Samsung, Google and Qualcomm are making an XR headset – what's in store?

Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event took place on Wednesday in San Francisco, California. Among the highlights were a host of new phones – including the incredible Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which features a 200MP camera, and the all-new Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra.

But while the focus may have stayed on their phones and laptops, it's far from the only revelation to come out of the event. For the final ten minutes, Samsung CEO TM Roh welcomed Cristiano Amon from Qualcomm, and Hiroshi Lockheimer from Google, to join him.

The trio discussed the role they'd all played in the new range of phones, before moving on to talk about a joint venture XR project that they were working on. Amon laid out the foundations of the project, saying, "We're working to create a new era of highly immersive digital experiences that blur the lines between our physical and digital worlds."

He went on to give us a little more insight into how the project will shape up, stating that it combines Google's experiences and Samsung's products with Qualcomm's technology. It certainly sounds like we'll see a Samsung branded device, running a Google-based operating system, with a Qualcomm chip, then, though any details beyond that are scarce.

But that combination could prove to be killer, and would surely make for one of the best VR headsets on the market, should they choose to collaborate on one. Imagine a device with the power of the S23 Ultra but built for XR tasks. One thing it doesn't sound like is another variant of the Samsung Gear VR, though. That early take on the form saw users insert their phone into the front of a headset, using the hardware of their handset to power the experience.

This should be a much more integrated unit, similar to the Meta Quest Pro, or Apple's impending Reality Pro headset. As you'd expect, there's no clear date for an expected release or any further details, but you can be sure that we'll be following along closely for developments.