Meta opens its VR OS, now called Horizon OS, to third parties, and says Asus and Lenovo plan Horizon OS-compatible headsets; Meta plans an Xbox branded Quest
Apple released the Vision Pro on February 2; 12 days later Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered his verdict: Ben Lang / Road to VR : Oculus Founder Reacts to Horizon OS News: “Hopefully it isn't too late” Alan Velasco / HotHardware : Meta Opens VR OS As War With Apple Escalates, Enlists Xbox, ASUS And Lenovo Poulami Saha / Financial Express : Apple Vision Pro effect: Meta opens its Quest Horizon OS software to third party brands Devindra Hardawar / Engadget : Meta opens Quest OS to third parties, including ASUS and Lenovo Carrie Marshall / T3 : Meta Quest VR's new deal could be massive Jacob Ridley / PC Gamer : Asus is creating the VR ‘gaming headset of the next generation’ built on Meta's Horizon OS lifted off the Quest 3 Matthew Wilson / KitGuru : Meta teams up with Microsoft for Xbox-inspired VR headset Edward Chester / PCGamesN : Meta is about to make VR cheaper and more accessible than ever Alex Perry / Mashable : Watch out, Apple Vision Pro. An ‘Xbox-inspired’ Meta Quest VR headset is in the works. Joe Wituschek / BGR : Meta opens up its Horizon OS to third-party hardware, including a limited-edition Xbox VR headset Laurent Giret / Thurrott : Meta Will Let Other Companies Create Mixed Reality Headsets Using its Meta Horizon OS Ethan Lee / NFT News Today : Meta Expands Quest OS to Third-Party Headsets, Partners with Lenovo and Xbox Rhys Wood / TechRadar : Asus has revealed it's working on a ‘next generation’ VR headset powered by Meta's Horizon OS Ben Schoon / 9to5Google : Meta pushes Google to bring the Play Store to Quest's ‘Horizon OS’ ahead of expansion The Hindu : Meta licenses Quest's OS to third-party manufacturers Matthew Broersma / Silicon UK : Meta Opens Quest VR OS To Third Party Gadget Makers Patently Apple : Meta offers their VR OS to hardware companies ahead of Google's announcement of a new XR OS next month at Google I/O Esat Dedezade / Stuff : An Xbox VR headset is on the way - but don't expect a PSVR2 rival Anuj Bhatia / The Indian Express : Why is Meta opening up the Quest headset's OS to third-party hardware makers Alessio Palumbo / Wccftech : Meta Opens Up Quest OS to Third-Party Hardware Makers - ASUS to Make High Performance Gaming Headset Kieron Verbrugge / Press Start : Meta Is Expanding Its Mixed-Reality OS To Third-Party Hardware Including An Xbox-Themed Quest Headset Adam Vjestica / The Shortcut : An Xbox VR headset is finally coming, but not how you'd expect Kazim Ali Alvi / Windows Report : Meta's Horizon OS will soon power your Asus and Lenovo VR headsets Alex Heath / The Verge : Meta wants to be the Microsoft of headsets David Heaney / UploadVR : Meta Is Getting Rid Of Quest's App Lab And Opening Up The Store Daniel Sims / TechSpot : Zuckerberg opens up Meta Quest operating system to third-parties, Asus and Lenovo headsets planned Chris Liu / Business Times : Meta Licenses Quest Operating System to Lenovo and Asus, Unveils Limited-Edition Xbox Headset Meta for Developers : Bring your mobile apps to Meta Horizon OS Avi Greengart / Techsponential : Meta Opens Horizon OS to Hardware Partners to Take on Apple and Google in XR/Spatial Computing Skarredghost / The Ghost Howls : Meta opens up its walled garden to become the Android of XR GSMArena.com : Meta is opening up Horizon OS to third parties, Asus and Lenovo first with new headsets Scott Younker / Tom's Guide : Meta announces Quest OS open headset platform — Xbox, Asus and Lenovo are first partners Timi Cantisano / Android Police : Meta's Horizon OS is trying to usher in a new era of VR by luring third-party hardware makers Abid Ahsan Shanto / Notebookcheck : Lenovo, Asus, and Microsoft partners with Meta to bring VR headsets with Quest operating system Samuel Axon / Ars Technica : Meta debuts Horizon OS, with Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft on board Matt Wales / Eurogamer.net : Meta opening Quest mixed reality OS up to third-party hardware makers David Heaney / UploadVR : Meta Rebranding Quest Software Horizon OS, Will Run On New Headsets From ASUS, Lenovo, More Ben Lang / Road to VR : Meta is Opening Quest's Operating System to Third-party Headsets, Marking a Massive Shift in Strategy Threads: Mark Zuckerberg / @zuck : Some updates on the metaverse. Today we're opening up Meta Horizon OS — our operating system powering Quest — so others can design more headsets in our ecosystem. Lenovo, Microsoft, and ASUS are some of our first partners, with more coming too. … @techaltar : I think Meta deserves a lot of praise for spending the tens of billions needed to make VR into what it is today and for relentlessly dragging the industry forward. This is especially in contrast to Google who, as usual, killed their efforts way too soon. That said, I reeeeally hope Meta's platform doesn't become the “Android of VR”. I can't think of a tech giant that has proven as reliably and