Meta may revive its smartwatch project with a focus on camera
It said that the company may be considering reintroducing wrist-based devices after it first discontinued its smartwatches several years ago.
The report suggests that Meta's wearable is designed to work with both its smart glasses and Quest headsets, unlike most other smartwatches from companies like Samsung and Google. Its main function is to scan the environment using built-in cameras, rather than to monitor health or deliver notifications.
What Meta is developing seems quite similar to what the company was working on in 2021. To differentiate itself from competitors, sources at the time indicated that Meta, then still known as Facebook, aimed to launch a pair of smartwatches in summer 2022. These devices were said to include a pair of cameras. A 12MP main sensor on the underside, which would require the user to remove the watch, and a 5MP front-facing camera was intended for wrist-based video calls. During Facebook's earlier venture with the Portal smart display, the company was heavily invested in video conferencing.
Images of the initial Meta smartwatch prototype that were leaked.
Pictures of Meta's discarded smartwatch prototype, leaked by Bloomberg.
Although users might expect Meta to have revisited its original smartwatch idea over the years, it appears that this revived project isn't significantly different from its predecessor.
With at least one built-in camera, it is reportedly an attempt to 'enhance the metaverse experience.' Given that the company plans to launch 'half a dozen' AI wearables this year, its current focus on AI and expansive language models is likely to play a role in this endeavour.
Regardless of what Meta's final smartwatches look like, we might not have to wait long to find out. Meta Connect, the company's annual developer conference, is scheduled to commence on September 17th, and according to reports, this year's event could showcase this resurrected project.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Meta will now let candidates use AI in interviews: Is this the future of hiring in Silicon Valley?
In a move that might signal a seismic shift in how talent is evaluated, Meta has confirmed that it is actively testing AI-enabled interviews where coding candidates can use an artificial intelligence assistant during the assessment process. The update was first reported by 404 Media, which accessed an internal memo titled 'AI-Enabled Interviews—Call for Mock Candidates.' The document invites existing employees to volunteer as test subjects for mock interviews involving AI support, noting that this model is 'more representative of the developer environment that our future employees will work in.' It's not just an experimental idea. Meta appears to be laying the groundwork for a new industry norm, one that acknowledges how AI is already deeply embedded in real-world workflows. From help to hiring: Why Meta is betting on AI tools Confirming the internal pilot, a Meta spokesperson told 404 Media, 'We're obviously focused on using AI to help engineers with their day-to-day work, so it should be no surprise that we're testing how to provide these tools to applicants during interviews.' This is the same company where, just months ago, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he expected AI agents to soon function as 'midlevel engineers' capable of writing code for the company. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Pierce Brosnan's Wife Lost 120 Pounds - This Is Her Now Undo 'Over time,' he added, 'we'll get to a point where a lot of the code in our apps is actually going to be built by AI engineers instead of people engineers.' So why test humans in a way that doesn't reflect that reality? That's the core logic behind Meta's pilot. By allowing AI during interviews, the company is signalling that it's less interested in testing raw memory or speed, and more in evaluating how future employees might collaborate with AI systems under real conditions. It's a big pivot from conventional wisdom and it's catching on across the Valley. A glimpse into the future: Cluely, Columbia and ethical grey zones If Meta is at one end of the curve, Chungin 'Roy' Lee is the outlier who saw it coming just a bit too early. In early 2024, Lee, a then 21-year-old computer science student at Columbia University, developed Interview Coder, an AI tool that could discreetly assist candidates during coding interviews. It captured screen activity, picked up audio cues, and suggested real-time responses. For users, it was a lifeline. For institutions, it was a line crossed. Columbia suspended Lee for a year, citing violation of academic integrity. The scandal could have ended the story but it didn't. Lee moved to San Francisco, rebranded the product as Cluely, and turned it into a stealth-mode AI assistant offering undetectable support not just in interviews, but also exams, meetings and sales calls. By mid-2025, Cluely had raised over $20 million in funding, including a $15 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Lee remains defiant about his journey. Speaking to the Associated Press, he said: 'Everyone uses AI now. It doesn't make sense to have systems that test people as if they don't.' While Cluely sits in a controversial corner of the AI productivity movement, Meta's recent decision suggests the narrative is shifting. Rather than penalising candidates for using AI tools, some companies are now building interviews around them. The interview cheat code or new literacy? The trend raises an important question: If AI is going to be an integral part of professional life, should interviews