Google Cardboard 2 (Photo : Twitter)
Apart from premium hardware and solid build, the Google Nexus 2016 smartphone on release date are rumored to fully support virtual reality features or VR, software- and hardware-wise. A new report said that the next Pure Android flagships are VR-optimized, accompanied by gears and operating system hardcoded with the advanced functionality.
Pointing to a new story published by The Financial Times, iDigitalTimes reported that the Nexus 2016 unboxing later in the year could include a VR headset that will replace the Google Cardboard that the tech giant had introduced a few years back. The device, BGR said, is likely to be unveiled via the Google I/O Developers Conference on May or June.
And as expected, the rich features packed with the Nexus VR headset will be fired up by the next Android version, which Google is likely to reveal using the same event. "The tech giant may not only be working on a VR headset, but may also have plans to integrate VR within the code of the Android operating system," iDigitalTimes said.
This new Nexus feature will be commercially known as Android VR and will join the existing Google hardware offerings - the Nexus smartphone and tablets, the Pixel C hybrid device, the Chromebook and Chromecast.
How exactly the new product will make a dent in the mobile device market remains unknown at the moment but Google is seen working hard to make virtual reality more readily accessible. "VR is too important and too powerful a medium to be accessible to only a few," a Google executive was quoted by the iDigitalTimes report as saying.
For the program to quickly gain traction, it is projected that Google will sell the Android VR with reasonable stick price, which is a hallmark of the Nexus program.
BGR said that Android VR will unpack with enhance lenses and sensors to deliver top-notch virtual reality feature but the real muscle will depend on the processing prowess of the Nexus 2016 flagship phone, which will serve as the new feature's main engine.
And as for the smartphone component of the Nexus virtual reality program, rumors say that the project will involve three device makers. Huawei and LG, which produced the Nexus 6P and 5X, respectively, last year, remain solid contended though reports have emerged that Google is bent to partner with HTC for two handsets.
But whichever will end up as the anointed manufacturers, the Nexus 2016 release date is not expected until the second half of the year though details on the devices could start coming out in the months leading to the Google I/O gathering.
