Facebook parent Meta on April 22 said it is opening up Meta Horizon OS, the operating system powering its Meta Quest mixed reality headsets, to third-party hardware makers.
This move comes as the social networking giant clashes with Apple to dominate the next frontier of computing. The strategy resembles how Google had earlier opened up its Android operating system to take on Apple’s iOS in the battle for smartphone operating systems.
In every era of computing, there are open and closed models” said Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in a video clip on Instagram.
With phones, Apple’s closed model basically won out. Phones are tightly controlled and you are locked into what they will let you do. It doesn’t have to be that way. In the PC era, the open model won out, you could do a lot more things, install mods, more diversity of hardware, software and more” the Meta chief said.
The move will allow partner companies to build their headsets using Meta Horizon OS, a rebranded operating system that brings capabilities like gesture recognition, passthrough, scene understanding and spatial anchors to the devices that run on it, the company said in a blog post.
The social media company said partners Asus and Lenovo would use the operating system to build devices tailored for particular activities. Meta is also using it to make a limited edition version of the Quest headset “inspired by” Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, according to the company’s statement.
The move underscores Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to own the computational platform that powers virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) devices, similar to the way Alphabet’s Google became a key player in the smartphone market by making its mobile OS Android open source.
Meta’s VR business is one of the beneficiaries of that Google strategy, as Meta Horizon OS is itself Android-based.
In a video posted on Zuckerberg’s Instagram account, he previewed examples of specialized headsets partners might make: a lightweight device with sweat-wicking materials for exercise, an immersive high-resolution one for entertainment and another equipped with sensation-inducing haptics for gaming.
Meta said in its blog post that ASUS’ Republic of Gamers is developing a gaming headset and Lenovo is working on an MR device for productivity, learning, and entertainment using the Horizon OS. Zuckerberg said it may take a few years for these devices to launch.
Zuckerberg alluded to the disagreement in his video on Monday, saying he would welcome having Google Play apps on Meta Horizon OS devices, “if they’re up for it.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meta said the Meta Horizon OS includes Horizon Store, renamed from Quest Store, to download apps and experiences. The platform will work with a mobile companion app now called Meta Horizon app.
Given Below are Some Adaptive Features of Meta’s |
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