If there is one characteristic that has defined Samsung over the past few years, it’s the company’s willingness to try absolutely anything. If a rival enters a new market — or if there is even a rumor that a rival will enter a new market — Samsung looks to get there as fast as it possibly can. Touchscreen smartphones, tablets, TV voice controls, media streaming boxes and smartwatches are all examples of this, and now it appears as though Samsung will look to compete with Facebook-owned Oculus VR in the near future.
Reports suggesting Samsung is working on a virtual reality headset first surfaced last month. The device is expected to be very similar to the Oculus Rift headset we’ve seen a number of times, but it will apparently be designed to work with Android games running on Samsung devices.
Now, it looks like we can put a name to the project.
Dutch Samsung fan blog Galaxy Club on Tuesday reported that a new trademark was recently filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering “Gear VR.” Gear, of course, is branding that Samsung uses for its wearable devices and there is little question that “VR” stands for virtual reality. Whether or not Samsung’s headset launches with this moniker remains to be seen, but it certainly seems likely.
According to an earlier report, Samsung’s virtual reality headset will debut later this year.
