Google announces Android XR, Samsung headset launching 2025 [Video]

Besides phones and tablets, Android is available on smartwatches, TVs, and even cars. Google today announced Android XR as the next form factor the operating system is coming to. 

Google is using the catch-all term of extended reality (XR) to describe virtual (VR), mixed (MR), and augmented reality (AR). Android XR is for all device types, including headsets that offer video or optical see-through, screen-less “AI glasses,” and AR glasses with displays.

Going into Android XR, Google believes it has a proven track record of creating platforms. That is more than just making an operating system for themselves, but also catering to OEM partners, cultivating a developer ecosystem, and managing an app store.

However, Google has done all this before to a lesser extent with Glass, and to a greater degree with Daydream VR. The phone-based approach to VR and later standalone headset ultimately failed, and Google exited around 2019. It remains …