Rumor: Google Working on Gear VR-Like Virtual Reality Headset

If you thought Google Cardboard—the company's smartphone holder that enables a cruder virtual reality for those who want a cheap way to play with it—was the beginning and end of Google's virtual reality ambitions, you'd be wrong. According to a new report from The Financial Times, Google is allegedly working on a device that's more like Samsung's Gear VR, only better.

The unnamed headset would allegedly become Google's successor to the Cardboard, though it's unclear whether that means Google would officially kill off its simpler virtual reality headset, or whether it would keep it around as a fun alternative to a more expensive device. According to unnamed sources speaking to The Financial Times, Google's new headset would allegedly have "better sensors, lenses, and a more solid plastic casing" than Cardboard, which seems to indicate less of a reliance on one's smartphone and more emphasis on technology built within the headset itself.

Google's headset would also allegedly work with even more Android devices than Samsung's Gear VR, which is currently only compatible with a handful of the manufacturer's own Galaxy smartphones.

Though Google hasn't commented on these rumors directly, it indirectly confirmed its growing interest in virtual reality on parent company Alphabet's earnings call last week.

"It's still incredible early innings for virtual reality as a platform and Cardboard is just a first step, but we are excited by the progress we have seen. Our partners have shipped over 5 million Google Cardboard viewers and we recently teamed up with the New York Times on a virtual reality experience in which over 1 million Times subscribers received Cardboard," said Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Alphabet's earnings call, according to an edited transcript.

"And since launching in September, the Expeditions Pioneer Program has helped more than 500,000 students travel to places like the bottom of the sea or the surface of Mars. Beyond these early efforts, you'll see a lot more from us and our partners in 2016."

Though we're just speculating on timelines, it's possibly that Google could officially preview some new features of Android VR—its virtual-reality themed iteration of Android—at the company's I/O developer conference this May. From there, if the rumored virtual-reality headset follows Google's typical timelines, it's likely that it would launch around fall of this year, possibly in September.