Apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and others now display Facebook’s ‘Meta’ branding on both iOS and Android. The update follows Facebook’s announcement to rename the company to Meta. As part of the company’s ongoing investment towards an immersive experience called ‘metaverse’, the company is renaming to go beyond traditional social media.
Microsoft and other companies are moving towards developing their own metaverse-focused offerings alongside Facebook. With its rebranding, the Menlo Park, California-based company hopes to achieve a first-mover advantage.
Last week, the Meta branding was spotted on the splash screens of the latest versions of WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook. Now, the branding has appeared on the latest beta versions of WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook. Due to Facebook’s announcement to use the Meta title last week, the change has been made. As a result of the rebranding, it is unclear whether Facebook apps will change.
What is the metaverse?
Based on Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, the metaverse is a collection of shared online worlds where physical, augmented, and virtual realities converge. In addition to hanging out with friends and working, people can also go to places, purchase goods, and attend events. Users cannot move between virtual worlds while retaining their identities or assets, even though many virtual worlds exist online. It is possible that the eventual metaverse will solve this problem, turning disparate online worlds into a seamless whole. Some have even called it the next stage in the evolution of the internet.
There are many virtual worlds that use the same blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies and NFTs, so users can trade these virtual assets there. Unlike cryptocurrencies, NFTs have unique tokens, unlike cryptocurrencies. Intangible digital items, such as images, videos, and in-game items, can be represented as NFTs and used to replace intangible assets, such as digital assets. NFTs are also useful for managing virtual events.
The metaverse is being built by who?
Meta Platforms Inc, which Facebook changed its name to last week, signals its focus on the metaverse, which it believes will be the successor to mobile internet. Metaverses are basically virtual platforms that people can access through different devices and where they can move through digital environments.
Hundreds of companies had been developing the software and hardware for this “Ready Player One” future long before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased giant robots and digital time travel to ancient Rome.
In order to fully realize the concept, which may be more than a decade away, tech giants will need to work together. A metaverse exchange-traded fund (ETF) was introduced in June by investment firm Roundhill Investments.
The following companies are involved:
Roblox
This year Roblox Corporation, a video game platform that went public, envisioned the metaverse as a place where people could “learn, work, play, create, and socialize in millions of 3-D experiences.”
The goal of Roblox is to allow users and developers to create virtual worlds. Moreover, its CEO has spoken about conducting business and shopping on the platform, which is powered by a virtual economy.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corp.’s CEO said in an earnings call this year that the company was creating an “enterprise metaverse” as the digital and physical worlds converge in its offerings.
A key player in the gaming world is Microsoft, which owns Xbox and the world-building game Minecraft. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has spoken of plans for a metaverse or mixed-reality construct.
Facebook wants to be regarded as a metaverse company rather than a social media company when it starts trading as Meta Platforms on December 1. In addition to investing heavily in augmented and virtual reality, the tech giant has been building out its VR environment Horizon, accessible through its Quest headsets.
Nvidia
An array of 3D Virtual Worlds can be connected into a shared virtual universe with Nvidia Corp’s Omniverse platform. The article says Omniverse, which is used to simulate real-life buildings and factories, is the “plumbing” that can be used to build metaverses.
Unity
Another company that might sell tools used in building the metaverse is Unity Software Inc, which develops video game design software.
Snap
Owner of Snap Inc., Snapchat is known for creating custom avatars and augmented reality filters. For developers to experiment with creating experiences for the glasses, it launched its first real augmented reality glasses this year.
Autodesk
Autodesk is a company that makes cloud-based software used by architects and engineers to design and create buildings and products. Also, its software is used to build virtual worlds for entertainment and gaming.
Tencent
In addition to owning stakes in major video game studios like Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd is the world’s largest video gaming firm by revenue. Tencent has registered many trademarks related to the metaverse for its QQ social site, according to the South China Morning Post.
Epic Games
The video game company Epic is behind the phenomenon Fortnite, which has moved beyond its shooting game roots to include social experiences such as dance parties and virtual concerts.
Avatars can be dressed in different costumes and users can create their own islands and games. As well as Epic’s game engine, Unreal, Epic produces TV show backdrops and visual effects for games.
As a vocal critic of big platforms like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney argues the metaverse will need to be a participatory, common space.
Amazon
Amazon.com, which boasts multiple media offerings and is the world’s largest provider of cloud services, is also viewed as a potential competitor in the metaverse.
Meta must first build stores before it can build the metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg may take a physical step toward building the metaverse instead of a virtual one. People with knowledge of the project and company documents viewed by The New York Times said Meta, the social media company formerly known as Facebook, is thinking about opening retail stores around the world. The company’s Reality Labs division will use the stores to introduce customers to devices such as virtual reality headsets and, eventually, augmented reality glasses.
