Samsung Reveals New Gear VR With Controller

Over 70 new controller titles are in development.

Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung announced a brand-new Gear VR, powered by Oculus, and revealed the Gear VR Controller that lets you interact with VR games and experiences.

While there was no shortage of new Samsung hardware revealed at the conference, including a new Gear VR headset to show off, the Gear VR Controller is the input device we’ve been eagerly waiting for as an answer to Google Daydream’s View controller. The Gear VR Controller lets you interact with the virtual environment in an intuitive way, with the controller’s touchpad allowing you to navigate your favorite videos and perform a number of actions within a game. There is also a trigger that will let you select, grab, take aim, and fire.

Designed to be used with a single hand, the Gear VR controller also has an integrated home, volume, and back buttons to let you quickly move through a variety of content. Measuring roughly 4 by 2 inches, the controller is powered by two AAA batteries and according to Samsung will last 40 days with an average of 2 hours of daily use.

Over 70 Controller Titles Coming Soon

In addition to showing off the new input device, Samsung revealed that over 70 controller titles are already in development, and all of the existing touchpad apps will be compatible as well. Which means that some 550 plus existing Gear VR apps will be ready from day one whenever the Gear VR controller launches.

If you’re a Gear VR developer, Samsung will open up the Gear VR Controller SDK in a few weeks, so you can start building experiences for the controller. You can submit an SDK and Gear VR Controller hardware request here.

A New Gear VR

When it comes to the new Gear VR with controller, we can expect 42mm lenses with 101-degree FOV (Field of View) and “advanced distortion correction technology” to minimize motion sickness according to Samsung. The Samsung Gear VR with Controller will support both micro USB and USB Type-C port with a converter in-box. Additionally, the Gear VR will have a strap on the headset to hold the Controller when it is not in use. The latest edition of the Samsung Gear VR is compatible with the Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Note5, S6 edge+, S6 and S6 edge.

Based on the brief announcement at Mobile World Congress, it does seem like the controller will be sold both separately (for existing Gear VR owners) and packaged with the new Gear VR. But it doesn’t look like we’ll hear much more details until Samsung’s Unpacked Event on March 29th.