Camera boost, virtual reality in new Samsung, LG gadgets

South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and LG unveiled Sunday new smartphones with better cameras and turned to virtual reality to boost interest in their headsets at a time of slowing sales.

But ultimately, the Gear 360 is mainly another way to help Samsung sell more of its flagship smartphones – specifically the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, which also launched on Sunday.

The main camera on LG’s upcoming G5 smartphone will have two lenses – one for standard shots and another with a wider angle so you can capture more of what’s in front of you without having to step back.

The media was asked to put on the Samsung Gear VR headset for a virtual reality presentation on the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and the Gear 360, but when the journalists took it off, they were greeted with the sight of the social networking titan in his signature gray T-shirt and blue jeans. Both companies are also making 360-degree cameras for everyday folks to capture and share VR images.

Disclosure: The writer travelled to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as a guest of Samsung. In fact, the new LG phone is shrinking to 5.3 inches, from 5.5 inches a year ago.

Samsung is restoring the power so as to add storage, however the battery will not be replaceable by customers, one thing Samsung had allowed earlier than final yr. Instead, Samsung is growing the battery capability in each fashions, although the Edge’s bigger display and different new options in each fashions, together with an all the time-on mode, will sip away energy. Samsung telephones will include apps for viewing these movies on the Gear VR and sharing them with associates.

Samsung did not introduce a new VR headset device at the showcase of the Galaxy S7, but it did roll out the Gear 360, which allows users to film VR content. The device can simply be connected to a smartphone.

What was less clear was what this collaboration would mean for Facebook’s own Oculus VR headset, which could be broadly categorised as a competitor to Samsung’s own VR headset. It’s a part of LG’s new modular strategy to design; you’ll come out the telephone’s backside and swap in new hardware options.

Prices and release dates have yet to be announced, though the LG phone is expected in the U.S.in April.

Neither VR system will be as powerful as full-fledged VR devices coming this year. A private pc is required and bought individually.