Samsung, best known in recent years for its smartphones, released its first version of a new kind of mobile device on Wednesday: a virtual reality headset. But it’s an accessory, not an separate product. Samsung’s Gear VR is a headset that turns the company’s Note 4 smartphones into 3D virtual reality machines.
Virtual reality is hot, but it has been going through a renaissance-in-waiting: Fancy headsets from Facebook-owned Oculus VR and Sony exist as prototypes. Sony has been demoing its Morpheus while keeping tight control on third-party software development. Developers can get their hands on Oculus devices to write software, but that’s about it.
