Virtual Reality

Google announced its Daydream virtual reality platform at its annual developers' conference last year. It announced that Samsung was among the eight companies that would make Android Daydream VR compatible smartphones.

We last heard from Google in May this year when it said that Daydream support for the Galaxy S8 will arrive this summer. The handset should get support for the VR platform soon. Samsung may have already started laying the groundwork for it.

T-Mobile released a new firmware update for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ yesterday. Yes, the same update that blocks the ability to remap the Bixby button again. The changelog has now been published on T-Mobile's support website for both handsets and it mentions “Daydream capability” among the other changes.

The Daydream app can't be installed directly on the T-Mobile Galaxy S8 from the Play Store right now so the folks at AndroidPolice sideloaded it. The app's start screen displayed a logo that confirmed the Google and Samsung collaboration for Daydream.

However, the process of setting it up revealed a different story. The app returns an “Incompatible phone” error instead of the usual “Downloading VR components” notification that should have been displayed if the Galaxy S8 really does have support for the platform now.

It seems that even though T-Mobile has mentioned in its changelog that Daydream capability has arrived, the firmware update basically takes care of things on Samsung's end.

Google may have the final say in when support for Daydream will go live on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It shouldn't be too long now, hopefully.

Thanks, Henk!

Adnan Farooqui - Editor-in-Chief

af@sammobile.com

First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.