Facebook is said to be planning to release its first smartwatch in the summer of 2022. That reports tech website The Verge based on its own sources. The wearable would have a detachable screen with two cameras and a heart rate monitor.
The Verge writes that the smart watch will have a camera on the front and back. The rear camera can be used when the screen is detached from the smartwatch frame. That camera would have a 1080p resolution and can be used, for example, to capture photos and record videos. Those images can be shared on Facebook platforms, including Instagram, according to The Verge. The front camera, in turn, would be more intended for video calling.
The idea of the product would be that the smartwatch could be used for smartphone tasks. The Verge reports that this is “part of Facebook CEO Zuckerberg’s plan to create consumer electronics that bypass Apple and Google.” For example, Zuckerberg is openly critical of Apple’s new privacy features. Facebook would use a modified version of Google’s Android operating system.
Facebook would partner with “the largest telecom providers in the US” to support LTE connectivity in its smartwatch. According to The Verge, this means that the watch does not need to be paired with a smartphone to function. Telecom providers could also sell the watch in their stores, sources familiar with Facebook’s plans told the medium.
Future Facebook wearables should also be useful as input devices for Facebook’s planned AR glasses. The company is said to plan to use technologies from CTRL-Labs, a start-up that was working on a “neural bracelet” and was acquired by Facebook in 2019.
The first Facebook smartwatch should therefore appear in the summer of 2022, but the company is also said to be working on second and third generations of smartwatches, which should appear in the following years. Facebook employees are said to have recently discussed the smartwatch’s price point, which could be $400, according to sources from The Verge. This may change in the coming year.
Rumors have been circulating for some time about the arrival of a Facebook smartwatch. The Information already stated in February that the company is working on a wearable with health and messaging functions, which would appear sometime in 2022. Rumors about the camera setup and other details of The Verge were unknown at the time.