Facebook is reportedly developing its own smartwatch to tackle the dominance of the Apple Watch. Unsurprisingly, this Android smartwatch would allow messages to be sent to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram. Above all, it would allow the Californian social network to seize the precious health data of its users.
According to information gathered by The Information from four anonymous sources close to the project, Facebook is currently working on a connected watch. The social network aims to market the smartwatch in the course of 2022 .
According to the media, the connected watch will run under an open source version of Android , reworked to work on a reduced screen. In parallel, Facebook would also develop its own operating system in order to emancipate itself from Google. The second generation of the watch would be launched in 2023.
FACEBOOK WANTS TO SEIZE HEALTH DATA WITH ITS CONNECTED WATCH
The “Facebook Watch” will primarily focus on communication. It will allow you to send and receive messages on Facebook platforms, such as Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram. Like the Apple Watch, the watch will be equipped with a cellular connection so that it can function without its owner's smartphone nearby.
Facebook's smartwatch would also offer health and sports monitoring functions . The watch would notably allow you to share your sports results with your friends. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg's firm would allow the watch to be synchronized with connected objects provided by third-party brands, such as connected exercise bikes from Peloton Interactive. Facebook would obviously take the opportunity to suck up user health data and exploit it for advertising purposes.
Under these conditions, the social network would offer the connected watch at a price close to its production cost . Facebook wouldn't really want to make any profit from the sales of the watch. The company would rather be sweetened on the exploitation of the recovered data.
In recent years, Facebook has already developed several products under its own brand. The Californian group notably launched Oculus virtual reality headsets and Portal connected speakers including Portal TV . What do you think of this project? We await your opinion in the comments.
Source: The Information