Facebook Watch – what we know so far
As mentioned already, the watch will likely be a stainless steel one, available in black, white, and gold colors. It will be running a forked Android, with a companion app available for both iOS and Android phones. The main module of the smartwatch will detach from the strap and will house a front-facing camera for video calls, while the main camera will shoot 1080p and feature autofocus.
Facebook is rumored to be in talks with the major carriers in the US to support LTE connectivity on the Facebook watch and be a standalone device. Otherwise, the point of the detachable display/camera module would quickly evaporate.
What’s more, Facebook reportedly wants other companies to develop third-party accessories for the smartwatch, making it more of a platform rather than a one-time stint. One use case suggests an add-on accessory that would let you strap the camera-clad display onto a backpack or another piece of clothing and use it as a GoPro of sorts.
Modular smartwatches are nothing new, but we are yet to see a successful one. The majority of announced wearables that involved any kind of modular features have promptly joined the Kickstarter graveyard. Surely, none of them had the huge financial prowess of Facebook backing them up, but then again, it would be quite hard for Zuckerberg’s company to make its upcoming watch a desirable buy.
This isn’t Facebook’s first rodeo
Facebook seemingly hopes to sell a couple hundred thousand units of the smartwatch, which is quite humbling given Apple Watch’s nearly 34 million sales in 2020 alone. The rumor mill has it that the broad strokes for a second and even third generation of Facebook’s smartwatch have already been laid out.
