Google is set to make a big push for their Augmented Reality layer in Android at Mobile World Congress according to a new report from Variety.
The report from Variety is based on the usual ‘sources familiar with the company’s plans’ without an official statement from Google. The report says that Google is looking to ‘make a major push to bring augmented reality technology (AR) to Android’ at MWC next week.
Exactly what the push will involve hasn’t been outlined, but hints at a launch of the official ARCore 1.0 release tied with a release of ARCore apps to the Google Play Store are included.
Google launched ARCore in an initial developer preview last August with support for the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 phones, before releasing an updated second developer preview in December which brought support to the Galaxy S8+, Note 8, Galaxy S7.
When launching the second ARCore Dev preview, Google said that ‘developers will soon be able to access ARCore on over 100million supported devices’ and it’s this stat that could be the push we’re expecting to see, with Google perhaps opening the doors to any Oreo based device announced at Mobile World Congress.
We’re keen to see an expansion of ARCore to more devices, as well as see more apps that use ARCore flood the market. The AR Stickers provided by Google are cool and all, but developers can adapt and create unique and interesting ways to use the technology and with a raft of ex-Tango developers itching to release their apps based on ARCore it should be an interesting ride.