repeatedly that they are evil as Meta. I'd much prefer letting Google track my eyeballs. Ben Adida / @ben_adida : Some important details to hash out around “open”, but I predict Meta is going to win this VR platform war, and I think it will be an important platform in the future of computing. I wasn't always a VR fan. I think the latest hardware from Meta makes this real. Dantley Davis / @dantley : It'll be interesting to see if companies will invest in creating headsets for what seems like a small TAM. Mishaal Rahman / @mishaal_rahman : Horizon OS is itself based on AOSP, which will also be the case for Google's Android XR OS. So we'll soon have two competing, mixed reality operating systems - both based on AOSP - that hardware makers can license. Mishaal Rahman / @mishaal_rahman : Also very deliberate timing considering that Google is gearing up to itself do this model, possibly with an announcement next month at I/O of Android XR OS. @documentingmeta : Why not just “MetaOS”? Just keep it simple like MacOS or iOS instead of saying Apple MacOS or Apple iOS. Or just ‘hOS’ for headsets and ‘gOS’ for glasses or something like that? Meta still has a long way to go in capturing Apple magic of naming and branding things. Alec Muffett / @alecmuffett : I understand your criticism from a strategic benefit perspective but I don't think it's fair; in terms of contributions to open source, FB has a massive history of sharing engineering development in an open manner. It gets underreported because of the perennial and reasonable criticism of other aspects of the company https://opensource.fb.com/ Parker Thompson / @parkert : Between this and the llama thing, they really do like to use the word open in the open source we're-good-folks-please-don't- antitrust-us sense when what they mean is license in the we-are-happy-to-let-you distribute-our-DOS-on-your-PCs sense. Andrew Bosworth / @boztank : We ourselves have benefited from open systems—our mixed reality operating system Meta Horizon OS started on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project and our deep investments in AR/MR and research have enabled us to produce a full-fledged MR operating system now used by millions of people. Our long-term collaboration with Qualcomm, which builds the Snapdragon processors powering Quest, will also enable our partners to leverage the chipsets we optimized for AR/MR. Andrew Bosworth / @boztank : More open ecosystems like this are a win for everyone. People get more headsets to choose from, developers get a bigger pool of compatible hardware to build for. And if you want to build the most social platform, which we do, then it needs to be accessible to as many people as possible. Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : It's awesome to see Quest turning into an ecosystem play and now people will have a choice of headsets while being part of the same software ecosystem. I continue to love how we're seeing more and more openness from Meta when it comes to key platforms important to the next wave of tech advancements. Alex Kruglov / @akruglov : I love Meta's reinvention of itself as an open system 😊. Smart of @zuck to open the Quest OS up. At the end of the day, Meta's skill set is much more in software than in hardware, and they know how to monetize.  Kevin Beaumont / @gossithedog : Nice. So Microsoft, after exiting Mixed Reality on Windows 11 (it is end of life) are using Meta's OS on their future headsets. Andrew Bosworth / @boztank : As part of this move, we're making it even easier for developers to build for mixed reality and reach audiences on the platform with a new framework we're launching soon for developing spatial apps, and changes to our store that'll make it quicker and easier to ship to our store. Lots more to come here! Chris Messina / @chris : “Opening up” as in open source? Or open license? Or just... bizdev deals? Thanks for clarifying! Vishal Shah / @vishalshahis : Horizon is not a feature, an app, or a team - it's our name for our vision of bringing social and spatial together across all device types and manufacturers. Andrew Bosworth / @boztank : We've talked a lot about how we want the next computing platform to be more open. This is a big step forward in making that happen. Introducing Meta Horizon OS, and our first hardware partners building new mixed reality devices with it. Alex / @avfernandezz : I'm excited to see how what the openness brings forward across the industry, competition drives innovation and this is a great step towards that Instagram: Mark Zuckerberg : Some updates on the metaverse. Today we're opening up Meta Horizon OS — our operating system powering Quest — so others can design more headsets in our ecosystem. Lenovo, Microsoft, and ASUS are some of our first partners, with more coming too. … Mastodon: Alice / @lexd0g@wetdry.world : holy fucking shit, meta is opening up their quest OS to third parties, there's gonna be an asus rog headset, a thinkvision and an xbox edition quest running the same os that's on the quest?? this is pretty crazy — https://www.meta.