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posted by janrinok on Friday December 20 2019, @08:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the choice-is-good,-right? dept.

Facebook is developing its own OS to reduce dependence on Android:

Despite the recent privacy scandals, mishandling of user data, and a potential federal injunction looming in the distance, Facebook seems to be going full steam ahead with its ambitions. According to a recent report by The Information, the company is now developing its own operating system to reduce dependency on Google’s Android. The development, as per The Verge, is being led by Mark Lucovsky — an ex-Microsoft official who co-authored the Windows NT operating system.

While the report provides a limited amount of information about how Facebook plans to use the new operating system, it does point out that currently Facebook’s Oculus and Portal devices run on a modified version of Android. This leads us to believe that with its new operating system the company plans to replace Android on its VR and smart devices. And one of Facebook’s AR and VR heads, Ficus Kirkpatrick, mirrors this sentiment. According to Kirkpatrick, “it’s possible” that Facebook’s future hardware won’t need to rely on Google’s software which could possibly remove Google’s control over the company’s hardware.

Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s head of hardware, also told The Information that the company “want(s) to make sure the next generation has space for us. We don’t think we can trust the marketplace or competitors to ensure that’s the case. And so we’re going to do it ourselves.” Along with the aforementioned Oculus and Portal devices, Facebook is also working on AR glasses. Bosworth reveals that these glasses, codenamed “Orion”, could arrive as early as 2023. Interestingly, Apple is also expected to come out with its own pair of AR glasses around the same time. Facebook is reportedly also working on a brain control interface for its glasses, which could allow users to control them with their thoughts.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Saturday December 21 2019, @02:13AM (1 child)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Saturday December 21 2019, @02:13AM (#934886)

    I don't know about you, but I'm posting this from Firefox (on Ubuntu). No Google involved here.

    That said, I'd be *much* happier to use any Google product than anything from Facebook.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 22 2019, @02:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 22 2019, @02:39PM (#935175)

    I don't see why the distinction matters. I have the general impression that Google's technical prowess is best-in-industry and thus well ahead of Microsoft and Facebook and even somewhat ahead of Apple. But in terms of user privacy, I think Google is worse than Facebook.

    If you don't want Facebook to track you, you can use a privacy add-on for your browser and not have a Facebook account. Problem is mostly solved. If you don't want Google to track you, you need a privacy add-on for your browser, not to use Google search, and not to have a GMail account nor email anyone else with a GMail account. Good luck with that last one.

    I host my own email for privacy, and it means zip for my privacy because my whole fucking social graph is on GMail.