Samsung is releasing a new Gear VR because the Note 8 won’t fit in older headsets

Alongside the Galaxy Note 8 announced today, Samsung also revealed that it’s making yet another iteration of the Gear VR headset that’s designed to support the Note and its 6.3-inch display. Aside from accommodating Samsung’s newest phone, very little else seems different between this Gear VR and the previous one we saw a few months back that bundled in a handheld, physical controller. That one came out at the same time as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, but apparently Samsung wasn’t forward-thinking enough to be sure it’d work with the next Note. The headset still costs $129.99.
The Note 8 won’t work with existing Gear VR headsets — only the brand new one — but the just-announced headset is backwards compatible with all recent Samsung handsets...
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Watch Samsung announce the Note 8 in 8 minutes

The Galaxy Note 8 is official, marking Samsung’s final move to get past the Note 7 incident and onto bigger, less (literally) explosive things. For a quick recap of what was announced at the keynote here at the Unpacked event in New York City, we’ve condensed all the biggest moments from a one-hour presentation to a totally unintentional (but certainly appropriate) eight-minute supercut. Eight minutes of Note 8! Isn’t that great? Good thing the event didn’t run too late. Must be fate!
Wacky poems aside, for additional coverage of today’s event, see the StoryStream below.
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Samsung confirms it’s working on a smart speaker

Samsung is already working on getting into the smart speaker market. DJ Koh, president of Samsung’s mobile division, confirmed the news to CNBC today at its Galaxy Note 8 event, saying the product would launch "soon." That timeline isn't specific, but at least it's something. Koh says he's already working on the device and wants to create a "fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices, and [he] want[s] to be moving quite heavily on it."
He didn't say whether the speaker would feature the company's new digital assistant, Bixby, but I think it's safe to assume that would be the case. Samsung has already started including the assistant in its connected refrigerators and says it wants to eventually install it across its product...
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Why does Samsung think you’d be willing to spend nearly $1,000 on a Galaxy Note 8?

I’ve been looking at the $930 starting price for the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8, scratching my head in bewilderment, looking at that price again, and furrowing my brows. We don’t usually get many mainstream phones with a starting price north of $900 ($960 if you opt for Verizon or AT&T, and even worse in the UK thanks to the pound’s Brexit-induced weakness), and I find myself wondering about the market dynamics nudging the flagship price tiers up. Is it a matter of market saturation encouraging phone vendors to move up into higher price brackets so as to make more per unit sold? Was there always an audience for $1,000 phones, which Samsung is only now deciding to explore / exploit directly with the Note 8?
Having consulted with the Verge...
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Samsung’s virtual reality strategy has an upgrade problem

 

Today, Samsung showed off its flagship Note 8, the device has a big, beautiful screen, the S Pen and a battery that’s a little bit smaller. The company also announced that there’s a new $130 Gear VR on the way that you’ll have to buy if you want to try Samsung’s brand of VR on the Note 8. What’s new over past models? Not much. Samsung has made several upgrades to… Read More

Snapchat might make original scripted shows once more

Snapchat wants to have its own original scripted shows by the end of this year. At the Edinburgh International Television Festival today, Snapchat’s head of content, Nick Bell, called scripted programming an “interesting next venture” for the company, Variety reports.
While Snapchat’s plans seem vague, focusing on scripted shows feels like an inevitable decision. Up until now, the company has mostly relied on networks with built-in audiences to create Snapchat-ready versions of already-popular TV shows. This year, Snapchat partnered with NBC for a news show and a series of Saturday Night Live shorts, with ABC for a Bachelor recap show, and with A&E for another reality show about dating.

Scripted shows feel inevitable, if risky

Scripted,...
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