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posted by martyb on Friday August 28 2020, @05:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the resistance-is-futile dept.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/facebook-has-begun-ghosting-the-oculus-moniker-in-its-vr-division/

Our "Facebookening of Oculus" series continues today with the announcement of the Facebook Connect conference as a free, live-streamed event on September 16. You may remember years of "Oculus Connect" conferences, which focused on the company's efforts in virtual reality and other "mixed reality" mediums. That conference is dead. It's Facebook Connect now.

[...] What's more, Facebook used the Tuesday announcement as an opportunity to rename its entire Oculus VR division: Facebook Reality Labs. That name may sound familiar, since it was given to a number of skunkworks teams working on experimental VR-like features and hardware (including years of focus on 3D spatial audio at its Seattle-area office).

Facebook isn't shy about explaining why it is renaming everything: to collate and combine its disparate entities in order to "build the next computing platform to help people feel more present with each other, even when we're apart." That sure sounds like a bold admission of the so-called "Facebook operating system" that I keep hearing rumors about, with VR, mixed reality, and smartphone cameras at its core. Facebook has spent months hinting at mixed computing systems being combined in the workplace, which the company has conveniently summarized in a new Facebook Reality Labs post from today.

Previously:
Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets


Original Submission

Related Stories

Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets 40 comments

Mandatory Socialization: Facebook Accounts To be Required for Oculus Headsets

Signaling the end to any remaining degrees of separation between Facebook and its VR headset division, Oculus, today the social media company announced that it will be further integrating the two services. Coming this fall, the company will begin sunsetting stand-alone Oculus accounts as part of an effort to transition the entire Oculus ecosystem over to Facebook. This will start in October, when all new Oculus accounts and devices will have to sign up for a Facebook account, while support for existing stand-alone accounts will be retired entirely at the start of 2023.

Previously: Facebook to Buy Rift Maker Oculus VR for $2bn
Facebook/Oculus Ordered to pay $500 Million to ZeniMax
Founder of Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, Departs Facebook
Facebook Announces Oculus Go for $200
Facebook's Zuckerberg Wants to Get One Billion People in VR
Facebook Launches Oculus Go, a $200 Standalone VR Headset
Oculus Co-Founder Says there is No Market for VR Gaming
John Carmack Steps Down at Oculus to Pursue AI Passion Project
Facebook is Developing its Own OS to Reduce Dependence on Android


Original Submission

Facebook Halts Oculus Quest Sales in Germany Amid Privacy Concerns 6 comments

Facebook halts Oculus Quest sales in Germany amid privacy concerns:

Facebook subsidiary Oculus says it has "temporarily paused" sales of Oculus Quest headsets to customers in Germany. Reports suggest the move is in response to concerns from German regulators about the recently announced requirement that all Oculus users will need to use a Facebook account by 2023 to log in to the device.

[...] Facebook declined an opportunity to provide additional comment to Ars Technica. But in a statement to German News site Heise Online (machine translation), the company said the move was due to "outstanding talks with German supervisory authorities... We were not obliged to take this measure, but proactively interrupted the sale."

Previously:
Facebook has Begun Ghosting the "Oculus" Moniker in its VR Division
Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @06:14AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @06:14AM (#1043159)

    Would you fuckers care to explain why you permanently banned Ethanol-Fueled?

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @06:32AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @06:32AM (#1043170)

      Well, he was mentally unbalanced, an we want Fair and Balanced on SoylentNews, not Fairly Unbalanced. I predict the Runaway will be the next to go. Very unbalanced, inciting violence, sex with the livestock: None of that goes unremarked for long.

      But, Ghosting Oculus? Is that not the same as Ethanoling Runaway? Products that make very much noise, but produce nothing, since they are ignorant and stupid. Runaway more stupid than Eth, I would reckon. But anyone who would invest, or buy, Oculus, is stupider than both Eth and Runaway combined, combined into one massive anus of rage and hate and racism and ignorance. Can't see out of that, not matter what the marketing materials say!

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday August 28 2020, @07:04AM (1 child)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 28 2020, @07:04AM (#1043185) Journal
        But, Ghosting Oculus? Is that not the same as Ethanoling Runaway?
        More like running ethanol away
        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @07:14AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @07:14AM (#1043189)

          Ah, the old spoiler, within a spoiler! Like very small Russian dolls, as packed one into another, until we realize they are all packed up the Runaway, as he pays fealty to his Russian masters. So sad!

          This man used to be an American! Not the best or brightest American, but American nonetheless. Now he is just a Russian stooge. More sad.

          Serious about the Runaway expulsion, kick him out. Can't even code!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @07:31AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @07:31AM (#1043195)

    There's nearly universal hate for this on tech sites, but they are betting on getting VR to 1 billion users rather than a few million hardcore gamers.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @08:09AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @08:09AM (#1043199)

      But, they will all trip over a hard-on, and sue the makers of Oculus for damages, as well as sexual, um, excitement. Especially if the hard-on is question was not their own.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by ledow on Friday August 28 2020, @08:42AM (1 child)

    by ledow (5567) on Friday August 28 2020, @08:42AM (#1043204) Homepage

    "Facebook has spent months hinting at mixed computing systems being combined in the workplace"... "Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets"

    Sorry, but if you don't see the problem RIGHT THERE, then you need to wake up, Facebook (and article author).

    You want to put VR in the workplace, but then demand a Facebook account to make it work.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @10:34AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @10:34AM (#1043226)

      But Facebook is busy infesting the workplace already. We've been told to start using the new @Workplace app for all internal "chatter" and that's how the company news is being delivered now (used to be on a web page).

      I checked and confirmed that I wasn't contractually obliged to sign up for the Workplace (i.e. Facebook at work) account and so I've never activated the one they'd already set up on my behalf.

      I don't appear to be missing out, busier than ever and if something important comes up my boss tells me about it as normal.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Friday August 28 2020, @10:10AM

    by Opportunist (5545) on Friday August 28 2020, @10:10AM (#1043221)

    Among the people I know, the "Facebook" brand has been kinda like a warning label. So now even if they didn't know that Occulus is a privacy hazard, they will be able to avoid it now.

  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday August 28 2020, @03:44PM

    by Freeman (732) on Friday August 28 2020, @03:44PM (#1043364) Journal

    When Facebook acquired Oculus, it was quite obvious to me that sooner or later Facebook would be integrated with Oculus. The time has come. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 2) by TrentDavey on Friday August 28 2020, @06:58PM

    by TrentDavey (1526) on Friday August 28 2020, @06:58PM (#1043472)

    Me thinks that is an oxymoron.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @08:28PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @08:28PM (#1043503)

    Seriously, why?
    People would be immediately leery of putting an explicitly Facebook branded device on their face, while keeping the Oculus name around would limit that sort of problem while also continuing to leverage the well-known Oculus brand.

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