HTC to release a mobile VR / AR ‘Metaverse’ phone in April 2022
HTC makes its metaverse gambit at MWC 2022
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It’s Mobile World Congress 2022 this week, and we’ve seen oodles of brand-new laptops and phones get announced over the course of the week, but oddly enough, is HTC going to announce its own device, a ‘Metaverse’ phone that connects up with their VR ecosystems? HTC long exited the smartphone market some years ago, with the mobile division being sold off to Google in 2017 for 1.1 Billion USD. So, why return to a market that we thought they’ve long since left?
Speaking to DigiTimes, HTC’s general manager Charles Huang said that the company will be releasing a ‘Metaverse Phone’ in April. Presumably, this may be a mobile VR / AR solution that will plug into a separate headset accessory that will help drive the overall headset experience. Famously, Google attempted this with Daydream, and Samsung also tried with GearVR. The difference here is that HTC already has the VR ecosystem, and know-how to deliver these experiences thanks to their experience with Vive. However, one look at the ‘Viverse’ has us cringing so hard we almost turned fully inside-out, like Robbie Williams in the Rock DJ music video.
HTC’s Metaverse looks like yet another walled-garden
Yes, yes, there are enough legitimate applications of a Metaverse, but the thing is that many other companies are having a ‘Metaverse’ arms race at the moment, meaning that not everything is going to be a true metaverse, but instead, a series of walled-gardens. Viverse appears to be just that, therefore eliminating the whole idea of the cross-compatibility of discrete Metaverses that would equate to a singular shared-vision for what Web 3.0 looks like.
Either way, a new mobile headset from HTC seems to be pretty ripe ground for the business to edge its way into a market that’s since been left behind by its competitors, for now. Unless Meta Quest 3 turns out to be a phone or something. Either way, the VR space is heating up with Project Cambria, Quest 3 and Playstation VR 2. The new Metaverse buzzword is flying around everywhere at speed. The unfortunate reality of the Web 3.0 and Metaverse is that Metaverse ultimately becomes synonymous with an ultimate monopoly over our digital devices and our lives, so as consumers, you should look at any business looking to dominate with pretty much a meta-anything with a few heaps of salt before entrusting them with potentially precious experiences. This is, of course perfectly illustrated by hopping into the verse with your grandma in a virtual gallery to buy an NFT of a cat via Bitcoin and gifting it to her, via her vast Metamask wallet so she can catch the latest hot drops of photos of her grandchildren. Probably easier to drop by and send her a card and flowers, yeah?
