Meta has announced that it will open up its Horizon OS operating system to third-party hardware manufacturers, with Lenovo, Microsoft, and Asus being the first to adopt it in their new products. The goal of this move is to provide more options to consumers and offer a broader ecosystem in which developers can build their applications.
Horizon OS was built by Meta over the past decade as a next-generation computing platform, with people at the center of its design. It is not exclusive to Meta’s MR headsets and allows for greater flexibility in device manufacturing. Asus’ gaming division Republic of Gamers (ROG) will develop MR glasses for high-performance title gaming, while Lenovo will leverage its expertise in co-designing the Oculus Rift S and engineering devices like the ThinkPad to develop MRI equipment for productivity, learning, and entertainment.
Meta is also working with Xbox to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming in beta version to its Meta Quest headset so that players can access Xbox video games on a virtual 2D screen in MR. Additionally, Microsoft is collaborating with Meta on a limited edition of the Meta Quest helmet inspired by its gaming division. All devices in the new hardware ecosystem powered by Horizon OS will benefit from Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon chips, just like Meta Quest 3 already does with Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2.
As Meta opens up Horizon OS to more original equipment manufacturers, app developers will have more ways to reach audiences and consumers. App Lab titles will soon appear in a dedicated section in the online store on all devices, making them more visible to a wider audience. A new spatial applications framework is being developed to allow developers to bring mobile applications to Horizon OS or create new experiences for this operating system.
Overall, this move by Meta aims