacturers. Some even compared them to the Samsung Odyssey and suggested waiting for Samsung to release theirs worldwide, since it was clearly the better one (at that time, in 2017).
jjmarr 1y ago
I remember GearVR and used it for years as a teenager. It was a great product and was supported long after they stopped selling it. To this day, the subreddit is active. https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/ Honestly, it was a phenomenal product and is part of the reason I'm considering the Galaxy XR now.
- AshamedCaptain 1y ago
  "Long after?" They released 2nd edition of Gear VR on 2017. I bought mine on December 2018. They stopped supporting it on September 2020 (email with the wonderful news received on April 3). That's literally less than 2 years. So either this is some type of sarcasm I'm not able to detect or your definition of "long support" is ridiculous. The next year's Android update basically made the Android Daydream service non-installable, so the Gear VR became a paperweight (and likely the reason in the reddit you quote people scramble for old non-updated devices). But this is typical behavior for Samsung. E.g. they were literally publicly beta-testing DeX on Linux on Note 9 devices only to announce the final version would be available _only_ on Note 10 devices, not Note 9 devices from which they were removing support immediately. An absolutely baffling decision considering the software was actually developed for Note 9 in the first place, so their cost was zero. But ranting about this was very short lived since they eventually just deprecated the entire thing within one year of release, and again made sure the next Android major update would be totally incompatible with it. And thank god we got a major Android update at all. I'm quite sure there's people out there who bought a Note 9, THEN a Note 10 to use DeX on Linux, and within a year all they got is not one but TWO paperweights. For those people: Samsung appreciates your generous donations.

SunlitCat 1y ago

Especially Samsung. I’m still very salty about Samsung never officially releasing their Samsung Odyssey VR headset in Europe. It was the best VR headset among the Windows Mixed Reality headsets at the time of their release. Of course, the HP Reverb was better, but it came out much later, too late for WMR to really take off. I still believe that if Microsoft had forced Samsung to release the Odyssey VR headset worldwide, WMR could have been a success. And I’m pretty sure Samsung won’t release this one (the Galaxy VR) worldwide either, which will be the reason it fails and Google will probably take that as an excuse to shut down the project as well.

gs17 1y ago
> I still believe that if Microsoft had forced Samsung to release the Odyssey VR headset worldwide, WMR could have been a success. I'm not sure if Microsoft actually wanted to try to make it a success. They made a lot of decisions that didn't help it succeed, with one of those decisions leading to every headset being a brick (officially, although Oasis fixes them) now. I could go on and on about it, because I love my Odyssey+ and it's frustrating to see how they screwed the ecosystem up so badly.
- SunlitCat 1y ago
  That’s true, tho! But I still remember the uproar in various communities about Samsung’s decision not to release what was, at the time, the only premium-tier WMR headset, with higher resolution and refresh rate, a wider FOV, mechanical IPD adjustment, and a few other features. Only the HP Reverb WMR headset, released about two years later, offered comparable premium features and launched in more regions. But in my opinion, by then it was already too late. The thing is, even at a slightly higher price point, the Samsung Odyssey would have been a great entry into PC VR for many people, since it was still one of the most affordable headsets compared to its competitors at the time, like the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift. That alone could have helped WMR gain more traction. But many reviewers weren’t too impressed by the other WMR headsets from different manufacturers. Some even compared them to the Samsung Odyssey and suggested waiting for Samsung to release theirs worldwide, since it was clearly the better one (at that time, in 2017).

jjmarr 1y ago

I remember GearVR and used it for years as a teenager. It was a great product and was supported long after they stopped selling it. To this day, the subreddit is active. https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/ Honestly, it was a phenomenal product and is part of the reason I'm considering the Galaxy XR now.

AshamedCaptain 1y ago
"Long after?" They released 2nd edition of Gear VR on 2017. I bought mine on December 2018. They stopped supporting it on September 2020 (email with the wonderful news received on April 3). That's literally less than 2 years. So either this is some type of sarcasm I'm not able to detect or your definition of "long support" is ridiculous. The next year's Android update basically made the Android Daydream service non-installable, so the Gear VR became a paperweight (and likely the reason in the reddit you quote people scramble for old non-updated devices). But this is typical behavior for Samsung. E.g. they were literally publicly beta-testing DeX on Linux on Note 9 devices only to announce the final version would be available _only_ on Note 10 devices, not Note 9 devices from which they were removing support immediately. An absolutely baffling decision considering the software was actually developed for Note 9 in the first place, so their cost was zero. But ranting about this was very short lived since they eventually just deprecated the entire thing within one year of release, and again made sure the next Android major update would be totally incompatible with it. And thank god we got a major Android update at all. I'm quite sure there's people out there who bought a Note 9, THEN a Note 10 to use DeX on Linux, and within a year all they got is not one but TWO paperweights. For those people: Samsung appreciates your generous donations.