Meta pauses the development of its Apple Watch rival smartwatch with two cameras

Facebook’s parent company Meta has reportedly pushed the brakes on its intriguing wearable that was expected to take on Apple Watch, reported Bloomberg. As per the company, this Meta wearable device sports two cameras to take pictures directly from the watch. It was also rumoured to come with features like activity tracking, music playback, messaging, a heart rate monitor, support for LTE connectivity and more. It was reportedly under development for two years now.

The report has further added that Meta is still extensively working on many wrist devices.

Meta stops working on its dual camera smartwatch

As per the prototype video and images seen by Bloomberg, the key highlight and the major differentiator of smartwatches like the Apple Watch is its dual-camera support. One camera was located below the screen, while the other was placed at the back, touching the user’s wrist.

The placement of the second camera raises a few questions. The report further explains that users will need to remove the watch face from the strap to take pictures. The prototype shows a gold meta frame with two physical buttons on the edge. It came with Wi-Fi, GPS and cellular connectivity via eSIM. In terms of battery, it could offer up to 18 hours of battery.

Although the company might have dropped plans to go ahead with this smartwatch, chances are its rumoured features might come in other wrist-worn devices that the company is working on right now. The employees on the smartwatch were notified this week that the wearable is no longer on track for production. It was earlier scheduled to arrive in “Spring 2023” at a price of around $349.

Earlier, Facebook had already announced that it is working on a wrist-worn technology that will be able to sense neural signals and measure head and finger gestures along with haptic feedback. The company further added that this technology will work alongside AR smart glasses in the future.

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