It looks like Facebook is building a phone

[Kazukian]

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-building-8-hires-phone-experts-nascent-objects/

Maybe a phone that pops into a headset like the Gear VR or Google offerings that does VR and AR.

 

[Thope]

probably AR, VR is pretty much soc restricted now.

 

[core2slow]

Gotta give them credit for being persistent after their first failed attempt at a phone some years ago, though with Oculus under their belt, I think this second go around would be a new "experience" rather than just making a phone.

I can't articulate it fully, but I have a feeling they're creating some combination of Facebook Live, 360°, and AR/VR that would revolutionize the world completely.

 

[Mopetar]

Even if it somehow isn't a pile of garbage from a hardware perspective, with Facebook attached I really have no interest. They're not a company I would trust with the kind of data they're likely to store or have access to in such a device.

 

[Commodus]

Gotta give them credit for being persistent after their first failed attempt at a phone some years ago, though with Oculus under their belt, I think this second go around would be a new "experience" rather than just making a phone.

I can't articulate it fully, but I have a feeling they're creating some combination of Facebook Live, 360°, and AR/VR that would revolutionize the world completely.

The HTC First flopped mainly out of hubris. Facebook at the time was convinced that people loved Facebook so much that it had to dominate the software... well, no, they don't. They just want to check in whenever a friend posts a funny video. And the hardware wasn't compelling by itself.

If Facebook is really working on its own phone again, it's more likely to be an experiment and/or focus on unique hardware -- like you mentioned, AR and VR would be obvious hooks given the Oculus connection. The point would be to create something you can't get anywhere else, or at least isn't done as well elsewhere.

 

[Crono]

The First was a pretty decent phone once you removed Facebook. Price dropped on it after it flopped - hopefully it does for this so I can get another good value phone courtesy of Facebook.

 

[Red Storm]

I have as much interest in a Facebook phone as I do an Amazon one: Absolutely zero.