BARCELONA, Spain — To revive interest in smartphones, Samsung and LG are improving their cameras and embracing the nascent world of virtual reality.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg joined Samsung at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, to announce that their companies are teaming up to push VR in mobile phones and social networking.
Virtual reality “is now mainly used for gaming, but that is quickly changing,” Zuckerberg said. “That is why Facebook is investing so much in VR, so we can deliver these social experiences.”
Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge promise better photos under low-light conditions, in part with sensors that capture more light. Both will work with the $100 Gear VR headset that Samsung released last fall. And Samsung will now make a 360-degree camera for everyday folks to capture and share VR images.
VR is still in its early days, with much of the interest coming from hard-core gamers and tech pioneers.
Samsung wants to make it easier for everyday people to create VR videos — so that friends will buy VR headsets to view them.
LG will also have its own VR headset and 360-degree camera, while the main camera on its upcoming G5 smartphone will have two lenses — one for standard shots, and another with a wider angle to capture more of what’s in front of you.
Sunday’s announcements at the Barcelona show come as worldwide smartphone growth has slowed, particularly for high-end devices such as Samsung’s S and LG’s G series. Many consumers have turned to lower-cost Android devices that sport features considered top of the line just a few years ago.
Phone makers used to guarantee upgrades by making phones bigger and bigger — but phones can’t get much bigger for one-handed use. In fact, the new LG phone is shrinking to 5.3 inches, from 5.5 inches last year. Samsung’s Edge is getting bigger, at 5.5 inches, but because the sides curve like a waterfall, the phone won’t be much wider. The main S7 model is staying constant at 5.1 inches.
With size out of the equation, phone makers have to innovate elsewhere.
“Their problem is that phones from two to three years ago are still in use,” said Ian Fogg, head of mobile analysis at IHS Technology. “VR is essential. It is a smartphone-industry initiative to drive consumers to upgrade.”
That’s been particularly important for Samsung, as its chief rival, Apple, largely matched Samsung on size, while boosting the iPhone camera’s resolution to 12 megapixels from 8.
The iPhone has also gotten better at low-light shots, even surpassing some point-and-shoot cameras in performance.
