South Korean tech giant Samsung has launched two new color variants of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ flagship devices with Google AR support. To recall, when the latest flagship devices from the company were launched at MWC 2018, it did not come with AR Core support contrary to speculations. However, the two new color variants have been rolled out with Augmented Reality support, powered by Google.
AR Core is a tool by Google that enables the developers to develop AR apps for Android devices. As AR technology is slowing gaining popularity, AR Core support will enable developers to create apps more easily.
In addition to the already released Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple color variants, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ will also be available in Burgundy Red and Sunrise Gold variants from this month itself. While the Burgundy Red variant will be available in South Korea and China later this month, the Sunrise Gold edition will be made available from June in select countries like Australia, Chile, Germany, Spain, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea, UAE, Vietnam, and Mexico. Samsung has also announced that both the color variants will be rolled out in other countries later, which is likely to include India as well.
Talking about the AR Core support, the technology was earlier available only on Google manufactured smartphones like Pixel and Nexus series. It was later rolled out to smartphones manufactured by Asus, LG, Huawei, Motorola, and Sony. Now, the updated list of devices that support AR Core as spotted by folks at 9to5Google shows the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ listed.
To use the new feature, users of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ need to download the AR Core app from Google Play Store. Additionally, they will also need to download and install any app that uses the SDK.