Zuckerberg opens up Meta Quest operating system to third-parties, Asus and Lenovo headsets planned

[Daniel Sims]

Something to look forward to: After spending tens of billions on virtual and augmented reality, Meta aims to position itself as the more accessible alternative to Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro headset and its visionOS. Competing with the Cupertino giant will prove challenging, but opening up the Meta Quest operating system and evolve into an open ecosystem could go a long way toward broadening its appeal.

Meta is making the OS that powers its Quest headsets available to third-party hardware. Accompanying the announcement is a re-brand for the operating system with potentially significant policy changes regarding software distribution.

Devices using Meta's platform will run what the company now calls the Meta Horizon OS. The name change also applies to the Quest app store, now dubbed the Meta Horizon Store, and the Meta Quest companion mobile app is now the Meta Horizon app.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

The first partner headsets include a gaming-oriented Asus ROG unit, a Lenovo mixed-reality device, and an Xbox-branded Meta Quest from Microsoft. These products will all run on the Qualcomm chips powering Quest devices currently on the market, but could potentially feature different configurations of lenses or other internals.

Moreover, the Meta software ecosystem will become more open. While the company didn't mention sideloading, it confirmed that App Lab software will soon become discoverable through the primary Meta Store. Upload VR reports that App Lab and the Horizon Store will eventually merge into one channel with the former's relatively lax curation.

Also see: Mark Zuckerberg says the Meta Quest 3 is a "better product" than Apple Vision Pro... period

Meta introduced App Lab in 2017 to give developers avenues for distributing software outside of the company's approval process, so its promotion on Horizon OS makes alternate app distribution channels (like Sidequest) more widely available. Meta also wants Google to make the Play Store available on Horizon OS, but it's unclear whether the search giant has any such plans.

Another effort aimed at bringing more apps to Meta's platform is the company's upcoming spatial app framework, which will facilitate porting mobile software to Horizon and converting it to mixed reality.

Meta didn't mention when such apps might become available, but developers can now apply for access to the conversion toolchain.

If successful, the open-platform strategy could turn Meta into the Android or Windows of the augmented reality space, and Apple's primary competitor in that arena. As part of this shift in strategy, Meta recently dropped the price of the Meta Quest 2 to $199 to broaden the reach of the already popular headset.

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Zuckerberg opens up Meta Quest operating system to third-parties, Asus and Lenovo headsets planned

 

[The Talking Tech]

"Xbox-branded Meta Quest from Microsoft"

A potential Special Edition Xbox console with Meta Quest VR all one bundle is very likely to happen with the next generation of Xbox systems.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Competition making things better.

 

[techstrike]

Smart move, this reminds me the "open" OS for mobiles many years ago.. that called it android and many devs got in to this trap because they thought they will have the same environment like Linux.. how wrong!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Smart move, this reminds me the "open" OS for mobiles many years ago.. that called it android and many devs got in to this trap because they thought they will have the same environment like Linux.. how wrong!

It is an open OS that one can freely use and fork tho....so you're wrong, it IS line linux.

 

[techstrike]

It is an open OS that one can freely use and fork tho....so you're wrong, it IS line linux.

Sorry bud, I don't agree with your opinion.
Although Android has open-source roots, doesn't make it open to developers, and please don't compare freeware software with open-source software.
Because bottom all of this we are talking about Software.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sorry bud, I don't agree with your opinion.

Not an opinion. Android AOSP is open source and is licensed as such. Sorry you disagree with reality.

Although Android has open-source roots, doesn't make it open to developers, and please don't compare freeware software with open-source software.
Because bottom all of this we are talking about Software.

We're talking about Operating systems, its in the title of the article. The android Operating System is Open Source. It is open for developers to build whatever they want on top of it.

 

[techstrike]

"AOSP is an open-source operating system development project maintained by Google. Since it's open-source, anyone is free to review and contribute code and fixes to the project repository. However, Google oversees its general direction and has the final say in the bulk of its development."
-Source: Google

Yes, but .. and there is my point.

 

[Ashford]

It is an open OS that one can freely use and fork tho....so you're wrong, it IS line linux.

Android is licensed under Apache 2.0 instead of copyleft, and Linux is under GNU general public license.

 

[human7]

Android is licensed under Apache 2.0 instead of copyleft, and Linux is under GNU general public license.

"AOSP is an open-source operating system development project maintained by Google. Since it's open-source, anyone is free to review and contribute code and fixes to the project repository. However, Google oversees its general direction and has the final say in the bulk of its development."
-Source: Google

Yes, but .. and there is my point.

Not an opinion. Android AOSP is open source and is licensed as such. Sorry you disagree with reality.

We're talking about Operating systems, its in the title of the article. The android Operating System is Open Source. It is open for developers to build whatever they want on top of it.

You're all right. The Linux kernel is GPLv2, which GNU Linux and Android both use. Apart from the kernel and a few other things, Android is open sourced under Apache 2.0. However, pretty much all the software on top of the base OS is proprietary.

Google Mobile Services (Google play and the assortment of APIs that are provided for Google services), firmware drivers, third party customizations (like Samsung's OneUI), and Google's withholding of trademark rights to use the term Android to manufacturers that meet Google's compatibility guidelines are all examples of non-free or de-facto non-free aspects to Android (and why, for example, the Kindle does not have the Google play store, and also why the FSF has been critical of Android and recommends truly FOSS (in both license and spirit) alternatives, such as Replicant).

In any case, it's good to see Meta opening up the Quest OS to third party manufacturers. This is a sign that they are taking the long view and prioritize that over having control of their - and only their - ecosystem. If successful, that means Meta will always have an important seat at the table in the broader VR ecosystem of application and hardware developers, similar to how Microsoft and Alphabet are the giants in their respective areas. While that isn't what I am celebrating, I am celebrating this step as an essential one necessary to the maturity of the VR space. As long as there are primarily walled gardens and incompatible headsets, it will be difficult if not impossible to develop a fully functioning metaverse - which by definition requires interoperability and seamlessness.

But, whether or not the metaverse itself is anything to get excited about, I'll reserve judgement until I see more development there. This step though will accelerate that development, which means I don't have to be as patient to see where this goes, and that is something I am excited about.

 

[Ashford]

I am celebrating this step as an essential one necessary to the maturity of the VR space.

This right here. Thanks for saying this.

History may well remember this decision as one that really supercharged the advancement of VR.