Facebook to reveal New Portal Video Chat Devices this fall

Facebook Launched Portal and Portal + Video Calling Devices last year and plenty of privacy concerns persisted around. But, this didn’t stop the company’s dedication to unveil more hardware into the market. Vice President of Facebook stated that the Company is about to launch New Portal Devices for Video Chat in this fall.

The Company’s Vice President of AR/ VR Andrew Bosworth states it as such “We have a lot more that we’re going to unveil later in this fall, new form factors that we’re going to be shipping.”

Facebook’s Vice President said at Vox Media Code Convention that the company is having pretty good sales in current hardware.  However, he declined to reveal the numbers regarding hardware sales. New form factors of portals will be available in the market by this fall. Suggestions are lingering around that new form factors could include Ripley. There is a buzz all over that the device would be a ” Ripley” which came into Portal firm last year.

The Company began shipping two versions of the portal from November. With these devices, you can video chat with Messenger users. You can connect with your friends on messenger even if they don’t have a portal. Users will also get support to video chat with Whatsapp users by the end of this fall. These Devices are means of Connecting People via its Service. When the devices are initially launched, they faced huge criticism due to the Privacy Concerns.

Portals Smart Camera adjusts according to your actions, and there will be no question I can’t see you, with this device. Smart Camera relies on AI, which runs locally on the portal and doesn’t identify who you are. Facebook won’t listen to your conversations, in fact, the conversations are kept private between you and the person you are calling.

You can attach Ripley on Top of your TV Sets which allows you to make video calls using much larger screens. Hence, there is no need to use devices which are dedicated to Video Chat Capabilities. Instead, you can go with your own TVs. This eliminates the need for using Video Chat Devices. In fact, you can even use other services like YouTube.

Facebook is paving a way for people to put their own hardware in more central locations at their houses. Besides, Facebook Portal will soon support Alexa, the virtual assistant, as well as the video streaming platform Amazon Prime Video. The reason to launch new portal devices is as there is a whole new hardware generation coming out.

Bosworth even stated that “Hardware is coming to the home, and we want to make sure that human connection, connection between two people, is a first-party experience on that hardware.”

Facebook Portal 2.0 will come up with brand new form factors after this year. The New Devices will be in support with Alexa and Amazon Prime Video later this year. However, we need to wait until Facebook makes an official announcement regarding the New Portal Devices to know more about them.