Huawei will launch a smartphone for Google’s VR system Daydream this year

Huawei has confirmed that it will release a smartphone this fall that is compatible with Daydream, Google’s VR system for high-end smartphones. Alcatel previously said it would not launch such phones until next year.

It concerns a model that is compatible with Google’s VR platform, says a top executive of Huawei in an interview with the American business newspaper The Wall Street Journal. Presumably, more smartphones that are compatible with Daydream will follow later, but the Chinese manufacturer says nothing about that.

Smartphones that work with Daydream need high-end hardware and an OLED screen, as it turned out earlier. However, the exact requirements are unknown. Huawei has already released various devices with OLED screens, including the Mate S, Nexus 6P and recently the P9 Plus.

In any case, Google will probably release Nexus devices that work with the VR system. It is also possible that Samsung, HTC and LG will come with such phones. Daydream is Google’s second VR platform after Cardboard. The platform is based on headsets into which a smartphone is inserted. The smartphones that, according to Google, provide a good VR experience are labeled ‘Daydream-ready’.

In addition to requirements for smartphones, Google has created reference designs for headsets and a controller. The controller includes a clickable trackpad and an orientation sensor for operation in the virtual space. The manufacturer further claims that the entire Android stack is optimized for Daydream, with particular attention to performance and low latency.

Huawei goes on to say that it has the ambition to become the market leader in smartphones. Currently, that is Samsung and the South Korean manufacturer currently supplies two to three times more smartphones per quarter than Huawei. That ambition of the Chinese company has been there for years, but recently Huawei has actually become the worldwide number three, behind Samsung and Apple.