FACEBOOK ENTERS THE SMART HOME SEGMENT - HERE ARE TWO SMART SCREENS FOR TALKING VIA MESSENGER

The fact that Facebook is working on an intelligent speaker has been said for over a year . It just turns out that there were no rumors sucked out of the finger, because the company presented yesterday two devices: Portal and Portal +. Their main feature is the ability to conduct conversations through Messenger, although the manufacturer (luckily) did not stop there.

The smaller portal model is equipped with a  10.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 × 800 pixelsand a 10 W speaker . Larger Portal + is characterized by a 15.6-inch Full HD screen (1920 × 1080 pixels), in addition with the possibility of 90 ° rotation, and 20 W speaker . Both devices also have a  12 Mpix camera with a field of view of 140 ° , four microphones, Bluetooth 4.2 and dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Facebook Portal and Portal + (photo Facebook)

Facebook Portal and Portal + armed with Smart Camera and Smart Sound technologies  . The first one automatically zooms in and out of the frame and tracks users' movements so that they are always visible to their interlocutor in all its glory. The second one calms down the noises from the environment and strengthens the voice of the person who speaks at the moment so that it can be heard well.

Facebook Portal and Portal + were created mainly for conversations by Messenger, but the caller does not have to have this device - he can use his smartphone with Android or iPhone for example. In one moment, up to seven users can talk to each other .

Facebook Portal and Portal + are awakened using the "Hey Portal" command , and then just tell who you want to call. The device also has Alex's voice assistant installed , so you have access to all of her skills, which are really a whole lot (including the ability to control smart devices at home).

At this point (if not before) in the heads of a large number of people probably a question arose about the privacy of users - after all, not only Facebook, but generally intelligent speakers / displays are suspected of its violation. The Mark Zuckerberg company has, however, implemented several solutions thanks to which the owners of Portal and Portal + will be sure that the equipment is not being tracked when it should not .

Users will be able to completely turn off the camera and microphones with a single touch , and if that is not enough for them, they will be able to cover the lens with a cover that is included with the device. In addition, there is also the option of setting a 12-digit password to access Portal and Portal + so that no unauthorized person can use it.

Facebook also ensures that  devices do not listen, watch or retain conversational content , and video calls are also encrypted. Smart Art and Smart Sound are also used for Smart Camera and Smart Sound , and all operations are carried out directly on the Portal and Portal +, not on the Mark Zuckerberg's servers. The latter only receive commands issued after saying the "Hey Portal" command.

The owners of Portal and Portal + will also be able to use the Spotify Premium, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Facebook Watch, Food Network and News services . In the future, more will be added to this group. Users will also be given the option of using and applying AR filters from the Spark AR platform to the camera image.

fot. Facebook

The price of the Facebook Portal was set at $ 199, while Facebook Portal + was set at $ 349 . Devices are already available in the United States on a dedicated website . Facebook has also prepared a promotion that will pay you $ 100 less ($ 298 instead of $ 398) when you buy two pieces of a smaller model.