Meta does not compete with Apple, but with Google: the opening of Horizon OS proves it

This week, Target announced the opening to third parties Horizon OS, the operating system for Meta Quest mixed reality glasses. An alliance through which the company aims to expand its reach into the metaverse with the help of Xbox, ASUS and Lenovo. But the story doesn’t end there.

Comparisons and speculation about why Mark Zuckerberg’s people came up with this initiative were not long in coming. Some speculate that the Menlo Park-based firm intends to make Horizon OS for virtual and mixed reality what Windows was for the PC market and Android for mobile phones.

Others believe that an alliance with several producers will allow Meta to truly succeed in pushing the metaverse – and other related concepts – to the public after years of burning mountains of money without achieving the desired commercial results.

Although there are those who see the opening of Horizon OS as a way eclipse Apple’s efforts with Vision Pro. In fact, Zuck himself threw a dart at Cupertino during the announcement of his alliance to outsource the software for his mixed reality glasses to third parties:

“In every era of computing, there have been open and closed models. When it comes to phones, Apple’s closed model has essentially won. Cell phones are very controlled and you are tied to what they allow you to do. In the PC era, the open model won. You can do a lot more things, like install mods, and you have more variety in hardware and software, among other things. Our goal is to let the open model define. .Next generation computing, with metaverse, glasses. [inteligentes] and headsets [de realidad virtual y mixta]”.

Mark Zuckerberg.

And although there is a logical component to every assumption we mentioned above, there is one important point that is not talked about: with the opening of Horizon OS Meta is aimed at Google, not Apple.

By giving third parties access to Horizon OS, Meta puts Google ahead of Google in some very tempting territory. Mountain View has been rumored for some time to be developing an augmented or mixed reality-focused version of Android. However, this project did not have the expected impact or interest. At least until now, of course. Zuckerberg’s people saw that this vein was open, and they didn’t hesitate to try to take advantage of it.

Opening Horizon OS is the key to neutralizing Google

In recent years, Google has attempted to revive its augmented reality efforts following the failure of Google Glass more than a decade ago. Project IrisThe company’s smart glasses initiative was known to be progressing well. However, in the middle of last year, the Californian firm decided to cancel it.

But that was not all. At the end of 2023, Mark Lukovsky, who led the development of Mountain View OS, focused on augmented reality and extended reality, left the company. goodbye, argued that Google has an unstable vision and commitment to the project. An unbeatable scenario for Meta and its intentions to expand Horizon OS.

Be careful, there are rumors that Google is still working on the supposed Android XR. Representatives from Mountain View and Samsung will develop this project simultaneously in collaboration with Qualcomm. And there is even speculation that it could be presented at Google I/O 2024 in May next year.

Whatever happens, Meta took the first step with the release of Horizon OS. If Zuckerberg and company can convince more manufacturers to bet on their platform, perhaps they can make the leap that makes them what Windows was in the PC era and what Android has achieved in the smartphone market. That is, to become the main software alternative that any new player joining the sector leans towards.

Of course, just because Meta wants to take down Google in the mixed reality space doesn’t mean it’s looking to do it the hard way. Menlo Park residents invited Mountain View residents launch Play Store on Horizon OSpromising to operate on the same economic model as other platforms.

Zack’s move is bigger smart and relevant than it seems at first glance. The first third-party devices running Horizon OS are still a couple of years away, but they could change the mixed reality landscape forever. Google could only avoid this by delivering an extremely unique experience with Android XR, or whatever it’s called. And today the big question is whether he can achieve this.