Samsung Confirms XR Glasses 2026, Pico Project Swan Teased, Apple Cuts Vision Pro Budget

Samsung Confirms Android XR Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

In a January 29 earnings call, Samsung confirmed its Android XR smart glasses — internally tracked as SM-O200P and SM-O200J — are on track to launch in 2026. The confirmation followed earlier reports of two distinct models in development.

• Built with Qualcomm XR silicon
• Android XR OS with deep Gemini AI integration
• Design partnership positioning them as Ray-Ban Meta competitors
• Samsung working with Google on the platform layer

Apple Slashes Vision Pro Marketing Budget 95%

Bloomberg reported Apple cut the Vision Pro marketing budget by as much as 95% as the company focuses development resources on a cheaper Vision headset targeting H2 2026. Only 45,000 units sold in Q4 2025.

Pico Announces OS 6 Showcase for Next Month

Pico confirmed it will detail 'Pico OS 6' — including its shared-space computing paradigm and tools for developers — at a showcase event next month. The OS is designed for Project Swan, Pico's upcoming flagship headset. The event is timed ahead of GDC 2026.

Android XR SDK 1.5 Ships

Google shipped Android XR SDK 1.5 with improved Gemini on-device integration, new hand-tracking APIs, and updated documentation for scene understanding. Developer registrations for Android XR crossed 100,000 this week.

Spatial.io Raises $40M Series B

Virtual collaboration platform Spatial.io closed a $40M Series B to accelerate enterprise features and expand its AI-powered avatar system. The round was led by Two Sigma Ventures with participation from Samsung Next.

• ARR: $18M, up 3x YoY
• Focus: Enterprise virtual offices and product visualization
• New feature: AI-generated meeting summaries in spatial environments

Walmart Deploys AR Navigation in 500 Stores

Walmart quietly rolled out AR wayfinding to 500 stores, built on a custom ARCore-based platform. Early data shows customer search time reduced by an average of 2.3 minutes per shopping trip. The system uses indoor positioning with sub-meter accuracy and overlays product location on a live camera view.

MWC 2026 Preview — XR Announcements Expected

Mobile World Congress 2026 opens next week (March 2-5) in Barcelona. Samsung, Google, and NP Inc confirmed XR-related demonstrations. Samsung is expected to show Galaxy XR enterprise scenarios and tease its upcoming smart glasses.

GDC 2026 Registration Open

Early-bird registration for Game Developers Conference (March 17-21) is open. The XR track includes a Pico OS 6 showcase, sessions from Meta Horizon team, and a WebXR developer workshop.

MRTV's Sebastian Ang Reviews Galaxy XR After 6 Months

Long-form XR reviewer Sebastian Ang (MRTV) published his 6-month retrospective on Samsung Galaxy XR. His verdict: 'The hardware is exceptional. The app library is the gap.' His review has 650K views and sparked debate about whether Android XR needs an 'App Store moment.'