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith … : With moves like this, maybe it's not a given that Google's Android will be the primary competitor to Apple's platforms in every new post-PC market? — Maybe in AR/VR, Google just has little to no say in the conversation, and Meta is dominant for the next 15 years? … X: Mishaal Rahman / @mishaalrahman : Very interesting announcement from Meta, given that Google is very likely to announce Android XR OS (or whatever it's going to be marketed as) next month at I/O. Maximiliano Firtman / @firt : Meta has just open sourced Meta Horizon OS, so other manufacturers can start manufacturing Mixed Reality headsets in an open ecosystem supporting different stores and app experiences. 👉Meta Horizon OS already supports PWAs and WebXR beating Apple Vision Pro on that matter. [image] Ed Zitron / @edzitron : this is the most overly generous interpretation of Meta opening up the operating system of the Oculus Quest to other companies, rather than what it really is: a clear statement that Meta has no idea how to make money with VR https://www.theverge.com/... [image] @cixliv : This is a preemptive response to AndroidXR which is going to drop next month during Google I/O (and a Samsung headset). The Quest store needs to be open even more though. Step in the right direction, but harder for VR devs to support different devices. Also lol @ still @oculus Nick Dobos / @nickadobos : Meta is admitting they got outclassed by apple vision pro, and gives up on competing on hardware, big biz move Also interesting casual video format used by the 3rd richest man alive. Zuck's rebrand is doing so well, nice contrast to the poorly done steve jobs impersonators Artur Sychov / @asychov : Let me translate what it means: Google and Samsung are going to ROCK it with their VR hardware + software. Facebook knows it and they are TERRIFIED. The same way as Mark was terrified about Apple Vision Pro and rushed the unfinished Quest 3 preview announcement. Remember? A... [image] Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : I also think this could incentivize Valve to affordably push a modern Steam Machine capable of Steam VR and it's flat/3D theater mode Since now they have Steam VR Link on every Meta Quest + Meta OS HMD that releases And I'm sure they will try to port Link to AndroidXR later on Miguel de Icaza / @migueldeicaza : I didn't expect Meta Quest to become a tax write off this fast: @cixliv : Ok this is actually good. Meta is finally opening the store. I hated more than anything is how they ran their Store through nepotism, internal competition and back channel deals. It would completely gut indies and kill developer morale. Good move, took long enough. [image] Robert Scoble / @scobleizer : Meta is the “open” company with its AI models and its Spatial Computing operating systems. Smart to do for an advertising/services company. Ray Wong / @raywongy : Mark's @finked username always makes me chuckle This is a super interesting move and highlights a few things: 1) Meta is realizing it can't fight Apple alone. The tens of billions of dollars it has put into R&D? Not sustainable. To “win” or compete with Apple, Quest will become... @lenovonews : Lenovo and @Meta have announced a multi-year partnership to accelerate the adoption of new mixed reality user scenarios like virtual screens, remote presence, content consumption, and immersive training. Learn more: https://www.meta.com/... @cixliv : The person who does branding at Meta needs to be fired. The Quest headset made by Meta running HorizonOS with Facebook accounts playing Horizon Worlds developed by “Oculus” devs and publishing What in the hell guys. Javier Davalos / @javierdavalos : 🤯 Mindblown for real! 🤯 Here's Zuck saying “supporting developers” and #FigminXR showing right behind him. There's many reasons why #MetaQuest is #1, the way they push developers forward is a big one. Their competitors should take note. Source: https://twitter.com/... [image] @seyitaylor : Zuck deciding that Meta should be a better Google than Google is such a fascinating turn. [video] David Heaney / @heaney555 : This is the biggest XR news of the year so far - a landmark announcement for Meta and a kick in the teeth to Google. David Heaney / @heaney555 : @SadlyItsBradley They'll go for differentiation through being optimized around key use cases, not price. Quest headsets will be the affordable jack of all trades, while other companies will cater to specific needs with higher-priced alternatives. [image] Alex Heath / @alexeheath : By now licensing its Horizon OS to Lenovo, Asus, and others, Meta wants to be for headsets what Microsoft was for PCs. An interesting move with Apple now in the space. History repeats itself. https://www.theverge.com/... @yewnyx : @SadlyItsBradley probably also a strategic answer to Android XR Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : @yewnyx Ya. But I still only see Android XR as a quick “get-together” reaction to Apple actually entering the market too 😅 Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : Meta Horizon OS is the logical response to Apple's entry into XR Quest Developers win here the most. And this is how Meta entices more to come I wish Meta the best of luck in making their Operating system flexible enough to cater to the multiple use cases they talk about Anshel Sag / @anshelsag : This is huge and also explains why @Meta wasn't particularly interested in partnering with @Google on OS and marketplace. Additionally, this will be an interesting competitor to whatever Google ends up launching with Samsung. Not to mention @Apple. Hooray competition. Cristiano R. Amon / @cristianoamon : Our partner @Meta is ushering in a new era of mixed reality with Meta Horizon OS, powering devices like the Meta Quest 3 and those from third-party hardware makers. These devices will require a new class of @Snapdragon processors and I'm excited to see this ecosystem take shape. Brad Lynch / @sadlyitsbradley : The biggest risk factor I see that comes from this Meta OS move is possible oversaturation of hardware Which causes Meta's partners to pull out because they can't make a profit on hardware against the cheap Quest Lite's subsidization David Heaney / @heaney555 : This is also huge. Arguably just as important as the OS announcement. Meta's app store will come to feel like a phone or tablet app store, not a games console. https://twitter.com/... Avi Greengart / @greengart : Meta is opening up HorizonOS to other hardware vendors. Lots to say about this & I'm working on a report. Big winner is obviously @qualcomm. Puts real pressure on @google and @samsung to build something competitive (also on Qualcomm silicon). [image] Ben Bajarin / @benbajarin : I said all along when Meta opens up and let's others build hardware on their VR platform that @qualcomm would be a main beneficiary. [image] Ben Bajarin / @benbajarin : People seem to be emphasizing the idea that Meta Horizon OS is “open”. Likely, it will be as “open” as Android is/was. Control and guardrails still need to be in place in order to ensure a base-level experience with any platform. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Amazing news! Meta is opening up their virtual reality OS to other hardware makers, and it's an open platform! Jeff Marshall / @jeffym85 : As someone who begged Meta employees for years to let me out of App Lab jail, while being reluctant to publicly complain for fear of repercussion, this brings me to tears. I don't care if the motive is profit, regulatory, repairing dev goodwill, etc. — I'm just glad you did it. @oculus_dev : We are announcing steps to a more open platform to bring the power of mixed reality to as many people as possible. We're making it easier for you to build and reach your audiences on our platform. https://developer.oculus.com/ ... [video] Mishaal Rahman / @mishaalrahman : We'll likely see the launch of the new Android Glasses SDK plus the new Android XR OS at I/O next month. [image] Tim McGuinness / @vrjsy : Meta taking on the Android mantle for XR is great news, hopefully this means they are acknowledging the “own everything” approach is no longer the winning strategy for now. This likely doesn't remain true long term (see Apple/Google) BUT it does bode well for the coming years! @vincentguigui : Huge announcement: @MetaQuestVR is not just hardware, it also an operating system (Meta Horizon OS) which is now opened to third-party manufacturers to use in their own devices !!! Will @Meta create the @Windows of #MixedReality to compete with @Apple Vision OS ? #VR #XR #MR [image] Matt / @bmfshow : This might be one of the biggest announcements for Quest ever. At least in a long time. Dang @rjdoesvr : Buried in here, App Lab titles are getting a dedicated store category users can directly browse now too. I am curious how this initiative will go for them. I remember when Daydream was supposed to ship on Mirage Solo _and_ Vive Focus... Matthew Pulsipher / @matt_pulsipher : As is tradition, Apple has dragged the industry forward, cementing spatial computing as an important platform for the future. These changes follow Vision Pro's focus on entertainment and productivity and will push the Quest beyond basic gaming applications. Cezary Sobociński / @cezaryxr : Oh wow. This is the biggest news for VR and AR I've seen. I would argue its on par with Apple entering the scene. Ben Geskin / @bengeskin : Oh wow Troy Kirwin / @tkexpress11 : Big changes from Meta for the Quest ecosystem: - Opening the OS to third party devices - Expanding Meta Quest Store to 3P devices - Xbox partnering to create a Quest device “inspired by Xbox” - Lenovo and Asus building hardware using the OS - Developing a new spatial app... Jamie Feltham / @hero_kvatch : This might just be the best news the VR industry has seen in some time and it's a very smart and long-requested move from Meta. New headsets from Lenovo and Asus on Meta OS and a limited edition Xbox-inspired Quest. I