Meta has announced that its Horizon OS operating system, which powers its Meta Quest mixed reality (MR) devices, is now open to third-party hardware manufacturers. This includes Lenovo, Microsoft, and Asus, who will be the first to adopt it in their new products. The result of a decade of work by Meta to build a next-generation computing platform, Horizon OS is an operating system built “around people,” and will not be exclusive to its MR headsets.
Meta explained that this move is aimed at providing more options to consumers and offering a broader ecosystem in which developers can build their applications. With this move, equipment manufactured by third parties such as Microsoft, Lenovo or Asus can also benefit from the operating system.
Asus’ gaming division Republic of Gamers (ROG), for example, will use its experience to develop MR glasses for “high-performance title” gaming. 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.
In addition to these new partnerships, Meta is also working with Xbox to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming in beta version to its Meta Quest headset. Players can now access Xbox video games on a virtual two-dimensional (2D) screen in MR through this collaboration. Furthermore, Meta is working with Xbox to launch a limited edition of the Meta Quest helmet inspired by the other platform manufactured by Microsoft’s gaming division. All devices that will be part of this new hardware ecosystem powered by Horizon OS will benefit from Snapdragon chips manufactured by Qualcomm Technologies just like the Meta Quest 3.
With this move towards openness, Meta aims to expand the ways app developers can reach their audiences and consumers. It seeks to erase the limits between the official service store for its devices renamed Meta Horizon Store and the App Lab collaboration platform. App Lab titles “soon” will appear in a dedicated section in