Gateway devices provide access to the metaverse, a futuristic digital world where people seamlessly switch between virtual and augmented realities. In announcing the renaming of his company last week, Zuckerberg laid out a vision for pursuing the metaverse as the next social platform. Stores like these would demonstrate how virtual reality and augmented reality can be fun and exciting, just the way Zuckerberg envisions it.
According to company documents viewed by The Times, the stores will make the world “more open and connected.”. Documents indicate they will also inspire feelings of welcome, curiosity, and closeness while experimenting with headsets in a “judgment-free journey.”.
Conversations about physical stores predated Facebook’s rebranding by several months, and serious work on the initiative began last year, people said. They said the project might not proceed, as it is still in development. Meta, however, if it moves ahead with stores, it would be a milestone for a tech giant whose apps such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger are used by more than 3.5 billion people.
As his company struggles with societal and regulatory issues, Zuckerberg has talked up the metaverse. Thousands of internal documents were gathered by Frances Haugen, a former employee turned whistleblower. She made the documents public after sharing them with lawmakers and the news media. According to her, Facebook was not protecting society enough from the harms caused by its activities. Legislators and regulatory agencies have scrutinized her disclosures, though it remains unclear how strong her case is.
The metaverse is also viewed with skepticism. Virtual reality remains a niche market for hobbyists and enthusiasts, despite Meta’s Reality Labs division’s modest past success with the Oculus Quest 2, a low-cost headset that was popular last year.
In addition to being expensive, the hardware can be difficult to use. A few people have complained that the headsets make them queasy.
Tim Derdenger, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, estimated that a fully fleshed out Meta product or service will take at least five to 10 years. According to him, Meta’s work is similar to the computer game Second Life from the early 2000s. “It’s a second shot at a Second Life-like service, but hopefully more immersive,” he said.
Still, Zuckerberg believes the time is right to launch what he believes will be the next major shift in computing platforms since smartphones. This future would be a world where Zuckerberg’s apps would not be subject to Apple’s and Google’s rules, which are responsible for distributing Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
The brick-and-mortar model has been used before by technology companies. Gateway, a manufacturer of personal computers, operated its own stores in the 1990s. There are Apple retail stores where customers can try out devices and get answers to their questions. In addition, Microsoft, Amazon, and others have opened their own stores.
Meta has experienced some physical retail success in recent years. The company opened “pop-up” kiosks at airports and a pop-up shop in Manhattan’s SoHo district to display its Oculus hardware products. In 2018, it launched a pop-up location with Macy’s to bring more small businesses onto its platform.
If Meta’s new stores going forward, they will sell products like Portal devices, which allow people to video chat over Facebook, and Oculus headsets, according to the company documents. Additionally, customers will be able to take pictures and videos with voice-activated sunglasses developed by Meta and Ray-Ban.
In early Meta designs, the building exteriors had a flat, minimalist aesthetic, and the Facebook logo was placed subtly on the side of the building. After considering several potential names for the stores, Facebook ultimately settled on Facebook Store as the leading candidate.
In its rebranding, Meta did not mention how the naming of the stores would change. The Oculus brand will be phased out, said Andrew Bosworth, a long-time Facebook executive who will become Meta’s chief technology officer. Meta’s name will replace Oculus. Meta Quest will replace Oculus Quest, and Facebook Portal will be renamed Meta Portal, he said.
Burlingame, California, where Meta has an office for its Reality Labs employees, was originally slated to be the headquarters of the Facebook Store. Plans for the Facebook Store have yet to be confirmed.
FAQ related to Meta and Metaverse
What is the relationship between Facebook and WhatsApp?
To reflect rebranding, WhatsApp’s footer will now read “WhatsApp from Meta” instead of “from Facebook.” Recently, Facebook changed its name to Meta, signaling the company’s dedication to build a new metaverse.
The Meta logo is what?
Meta, the parent company of social media brand Facebook, has changed its name to Meta and updated its logo to resemble the letter M. The announcement was made by co-founder Mark Zuckerberg at the latest annual Facebook Connect event.
How do you say meta in slang?
The young person who says “meta” means “awesome”. “Most Effective Tactic Available” is an acronym for this phrase.
The metaverse is what exactly?
Metaverse – what is it exactly? Meta’s messaging refers to the metaverse as a place where users can meet, work, and play virtually using VR headsets, glasses, or their devices. This is similar to a virtual world.
How does the Zuckerberg metaverse work?
Metaverse, Facebook’s brand for a suite of virtual- and augmented-reality capabilities, will replace Facebook in Goodbye Facebook, Hello Meta. In his message to the audience, Zuckerberg assured them that these new features will require new forms of governance.
What does Facebook mean by meta?
Meta was chosen to echo the key product that Zuckerberg believes Facebook, now Meta, will represent: the metaverse, the name for a shared online 3D virtual space that a number of companies are interested in creating as the next version of the internet.
Metaverse is the new name for Facebook?
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook will change its name. He said the parent company will now be known as “Meta”.
