Facebooks rumored smartwatch leaks, revealing one big feature rivals lack

Date:
Fri, 29 Oct 2021 01:47:49 +0000

Description:
Our first look at Facebooks rumored smartwatch reveals its focusing on an
area its competitors arent.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Rumors of a Facebook smartwatch have been swirling for months, and thanks to
a new leak we now have our first glimpse of the device. According to the
image obtained by Bloomberg , we can see the smartwatch has one big feature its competitors dont a front-facing camera.

This time though, the often-lamented camera notch sits in the centre of the bottom edge of the display. Other than its peculiar placement, it looks much like the front-facing camera youll find on a smartphone.

Aside from the camera, the design of the smartwatch looks reminiscent of the Fitbit Sense , with a wide square face and softly rounded edges. There does appear to be some button on the right-hand side of the smartwatch, but the photo isnt clear enough to be sure.

Earlier rumors surrounding this smartwatch suggested it would have a detachable display , functioning more like a video-calling device (or action camera) than a fitness or health-tracking wearable.

The image of Facebook Inc's now officially known as Meta in-development smartwatch was first spotted by Steve Moser. He found the image inside its Facebook View app, which is used to edit photos and videos taken using Facebooks smart glasses, the Ray-Ban Stories .

According to Moser, code in the Facebook View app suggests the smartwatch has the codename 'Milan'. As Bloomberg reports, code discovered in the app indicates the camera will be able to take photos and videos, and share them with a smartphone. Facebook I mean Meta casually left this image of their Milan smart watch in their Facebook View app. Now Meta joins the notch conversation with a bottom notch. Front facing cameraStainless SteelLooks detachable https://t.co/T3xw4mzvTx October 28, 2021 See more Our take: is there room for a more "social" smartwatch? (Image credit: Facebook)

The smartwatch market has a large number of entrenched players, with Apple
and Google both having significant investment in the space, and theres a constant stream of new products coming to market. Most recently, weve seen
the launch of the Apple Watch 7 , the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and a slew of devices from Garmin and Fitbit (which was acquired by Google early this
year).

In such a competitive space, its perhaps sensible that Facebook appears to be taking a different route, with a distinct focus on the social potential of
the smartwatch centered around its video capabilities.

While it makes sense for the social media giant to want to tap into this potential, the question remains around how much more convenience do we actually need (and want) when it comes to devices with the ability to video chat.

From one perspective, this new watch could be seen as a rehash of the same throw a camera in it strategy that we saw with the recent launch of the Ray-Ban Stories sunglasses. The camera in the Ray-Ban glasses arguably makes more sense, however, in that it quickly and easily allows the wearer to capture and share what theyre seeing.

When most of us have a smartphone in our pocket, is there a market for a smartwatch with a built-in camera thats facing towards the user, rather than outwards? The ability to video chat hands-free could be a draw factor for
some users, but it has to be asked, will the angle be all that flattering?

The earliest rumors surrounding the Facebook smartwatch do suggest that some level of health tracking will be available on the device, so theres a chance it will be matching its competitors in this way.

However, given Facebooks track record with handling sensitive information of its users , it should also be asked whether users can trust Facebook with the privacy of their health data. Facebooks whole Metaverse thing? It's simply ridiculous and we have questions



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/facebooks-rumored-smartwatch-leaks-revealing-on e-big-feature-rivals-lack/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)