feel THE MAGIC. @ericpresidentvr : If you are looking to ship on App Lab or really anyone building headsets, this is a pretty big deal @asus_rog : We're excited to team up with @Meta to bring the Meta Horizon OS to the next generation of MR/VR gaming headsets. Stay tuned! #ROG #VRGaming #Metaverse [image] Callum Hurley / @multicallum : This is massive news, and very exciting. Opening up the Quest platform to OEM's will encourage more hardware manufacturers to jump into creating XR devices without having to worry about content availability/porting. Basel Sabbagh / @basel_sabbagh : Big update today on how we are working to bring the metaverse to as many people as possible. Introducing #MetaHorizonOS which will be the mixed reality operating system that powers our Meta Quest headsets and future third-party developed headsets. NinjaGuyVR / @ninjaguyx : “We're beginning the process of removing the barriers between the Meta Horizon Store and App Lab.” That's awesome!! So many devs are struggling getting the attention that they need when they're stuck on AppLab. George Mayer / @georgemayer : Meta open sources the XR OS (Meta Horizon OS). It was unclear if this was going to happen, but I think Vision Pro probably impacted the decision to some degree. [image] @realitylabs : ICYMI, @finkd just announced that we're opening up the operating system powering our Meta Quest devices to third-party hardware makers, giving more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for. https://www.meta.com/... [image] Max Weinbach / @maxwinebach : Meta just announced Horizon OS is going to be opened up to other OEMs! Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox are all going to have devices running it. Xbox is doing a custom Meta Quest using this OS! Vision Pro and Vision OS will have some competition for sure Andrew Curran / @andrewcurran_ : META is opening its Quest operating system, ten years of design, to third-party hardware makers. It is being rebranded as Meta Horizon OS. Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox are set to make headsets. [image] Andy Parackal / @andyparackal : Big news in the world of virtual reality! Meta is expanding the boundaries of the metaverse with the introduction of Meta Horizon OS, a groundbreaking operating system for the Quest headsets. By partnering with tech giants like Lenovo, Microsoft, and ASUS, Meta is paving the way... [video] Luna / @lunayian : This may be the new direction to replace Augments, the Meta Horizon OS “Spatial App Framework” https://developers.facebook.com/ ... [image] Scott Stein / @jetscott : This is wild: Meta just announced it's opening its mixed reality OS to third party headsets. Asus, Lenovo, and a Microsoft Xbox version of the Quest are coming... more here on Horizon OS https://www.cnet.com/... Gabriele Romagnoli / @gabroxr : Mark hints at 5 distinct use cases for specialized headsets during the announcement of opening up Meta Horizon OS. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the announcement because it points out a fact that has become clear: there will not be a headset to do it all. We... [video] Jimmy Zhang / @mankindforward : It's about time Apps became first class citizens on the “Oculus” platform. Although, there's also a rename from the Meta Quest store to the Meta Horizon something something. More confusion @ramahluwalia : Meta just announced Horizon OS - supports their mixed reality headset Quest Zuck knows that the Operating System and legacy apps are at risk for AI Microsoft has much more to lose than most Why do we need Windows apps if an AI can spin up a dashboard? Zuck is going for the... Max Weisel / @maxweisel : Meta Horizon OS is about to become the Android OS of VR it looks like. I really wish they didn't do this. Having to support a wide range of hardware, all with their own GPU / shader bugs, is going to be a nightmare for folks making titles. https://www.meta.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Mark Zuckerberg announces the opening of Meta Horizon OS and partnerships with Lenovo, ASUS and Microsoft to build headsets with it. This is an open versus closed software ecosystem battle playing out similar to the Windows versus Mac ecosystems battled it out in the PC era. [image] LinkedIn: Eric Rosario : Exciting news! After 18 months of hard work by the team, I'm thrilled to announce that Meta's Horizon OS open hardware ecosystem is now public. … Stephen Broadwell : Thrilled to share our collaboration with Meta, bringing the Xbox gaming experience to Meta Quest headsets. … Forums: Hacker News : Meta Horizon OS r/PSVR : Meta is working with Microsoft to create a limited edition Meta Quest inspired by Xbox r/VisionPro : Meta just opened Quest OS to third parties, a huge blow to the Vision Pro r/Games : Meta Horizon OS: Powering a New Era for Mixed Reality | Meta Quest Blog r/XboxSeriesX : Meta to release a special edition Meta Quest “inspired by Xbox” r/OculusQuest : Meta Horizon OS: Powering a New Era for Mixed Reality | Meta Quest Blog