Facebook is working on a smartwatch with 2 cameras

Facebook is reportedly working on an end-run past Google and Apple, by releasing its own connected hardware.

The Verge reports the company is working on a fitness-focussed smartwatch with a number of interesting features.

The watch will reportedly be LTE-enabled, via a large US carrier, and would sport two cameras – a front-facing one for video calls and a rear 1080P one for actual photos, after you pop it out of its steel frame of course.  Facebook is reportedly working with 3rd party companies for other potential housings for the camera watch, such as connecting it to your backpack.

The watch will reportedly run a custom version of Android and will come bundled with Facebook’s app suite.

Facebook is looking to release devices that can operate without interfacing with smartphones owned by Google and Apple, which has been increasingly limiting their access to their users and their data. The company hopes to sell a few hundred thousand of the watches, available in white, black and gold, at around $400 each, though, like everything else, that number is subject to change. Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, Head of Facebook Reality Labs, has said on Twitter that the leak may simply be referring to a research project and that Facebook will have more to share when they are ready.

https://twitter.com/boztank/status/1402682964400508936

https://twitter.com/boztank/status/1402682987691401217

According to the original report, the device is aimed for a summer 2022 release, and Facebook is already working on successors for later years.