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Facebook Is Working On a Video Chat Device (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Facebook Inc. is working on a video chat device for the home -- the first major hardware product from its experimental Building 8 lab. Featuring a laptop-sized touchscreen, the device represents a new product category and could be announced as soon as next spring's F8 developer conference, according to people familiar with the matter. They say the large screen and smart camera technology could help farflung people feel like they're in the same room, which aligns with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's mission of bringing Facebook users closer together. The device is in the prototype phase but is already being tested in people's homes. Geared to the living room, the video chat device will feature a wide-angle camera lens, microphones and speakers that are all powered by artificial intelligence to boost performance, the people said. A version of the device in testing includes a thin, vertical stand that holds a large touchscreen measuring between 13 and 15 inches diagonally, the people said. Facebook has considered running a version of the Android operating system on its device instead of building its own core operating system, according to the people. Facebook is testing a feature that would allow the camera to automatically scan for people in its range and lock onto them, one of the people said. Facebook is also working on a standalone smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home, reports Bloomberg. The social media giant is "hiring Apple veterans to help create a Siri-style voice assistant that would run on both devices."
Offtopic. Also repetitive and boring.
They should call it The Cousins.
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To talk to people on the phone. Videoconferencing is even more annoying.
Facebook video conferencing devices will be just another footnote in failure.
They want licensee fees for their Telesceen.
I don't know what I'm gonna do if I visit someone and their cams "lock onto me".
Remember those glasshole bearers being beaten out of the pub?
That'd be great, if this was 1997. But given the digital diaspora of small screens and the websites, games and apps created to accommodate these, families don't gravitate to the living room anymore. That's where my dogs go, because it has the cushiest chairs...
I'm certain that this won't be turned into yet another always listening device in the home, complete with the always watching bonus feature, right?
Sometimes I wonder if vendors make products just to test the ignorance level of the masses.
Then I remember that consumers don't care about privacy anymore, and somehow I feel better knowing it's willful ignorance.
Give Facebook another avenue to spy on me, I think not. That should be the sole right of the government to spy on me without judicial review or due process.
So facebook is coming out with their own computer?
But do we believe them?
feature a wide-angle camera lens, microphones and speakers that are all powered by artificial intelligence to boost performance
Boost performance of the the "always on" personal data acquisition component? Shut up and take my personal data!...and sell it to the highest bidder!...and give it to any government officials that ask for it!
So, they're building a tablet but one intended to have fewer capabilities?
And suddenly 1984s telescreen manifests into reality !
You would have to be brain dead to put such a device in your home.
I expect they'll sell millions :)
It sounds like a Chromebook with a touche screen. Can't you get a Windows 10 or Android tablet now that does that? Are they just re-inventing the 'internet appliance for the late 80's to early 90's'? I'm getting so tired of rehashing the same old concepts.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
is it posting stories from 1999?
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The Circle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
...while your at it, more Trump stuff too.
We need to know every fart Facebook and Trump drum up from the bottoms of their crap piles.
Thanks Sla$hdot for improving this site!
I kept telling all you people this shit was going to happen. You kept scoffing at me, mocking me, ignoring me, insisting it'll never happen. "LOL, nobody is going to put cameras and microphones in my home! You're a crazy person!" you all said to me.
Ho, what's this? 'Amazon Alexa' and the like? 'Videoconferencing' courtesy of Facebook, one of the biggest surveillance and data collection apparatus on the planet? If you do not see what is happening then you a either BLIND or a FOOL.
Eschew this technology. Eschew FACEBOOK. Don't give up the last few square feet of 'private space' you have in your lives! Or do you want to live like convicts in a prison, being watched 24/7/365? Are you going to continue to scoff at and ignore me? OR ARE YOU GOING TO START LISTENING TO ME!?
"Facebook is also working on a standalone smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home"
Standalone - you keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means. Every device that needs an internet connection to work at all is, by definition, not "standalone".
I couldn't be assed to have such a thing in my living room, let alone buying one. If at all, FB should be paying me for letting such a device intrude my home.
We could have done that years, turns out no one wants it. Everyone would rather text. It's getting to the point where they're dictating a text to siri and having her read it back to them. When you start seeing people do that, it's pretty clear they'll go out of their way to not actually have to talk to some one.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Ok so we now have Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook doing technology to listen to what is happening in our homes. Not sure I really trust any of them with that level of access to my private life, but Facebook would be way down that list if I was to sort them from most trusted to least trusted.
Sounds like a good idea for a Slashdot poll.
AT&T offered the first comercial Video phone system in 1964 and telecom industries have tried to sell the service for years, but didn't catch up, and for sure wowadays you could have a personal computer with a wecam or a smetphone with an application and make cheap video calls.
But nobody is interested: voice calls are a bit in decline, but the main proble with video calls is that people don't like to be seen in shorts and the old tattered t-shirt because they were cleaning the oven while the video call arrived.
Video conferences are a really niche market and I suppose that isn't the Facebook target.
facebook video sex chat only $4.99/min
I have a 55 inch TV in my living room, and among my friends, it is on the small size.
An ipad pro (12.9 inch screen) with facetime is a decent video chat device today.
I think a device similar to a Kinect connected to a regular TV would be a better option.
You've reinvented Skype and/or Facetime. Bravo.
Mark is reinventing the wheel. Go to any UK street corner. That Bug Brother shit is everywhere.
Seems like a general tablet with enhancemed mic system , speaker and a nice wide angle camera might be worth an OEM offering. The mic system might be better as a detachable base as charger and extended battery for distance use. The current small mic and standard speaker in tablets would suffice for close use like on lap or nearby table. Guessing the voice assistant apps migh work better with a tailored hardware & software kit but at the cost of user flexibility. Android seems best with maybe a Fire OS option. Amazon has their look but pairing with a display device that can run Android or Fire would be more flexible.
...for playing dungeons & dragons!
Seriously, I know I could already do this, but an "tech-light" way of getting a bunch of people together in a video-conferencing space without having to prop a phone or fins space for a laptop would be pretty cool.
My Kinect on my Xbone does this with Skype. It auto zooms, pans around, it's great.
Anti social asshole here, so forgive me my ignorance... ...but is video chat something people want? I'm talking actually want, not "oooo, gimmicky, I'll take two and then it ends up in the closet never to be used again"? Like smart phone "want". Notably, I don't actually use my phone to vocally talk to people, so that's probably a bad example.
Seems like 3D movie tech to me; neat idea, nobody actually wants it except the company producing it.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
No, Zuck. We don't want to give you more free data.
No, Zuck. We don't want to submit to your rule by divine right.
No, Zuck. You aren't an authentically received, "grassroots" campaign, no matter how many homes you abuse your social media data mining to drop in on.
"No Zuck."
You can just market a stand for your pocket video phone. That way you can have a video chat and not have the phone in your hand.
Do people really go to the landline phone anymore to make routine calls? And what advantage does this provide over buying a $60 Kindle Fire and setting that up to do the exact same thing and more? Even in 2000 when they were pushing so called "thin clients", those devices were not reall successes.
So something like http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0002-2166570/computers-and-it-equipment/tandberg-t150-ttc7-10-150mxp-personal-video-conference-voip-phone?spr=true
Or the newer E20