YOU ARE AT:DevicesZuckerberg advocates for virtual reality at Samsung Unpacked 2016

Zuckerberg advocates for virtual reality at Samsung Unpacked 2016

BARCELONA, Spain – Following weeks of rumors, Samsung finally unveiled its latest flagship smartphone just ahead of this week’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain. As predicted, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, but what no one expected was the presence of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as part of the launch.

The Facebook founder showed up at the Samsung Unpacked event to discuss virtual reality, with Facebook and Samsung having partnered to bolster the VR ecosystem through the production, distribution and consumption of 360-degree video content. Zuckerberg claimed VR is the next platform people will use to connect.

“We are working with Samsung to make VR affordable,” Zuckerberg said.

The social media company acquired Oculus, which owns virtual reality technology that powers Samsung’s Gear VR. Samsung also announced its 360-degree video camera, the Gear 360, which is a consumer VR camera.

Facebook is investing to put social experience into VR, and “Samsung can deliver hardware at scale with OLED displays, low-persistence rendering, 360-degree sound [and] head tracking,” Zuckerberg noted. Together, the social media platform can distribute 360-degree content created in Samsung’s devices. Zuckerberg said he expects the eventual launch of dynamic streaming technology for 360-degree video to the Gear VR.

Indeed, the entry of Zuckerberg into the Samsung event was quite expressive. While the audience was using Samsung’s Gear VR, Zuckerberg walked into the venue toward the stage, without anyone noticing him.

“This year, millions of people are putting their hands on VR devices. It’s still early for 360-degree videos, but one day we will have them live,” Zuckerberg said during this speech.

“Every device we develop comes from our commitment to bring this incredible future to live,” said DJ Koh, president of mobile communications with Samsung, while on stage with Zuckerberg.

Koh begun his presentation saying each device launch follows a strategy of listening, learning and understanding people’s demands.

As for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung showed effort to demonstrate higher quality photos, improvements in taking pictures in a low-light condition and enhancing the level of water resistance.

“Instead of protecting the device from outside, why not protecting from the inside,” said Justin Denison, VP at Samsung, who also highlighted features like a microSD slot, improvements to the internal cooling system and improved battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are set to be available for pre-order on March 11 in the United Stated and Europe, with those pre-orders also including a free Gear VR.

Editor’s note: Travel costs to cover Mobile World Congress were paid by Samsung.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Roberta Prescott
Roberta Prescott
Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.