Report: Meta Revives Smartwatch Plans to Take On Apple Watch

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Apple should double down on first-party wearables as accessory devices are the key to keeping the iPhone as the halo and ecosystem lock-in device for users. This whole category remains ripe for the taking, but Apple seems too cautious here. Some ideas to do that include changing up the Apple Watch design, even in a one-off “edition” model; pushing out some of the AI devices such as the Ray-Ban competitor glasses ASAP; and getting serious about lower-cost fitness tracker bands like Whoop or rings like Oura for folks that don’t want to wear an Apple Watch all day. You’re a hardware company, people love your hardware, do more hardware.

Because regulators are going to savage them..

 

[jayducharme]

From a news report about Zuckerberg's recent court date: "Zuckerberg told the courtroom he is 'very bad' at media." That explains a lot about the person in charge of the world's largest media company.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Because regulators are going to savage them..

It would be fine, if they didn't try to kick other companies out of features as soon as they introduced it themselves. Give equal time, and equal access, to the system.

Lock-in (and lock-out) is what Apple have been, rightfully, getting in trouble for.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Maybe its just me but Meta is one of those names when I hear I go yuck.....facebook...How do people continue to support them?

One problem is they managed to kill a lot of independent media and organizational websites who now just use Facebook to publish everything. It’s become a case of no better option in some cases, being essentially forced to use it because it’s assumed everyone has it.

And there’s also all the WhatsApp users that come out of the woodwork for every article about iMessage.

Instagram I honestly cannot explain and never understood right from the start.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Apple should double down on first-party wearables as accessory devices are the key to keeping the iPhone as the halo and ecosystem lock-in device for users.

No, anti-trust regulators need to step up their efforts on blocking this nonsense.

 

[Rychiar]

the sad part is they will likely get this released before apple gets its knockoff glasses released.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Competition is good, however you look at it.

 

[I7guy]

Apple should double down on first-party wearables as accessory devices are the key to keeping the iPhone as the halo and ecosystem lock-in device for users. This whole category remains ripe for the taking, but Apple seems too cautious here. Some ideas to do that include changing up the Apple Watch design, even in a one-off “edition” model; pushing out some of the AI devices such as the Ray-Ban competitor glasses ASAP; and getting serious about lower-cost fitness tracker bands like Whoop or rings like Oura for folks that don’t want to wear an Apple Watch all day. You’re a hardware company, people love your hardware, do more hardware.

Lock in implies hard to move to another ecosystem because the vendor is the issue. The better phrase would be consumer choice.

And I don’t think it’s a given that the category remains ripe for the taking. I am very cautious about meta ai given their history.

 

[fatTribble]

Do you have to pay for this or is it ad supported?
/s 🤭

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I'd love an Apple Watch version of the Pebble Round 2.

View attachment 2606322

I'm so excited for my PR2 to arrive later this year!

 

[DocMultimedia]

Working on them. Not working on them. Working on them. Not working on them...

Sounds like most every tech company lately.

 

[Falco McGregor]

Lock in implies hard to move to another ecosystem because the vendor is the issue. The better phrase would be consumer choice.

And I don’t think it’s a given that the category remains ripe for the taking. I am very cautious about meta ai given their history.

Agreed. I would’ve worded that differently in retrospect. It’s about making the ecosystem attractive and sticky for consumers. Regulations are going to wax and wane depending on the region anyway, and it shouldn’t stop Apple from releasing complementary devices to its ecosystem. Just be smart about it.

 

[Spinarelo]

Honestly, we should shame people who continue supporting them in any way, especially anyone who chooses to work for them.

Why would you shame someone for choosing to work for a legitimate legal corporation? People have to make a living…. Pretty sure if you were unemployed with bills due and Meta was the only company that offered you a paycheck you would take it…..Or would you rather starve and live on the streets in order to maintain your moral high ground?

 

[cjsuk]

From a news report about Zuckerberg's recent court date: "Zuckerberg told the courtroom he is 'very bad' at media." That explains a lot about the person in charge of the world's largest media company.

