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in a sign of broader ambitions, facebook opens hardware lab

by:DIgao     2020-06-22
Facebook has created its own wealth on the Internet.
People share the physical space for updates and digital videos with friends.
But deep down at Silicon Valley\'s headquarters, engineers have stocked up a new lab with computer lathes, industrial mills and tools to produce physical objects.
This is not a factory of mass production.
Make smart phones or other consumer goods.
On the contrary, engineers will be working on some high jobs here.
The technical equipment the company has long needed
Plan to connect people through smart devices, virtual devices
Realistic headphones and high
Drones that transmit internet signals to remote parts of the world via lasers.
Just like Google\'s famous X lab, the Internet search giant is working there on \"moon landing\" projects such as \"selfie\"
Driving cars at Facebook\'s new research firm shows that leading tech companies in Silicon Valley are rarely content to continue doing the same.
\"When you consider connecting the world, you have to build different types of hardware to help people connect,\" said Jay kh, head of engineering and infrastructure at Facebook . \".
To make VR right, Facebook needs to improve hardware such as lenses and processors, he added.
The lab will be the space for engineers to design energy.
Provide efficient servers for Facebook data centers, test new laser brackets and drone propellers, and refine the prototype 360-
Facebook released the degree camera at a conference in April.
Facebook announced the opening of the lab on Wednesday and invited reporters to visit it.
It\'s called zone 404, an internal joke that plays the \"Error 404\" message that Internet users see when trying to access a web page they can\'t find.
Facebook says its engineers have been talking about wanting such a workspace, but can\'t find it because it doesn\'t exist until now.
The company won\'t say how much it spent in the lab, but it took months to build the facility, which is about the third largest of the football field, in a converted office building in its main campus.
The lab has long work tables for power gas engineers to deploy their gears and a room full of lathes and milling machines, each with the size of a small truck.
It also has a water.
The electric cutting machine can cut sheet metal several inches thick, and the electronic microscope and CT scanner can check the reaction of materials to heat, surge or other stresses.
Facebook has become the darling of Silicon Valley giants and Wall Street because its vast online network is a mecca for digital advertisers.
In April, the company sold ads worth more than $6 billion.
Profit in the quarter of June exceeded $2 billion.
This provides ample space for investing in new businesses.
Facebook said it cost $4.
The R & D budget for 2015 was 8 billion, nearly double that of the previous year.
Two years ago, the company bought Oculus VR for $2 billion.
Terminal equipment for virtual reality.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicts that virtual reality will be the leading platform for communication, entertainment, education and business in the future.
In his recent speech, he outlined
Facebook\'s annual vision, including services based on virtual reality, artificial intelligence and internet access
Developed regions.
Oculus operations has its own lab in Seattle, while Facebook\'s drone team is based in Somerset, UK.
They did not move, but the engineers of the two teams will also use the new facilities, said Parrick.
Zuckerberg also hinted at other wishes.
This spring, he announced the formation of a mysterious study. and-
The development group known as Building 8.
\"This is led by renowned engineer Regina Dugan, former director of the Pentagon Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which created the Internet in the late 1960 s.
Before joining Facebook, Dugan ran a Google team dedicated to \"rapid innovation\" of new technology products \".
Her project includes a location.
Tracking Smartphone camera for creating 3-
D virtual world, Lenovo will include the technology in the Phab2 Pro launched this month.
Dugan\'s team will use the Area 404 lab, but Facebook will not talk about the specific projects she will undertake.
Analysts say it\'s too early to know whether these ideas are \"vanity projects\" or whether they will boost Facebook\'s profits.
But competitors, including Google, Amazon and Microsoft, have similar ambitions, some of which involve drones, tablets or other hardware.
Facebook said it cost $4. 8 billion (roughly Rs. 32,126 crores)
In terms of R & D in 2015, its budget almost doubled over the previous year.
\"When you\'re big enough, you need to think about bigger prospects and longer deadlines,\" said Bob O\'Donnell, chief analyst at technology analytics research . \".
Facebook may wait for others to develop new gadgets, he said, but the company can learn by designing its own hardware to see how the software works with it.
Facebook could even authorize other companies to produce their hardware products, he said.
Aside from Oculus, most of Facebook\'s hardware is not targeted at the consumer market.
A few years ago, the tech industry was full of rumors that Zuckerberg wanted to build a Facebook smartphone.
While Facebook has developed specialized software for undersold HTC phones, this has never happened.
Instead, Facebook has led an industry effort to develop more energy.
By sharing server design with other companies, an efficient computer center is realized.
Similarly, Facebook says it has developed 360-
Degree camera, showing other inventors the possibility of a new camera design.
In turn, these designs can provide more video content for social networks to share.
Facebook executives say their solar
Power drones are also considered prototypes, hoping telecom companies can use their designs.
While Zuckerberg said internet access could boost economic growth in poor countries, Facebook would also benefit if more people access the Internet.
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