continue to pretend it doesn't exist? For many Silicon Valley employers, the answer may be no. Hiring teams are increasingly interested in how candidates interact with AI, rather than how they perform in isolation. As coding environments become more collaborative with GitHub Copilot, Google Gemini Code Assist and Meta's own Code Llama now common in developer stacks, pure unaided performance is losing relevance. Meanwhile, allowing AI during interviews might make it harder to distinguish between strategic assistance and dependency. It could also widen the gap between candidates trained in AI-integrated environments and those coming from more traditional setups. What does this mean for future applicants? For candidates preparing to enter the tech workforce in 2025 and beyond, Meta's pilot could change how they approach not just interviews but learning itself. It normalises the presence of AI in high-stakes environments. It also redefines what companies consider 'cheating.' The emphasis now appears to be shifting from what you know to how you adapt. In that landscape, the ability to prompt, parse and co-create with AI may soon become just as important as any core coding language. As Chungin Lee's story shows, the tools that once got students suspended may very well become the tools that help them get hired. Meta's pilot is not just a test of software; it's a preview of a job market where human-AI collaboration isn't an advantage, it's the baseline. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
FB friend from Japan dupes Powai businessman of ₹52 lakh in Bitcoin fraud
MUMBAI: A 65-year-old businessman from Powai lost ₹52 lakh after an allegedly Japanese woman he befriended online convinced him to invest in Bitcoins and duped him in a cybercrime fraud for a month. The West Cyber police had initially received his complaint, and as the defrauded amount was less than ₹1 crore, they forwarded it to the Andheri police station, which registered a case against the woman and her accomplices on Saturday. From the last week of June to July 17, the victim invested ₹ 52 lakh.(HT File Photo) According to the complaint, the businessman received a Facebook friend request from an unknown person in June. The profile had a woman's photo and displayed her employment with IBM in Hong Kong. Believing it to be genuine, the complainant accepted her request, and the two began communicating through the messenger app. Also Read | Senior citizen loses ₹21 lakh to gaming fraud During their conversation, the accused asked for his mobile number, and the two began to speak with each other on the phone. Her soft-spoken manner on calls gained the complainant's trust, he said in the complaint. She told him she was currently working in an IBM office based in Hong Kong and that she would soon be joining the IBM Crypto trading platform in Japan as a manager. The complainant continued to talk with her for 10 more days about various subjects. She would tell him how investing in Bitcoin reaps huge profits and how it could benefit him. Though the complainant was initially reluctant, he was eventually convinced. Also Read | Businessman duped of ₹8.75 crore in a forex trading fraud Once the complainant expressed interest, she sent him a link and asked him to create an ID for his virtual account. He said he began investing money in Bitcoins through the bank accounts she provided. From the last week of June to July 17, he had invested ₹52 lakh. When he checked the application, it displayed ₹10.3 crore as his virtual bank account balance. Noticing huge returns, the 65-year-old wanted to, but could not invest more money in Bitcoins. So, he decided to withdraw the balance accumulated in his account. When he inquired about the withdrawal process, he was asked to pay a 30% tax first. Finding this suspicious, he discussed it with his relatives and realised he had been defrauded. Also Read | Fraud impersonates bizman's US-based brother, swindles ₹50k The complainant first contacted the Cyber Helpline number 1930 and filed a complaint. The Andheri police on Saturday registered a case under sections 66 (d) (dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and sections 318 (4) (cheating), 319 (2) (cheating by personation), 336 (2) and 336 (3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security documents), 340 (2) (using forged electronic document as genuine) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. 'We are trying to ascertain the identities of and trace the accused through the transactions made by the complainant,' said a police officer from Andheri police station.
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
AI helps Big Tech score big numbers
Each company in the big technology pack—including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon—surpassed market expectations with stellar performance in the April-June quarter. Himanshi Lohchab brings out what stood out. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The April-June quarter of 2025 proved stellar for the big technology pack: Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, with each company surpassing market expectations. Alphabet's revenue showed that AI-led search is boosting earnings instead of outperformed estimates due to AI-powered ad optimisation and Zuckerberg's aggressive vision for personal Azure cloud surpassed $75 billion in annual run rate for the first time, zooming the stock to $4 trillion valuation – a feat achieved hitherto by AI hardware titan capital spending across these firms ranges between $331 billion and $377 billion, and consumes up to 40% of sales and 80% of operating cash flow at some companies.