He's very bad at being human.

 

[cjsuk]

Why would you shame someone for choosing to work for a legitimate legal corporation? People have to make a living…. Pretty sure if you were unemployed with bills due and Meta was the only company that offered you a paycheck you would take it…..Or would you rather starve and live on the streets in order to maintain your moral high ground?

The thing with Meta is if you work there you most likely have a choice. It'll be less money but it'll likely have a better ethical stance.

If you work there you have a price, and that's not someone I can trust.

Edit: I'lll add that I've walked out of two places immediately when they threw ethics down the toilet.

 

[bluecoast]

They’ve had decent success with the Ray-Ban glasses, selling about 10 million of them. The Ray-Ban partnership was a brilliant idea because the glasses look mostly like real glasses, which has surely helped adoption. But I suspect most people are just using them as convenient face cameras and headphones and not actually pushing them into an ecosystem lock-in with Meta.

I wonder if Meta will partner with an existing brand like they did with the owner of the Ray-Bans brand, because of this success.

Good luck to anyone who trusts meta with their biometrics though...

 

[lazyrighteye]

Maybe its just me but Meta is one of those names when I hear I go yuck.....facebook...How do people continue to support them?

Not just you.

 

[WilliApple]

Good.
The Apple Watch Series 11 is the same thing as the Apple Watch Series 10 which is the same thing as the Apple Watch Series 9. That is why I have the Apple Watch Series 8, which is the same thing as the Apple Watch Series 7 which is the same thing as the Apple Watch Series 6.

We need competition. We cannot continue to allow Apple to get away with not changing the Apple Watch.

 

[macbookj0e]

Honest question - have meta succeeded with anything other than Facebook?

 

[Ursadorable]

Ecosystems suck. Mix and match is healthy

I have to disagree. Ecosystems offer a superior user experience. Having to support a bunch of third parties with varying levels of quality only serves to degrade the overall experience.

Imagine ecosystem from Company A with high user satisfaction, then Company B comes along and makes a half-arse product that performs poorly with Company A's ecosystem. People will then complain and blame Company A for Company B's product interoperability with Company A.

 

[everlast3434]

I was just saying to myself, I wish Meta was more ingrained in more of my day to day devices. Fantastic, trust-worthy company for sure.

 

[treyjustice]

Meta makes good hardware. I love my Meta Quest 3 - got it for less than $300 and its amazing tech at that price.

 

[treyjustice]

Honest question - have meta succeeded with anything other than Facebook?

I would say the Meta raybans and Meta Quest are highly successful.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I have to disagree. Ecosystems offer a superior user experience. Having to support a bunch of third parties with varying levels of quality only serves to degrade the overall experience.

Imagine ecosystem from Company A with high user satisfaction, then Company B comes along and makes a half-arse product that performs poorly with Company A's ecosystem. People will then complain and blame Company A for Company B's product interoperability with Company A.

Having been deep in the Apple ecosystem, and now not, I disagree. Ecosystems aren't superior; they trap and are encapsulating, and make interacting with those not in the same one a pain in the butt, if not intentionally hostile.

I complain constantly about how Apple and Android interact, and it's 90% Apple's fault. Wife is 100% pixel and I have an iPhone...for now...since Liquid Glass, I'm seriously rethinking.

I would say the Meta raybans and Meta Quest are highly successful.

They are, but they were an acquisition, like Instagram. I don't think anything that Facebook has built from scratch has succeeded, other than Facebook.

I've never personally seen the Meta Ray Bans and don't know how widespread they actually are, but from the pictures, they look dorky AF.

 

[artifex]

Honest question - have meta succeeded with anything other than Facebook?

They bought Instagram, which maybe still does well, but I find it almost unusable with all the forced suggestions for "reels" and stuff now. And that's just on the website; it's probably worse in the actual app. (Meta got caught doing covert tracking across apps to websites, etc., so if you have to use their services, try to stick only to their websites.)