Android Central: Galaxy S8 Daydream rollout begins as Google promises support on 11 phones by end of year

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Galaxy S8 Daydream rollout begins as Google promises support on 11 phones by end of year

As Verizon's GS8 gets its Daydream VR update, Google CEO Sundar Pichai says a total of 11 Daydream phones will be available by the end of 2017.

It was promised back at Google I/O, and now the Samsung Galaxy S8 has started receiving firmware updates to enable Google's Daydream VR platform. As spotted by 9to5Google, the update is hitting Verizon models first in the U.S., and also brings the option to hide the navigation bar — a feature which arrived on international and Indian GS8s in June.

GS8 owners should be able to enjoy a great VR experience with Daydream, thanks to its low-latency, high pixel density (especially on the smaller model) and subpixel rendering. The rollout is likely to be staggered across various carriers and regions though, so it could be a few more weeks until all Galaxy S8 variants are updated.

Meanwhile Google CEO (and new Alphabet board member) Sundar Pichai noted in yesterday's Alphabet earnings call that there would be 11 Android phones with Daydream support on the market by the end of 2017.

It's hard to pin down precisely how many unannounced Daydream phones are on the way.

It's hard to work out exactly how many unannounced Daydream phones are on the way without knowing whether the figure of 11 considers dual-size phones like the Pixel and Pixel XL, or Galaxy S8 and S8+ to be separate devices. Nevertheless, future Daydream candidates include the LG V30 (already teased at Google I/O), Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Google's second-gen Pixels and perhaps a future Mate phone from Huawei.

That's in addition to the standalone Daydream headsets being developed by HTC and Lenovo.