By Betty Shen, Joanna Hsiao, Winnie Lin, Rita Hsieh
Facebook recently announced its new name Meta at Connect Conference 2021 on October 28; on the next day, a leaked photo alluded to its project of developing a smartwatch.
The picture shows the product design and possible new functions. The smartwatch features a curved-edge screen, a side control button, and a front-facing camera at the bottom of the display. With the vision of bringing the metaverse to life, Meta is now expanding the development of its hardware equipment. In September, Meta just launched Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses, in cooperation with a sunglasses brand, Ray-Ban. According to Bloomberg News, “[t]he image was found inside of the company’s app for controlling its new smart glasses launched in partnership with Ray-Ban.” Furthermore, it is reported that Meta may be releasing its new smartwatch in the near future.
Design and Functionality
According to the first leaked image, Meta is developing a smartwatch with a simple and clear design with a rounded screen, and a camera notch at the bottom of the screen, which seems to be a front-facing camera that can be used for a video call or recording. The camera may probably be one of the notable functions of Meta’s smartwatch because no smartwatch has been equipped with a camera notch before, which makes Meta’s smartwatch a potential rival of the Apple Watch.
Based on the information Facebook has claimed in June about their plans of developing a smartwatch, this smartwatch camera has a reasonably high 1080p resolution. Additionally, there is an auto-focus camera on the back that can capture footage when the smartwatch is detached from the wrist. The basic functions like health, fitness, and messaging are also provided. Although there is no confirmed evidence to prove this leaked image is the same smartwatch that Meta has planned to develop in June, the functions and the design are very attractive and competitive in the smartwatch market.
The Media’s Attitudes
Meta’s plan to release the smartwatch indeed triggered various media attention. As Bloomberg stated in the report, Meta expects to launch its first watch “as early as 2022” with support for not only iOS but Android operating system, which shows Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to expand its target users and to compete with the Apple Watch. This year, Apple just released its new watch Series 7, featuring a larger screen; however, no significant improvements could be seen from the design and hardware. Therefore, if Meta really makes its smartwatch debut next year, it can be a potential rival for Apple Watch Series 8.
Though Meta’s plan of releasing its new smartwatch is merely an information leakage and it hasn’t been officially confirmed and announced, people are still excited about the news. Although the leaked image is spreaded everywhere on the internet, the spokesperson of Meta declined to comment. However, sources have suggested that the earliest time when Meta is probably going to launch its new smartwatch is in the summer of 2022. Stepping into the global smartwatch market, Meta is providing smartwatch users with a fresh new choice other than Apple Watch or Xiaomi Mi Watch. As wearable devices have been gaining more and more popularity these years, Meta’s upcoming smartwatch is certainly going to receive much attention.
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