Report: Facebook 'Portal' to Compete With Echo Show

Step aside, Amazon Echo Show: Give-and-take has it that Facebook is developing its own home video chat device.

Co-ordinate to a study from streaming news service Cheddar, the new voice-controlled device, dubbed Portal, may exist priced at $499. Cheddar's sources say Facebook is planning to unveil the device in early May and brainstorm selling it via pop-up stores and online in the 2d one-half of the year.

It will reportedly feature a screen on the front end like Amazon'south Repeat Bear witness and Lenovo's new Android Assistant-equipped Smart Display, plus a photographic camera with a broad-angle lens and facial-recognition technology that will help users connect with their Facebook accounts. The device may also play nice with streaming services like Spotify and Netflix so people can use it to play music, Television receiver shows, and movies.

"Facebook employees have internally referred to the video conversation device with the codename 'Aloha' only recently settled on the name Portal—an indication that product development has progressed," the report notes.

When contacted by PCMag on Tuesday, Facebook declined to annotate. "We're not commenting on this speculative report," a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Cheddar reported that Portal will be office of a "suite of consumer products" Facebook is cooking upwardly in a hardware lab chosen Edifice 8 to compete with devices from Amazon, Google, and Apple tree.

"CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told employees that he doesn't intendance if the [Portal] device generates profit but rather wants it to change user behavior and encourage phone-like usage amidst owners," Cheddar reported.

Thus far, Facebook's hardware efforts have largely focused on so-chosen "Facebook phones," but that never actually went anywhere.

Rumors most Portal come up afterwards Facebook concluding month started using facial-recognition technology to notify users when someone uploads their image without tagging them. The social network has also been testing a facial-recognition account recovery organization to aid users get back into their business relationship later on information technology's locked.

Near Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's practiced on fitness and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nearly ten years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more. Angela also tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, only to name a few.