- Samsung teased Project Moohan’s AI capabilities in Galaxy Unpacked
- It also announced exclusive software from third-party app makers.
- The presentation was light on details.
Samsung took a few moments (literally seconds) from its Samsung Galaxy S25 launch event to talk about Project Moohan (its upcoming virtual reality headset) and Android XR, and how the platform will leverage multi-modal AI to deliver impressive (but currently confusing) to XR Systems. Fortunately, he had more to say in a separate interview with TM Roh, president of Samsung’s Mobile Experience division, including a detail that makes me believe that Samsung’s technology won’t crash and burn like the Apple Vision Pro.
We have bad news right off the bat, courtesy of the interview conducted by Bloomberg (behind a paywall): we still don’t have a release date for Samsung’s AR headset or glasses. Roh reaffirmed that the consumer version of Moohan will arrive this year, although he did not reveal exactly when or how much it will cost at launch.
@PakGazette ♬ original sound – TechRadar
Roh also added that Samsung is working on AR glasses, though he again declined to elaborate on when they might be released, only that they would arrive eventually once they reach the quality and readiness Samsung wants (which Roh hopes will be “as soon as possible.” .
However, the good news is that Samsung and its partner Google seem to have understood that their main focus should not just be hardware, but also software.
An important lesson learned
Roh reportedly said that a key part of the launch of the XR devices will be having enough exclusive, original and valuable content ready for launch. To achieve this goal, Samsung and Google are apparently working with third parties to develop XR software for Android.
Thank God.
I’m not the only one saying this, but a big problem with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro wasn’t inherently that it cost $3,500 / £3,499 / AU$5,999, but that it didn’t justify costing $3,500 / £3,499 / AU$5,999. Sure, it had incredible specs, but fundamentally it couldn’t do anything you couldn’t do with just a Mac or iPad and a Meta Quest 3—combinations that would cost you much less. And in some ways it might do less than either of those combinations, because the Quest platform is packed with proprietary software.
Apple had a couple of impressive exclusives, like its Disney Plus 3D content, but not close enough to compete with the market at the price it was trying to demand. That’s why, a year after its release, it simply hasn’t had the traction everyone expected.
TM Roh’s comments at least show that Samsung is aware of the importance of software, although given how much other brands have hurt people before, I hesitate to take the comments at face value, not until we can see and test the software that is joke. Don’t get me wrong, I’m desperate for Samsung to succeed so Meta can face proper competition; Right now, the closest thing we have to a Quest killer is the rumored Asus Tarius headset (which uses the Quest OS because it’s a collaboration between Asus and Meta), but until Samsung and Google show us the products, I’ll stick with it. being cautiously optimistic.
For now, we’ll have to settle for Samsung talking, and wait and see if it can walk the walk when it shows us what Project Moohan has in store for us later in 2025.
