Who will be first to market with a widespread, retail launch of a virtual reality headset? Facebook's acquisition of the Oculus Rift and Sony's announcement of Project Morpheus both came with delay caveats and assurances that their VR offerings will debut when they're up to technical snuff.

That leaves a hole in the market while consumer excitement mounts, one that Samsung is apparently eager to fill. According to an Engadget report, the company has made so much progress on its internal virtual reality project that it could be announced later this year.

"Sources close to Samsung" indicate that developers have received early headsets to test and that the eventual retail sets will need to connect to higher-end, unannounced Samsung devices to function. Other than an OLED screen, a resemblance to the likes of Oculus Rift, and a "lower price tier," the report is otherwise mum on details, unable to give other technical specs or even an internal project name.

Samsung has rushed the likes of curved TV screens and smartwatches to market, and with little in the way of gaming expertise, let alone virtual reality gaming expertise, Samsung may be operating at an even bigger handicap than usual in this gadget sector. Hopefully the company will take at least a few breaths while prepping its VR headset before fumbling once more with a first-gen take on a new device.