"Meta is reportedly gearing up to enter another segment of the wearables market. According to The Information, the company is planning to release its first smartwatch sometime this year. Meta has revived its smartwatch initiative internally called "Malibu 2," The Information says, which will come with Meta AI and health tracking. The same publication reported back in 2021 that Meta was working on a smartwatch powered by an open-source version of Android."
"If you'll recall, Meta laid off more than 1,000 employees from Reality Labs in January, because the division was hemorrhaging money. Mark Zuckerberg said during an earnings call after the layoffs started that when it comes to Reality Labs, the company was focusing most of its investment "towards glasses and wearables going forward." At the moment, Meta's wearable products are comprised of virtual reality headsets and smartglasses. They include the Meta Ray-Bans, which are a hit in the US."
Meta revived its Malibu 2 smartwatch initiative featuring Meta AI and health tracking and plans to release it this year. Earlier development targeted an open-source Android smartwatch with possible detachable and multi-camera designs. The smartwatch project paused in 2022 amid Reality Labs spending cuts and significant layoffs exceeding 1,000 employees. Reality Labs shifted investment toward glasses and wearables. Current wearable offerings include virtual reality headsets and Ray-Ban smartglasses. Multiple augmented-reality and mixed-reality glasses are in development, and the next mixed-reality headset codenamed "Phoenix" has been pushed to early 2027.
Read at Engadget
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