Meta has halted the development of a smartwatch with two built-in cameras indefinitely and has begun work on another wearable device, Bloomberg reports , citing a source close to the company.
The gadget — codenamed Milan — was originally scheduled to hit the market in the spring of 2023 at a price of $349. At the end of 2021, we saw a render of a potential square watch with rounded corners and a small rectangular screen cutout for the front camera, which was supposed to compete with the Apple Watch and Google Pixel Watch. Meta has reportedly halted development due to technical difficulties and general cost cuts due to a slowdown in business growth.
According to Bloomberg, the device has been in active development for at least two years. The main feature of the gadget is two cameras: a 5 megapixel front camera, which is mainly designed for video calls, and an additional high-quality 12 megapixel autofocus module on the rear panel, which could be used for shooting after disconnecting (together with the display module) from the main stainless steel body. steel on the wrist.
It is reported that Meta encountered technological difficulties associated with this particular second camera – it interfered with another technology responsible for receiving nerve signals from the wrist. This is important because Meta intended the device to be not just another regular smartwatch, but would also allow control of individual augmented reality (AR) glasses and other metaverse initiatives. Last year, on the Meta blog, she showed an impressive demo of promising neural interface technology and talked about using wrist-mounted devices to capture nerve impulses and then digitize them using electromyography.
The device would also have typical smartwatch features such as GPS, cellular, activity tracking, music playback, and integration with other Meta products including WhatsApp and Instagram. The team hoped the watch could last at least 18 hours on a single charge. As of last year, Meta also wanted to work with other companies to create an ecosystem of accessories that would allow the watch to be attached to things like backpacks and used as a camera. But history does not know the subjunctive mood.
At the same time, Bloomberg reports that Meta is still working on several other devices designed to be worn on the wrist. This is part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ‘s grand plan to offer more of his own hardware to consumers and reduce user dependency on Apple and Google platforms. As you know, they have recently made it much more difficult for Facebook to track user actions, which has had a corresponding effect on its advertising revenue.
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