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Facebook Unveils Portal and Portal+ Smart Speakers With Video Calling Feature (cnbc.com)
Facebook on Monday unveiled a pair of smart speakers, complete with cameras and microphones, for your home. From a report: The devices, Portal and Portal+, directly challenge Amazon, Google and Apple in the fast-growing smart-speaker market with a unique approach that will emphasize video calling. It's Facebook's first hardware product outside the Oculus line of virtual-reality devices. To start a video call, users can say "Hey Portal, call ..." followed by the name of a connection on Facebook's Messenger service. These calls include entertaining augmented-reality features that can outfit users with cat hats or turn their living rooms into animated night clubs. Another feature is Smart Camera, which uses artificial intelligence and the devices' cameras to perfectly frame users on video as they move around while on a call.
[...] Besides video calls, the Portal devices can stream music from Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music and video from Facebook Watch. Not included at launch are services like Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or HBO Now. The devices come equipped with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and the many skills available on that service, allowing them to ask questions like "What's the weather?" or "How are my teams doing?" [...] The company is taking preorders for the devices now and will begin shipping them early next month. The Portal, which features a 10-inch screen, is available for $199 while the Portal+, which has a long, 15.6-inch screen, is priced at $349. WashingtonPost reports that the device follows the person in their house: What's unique about Facebook's device is the tech it uses to make the video calls look good. Think of it as a personal cinematographer: A 12-megapixel camera -- equivalent to most phones -- identifies the shape of people within its 140-degree field of view and pans and zooms to make sure they're all always in the frame. You can wander around the room, do chores, Jazzercise, play with the kids or whatever. (Or, if you want, you can tap on the face of one person and the Portal camera will track just them.)
[...] Besides video calls, the Portal devices can stream music from Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music and video from Facebook Watch. Not included at launch are services like Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or HBO Now. The devices come equipped with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and the many skills available on that service, allowing them to ask questions like "What's the weather?" or "How are my teams doing?" [...] The company is taking preorders for the devices now and will begin shipping them early next month. The Portal, which features a 10-inch screen, is available for $199 while the Portal+, which has a long, 15.6-inch screen, is priced at $349. WashingtonPost reports that the device follows the person in their house: What's unique about Facebook's device is the tech it uses to make the video calls look good. Think of it as a personal cinematographer: A 12-megapixel camera -- equivalent to most phones -- identifies the shape of people within its 140-degree field of view and pans and zooms to make sure they're all always in the frame. You can wander around the room, do chores, Jazzercise, play with the kids or whatever. (Or, if you want, you can tap on the face of one person and the Portal camera will track just them.)
Just what I want: A closed platform with microphones, cameras, and Facebook spying on me 24/7.
I'm making a note here:
Huge success!
It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
The one that had lots of cameras on the front, read your face and altered the screen layout accordingly in a augmented reality style? It was a cute feature, but who wants Facebook watching their every expression... nobody apparently. It flopped.
Then there were those VR glasses, whatever happened to them? Did they ever come out?
But hey, I'm sure this camera, this time, listening and watching and selling the data to every dodgy outfit around the world, this will totally sell.
Who wouldn't want to speak to granny safe in the knowledge that 100 Facebook customers also have their computers watching too? I'm sure it'll be totally useful to announce your wedding and know that
I'm sure everyone wants Peter Thiel listening in on their conversations, with is Palantir datamining operation.
I mean I get the immediate fun of it, but doesn't it wear off after the first few times using it?
This is very important to my purchasing decision.
No way in the world, ever, never. NO!
Facebook should have pulled a creimer and blame ACs for their problems.
Is anal probe included?
>video calling to battle Amazon
>The devices come equipped with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant
Take THAT, Bezos!
SWAT teams are standing by.
I like this but it just isn't invasive enough. What I want is an implantable device that I can jam into my chest so that Zuckerberg himself can carefully watch every shit I take and offer to sell me softer toilet paper when he hears how scratchy my current cheap dollarama stuff is.
"Hey, Zuck. Go fuck yourself."
What everyone should be saying about this spy device. If we're lucky a "bug" will be discovered that forwards all calls and audio to the new Cambridge Analytica.
I know we’re a cynical lot here, but - I can’t picture most “normal” people buying this, even if they’re enameled of Facebook. They’ve already got the app on their phones and tablets.
And the camera follows you around, keeping everyone in focus.... not creepy at all.
(I suppose this is where I sneakily mention deleting my Facebook account 4 or so years ago)
#DeleteChrome
These calls include entertaining augmented-reality features that can outfit users with cat hats or turn their living rooms into animated night clubs.
And tech companies wonder why AR has never taken off when stupid shit like this or animojos are the only use case they can ever come up with.
Say, OK Facebook.
"OK Facebook?"
"Call Creimer"
connecting...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! TURN IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!
At first I thought, no.
Then I thought, Hell no.
Then I thought - what about buying one of these speakers and putting on an act whenever I was around them, to feed it completely false data? Like a looped recording that asked for the latest whereabouts of Salman Rushdie and/or Hitler every few minutes or something.
That would be amusing but sadly I don't have that kind of free time.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Stalker loves you just wants to help you.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
these are listening devices with a voice interface from a search engine. the speakers themselves are speakers, not smart speakers.
If you want to see an actual speaker that is smart look at the apple homepod. that one actually does use sophisticated intelligence to improve the sound.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
This product sounds like something came up while Facebook people were watching Silicon Valley and taking bong hits
I hate Facebook and I'll never buy this or any other "smart speaker" thingamajig.
That said, I have to say that the "Smart Camera" is impressive.
#DeleteFacebook
Let me know so I can let all my friends, and the world, know when and how often I touch myself.
I assume they're called "smart speakers" because smart people don't use them? That's pretty weird.
I don't respond to AC's.
duct tape to cover the lense and microphone.
"Hey Portal! Call Alexa and have her tell Google to send an email to Siri to play songs based on my Instagram."
In long term care facilities to keep the orderlies monitored
Instead of just an ankle bracelet, also install them in the homes of people on probation (convicted felons have limited civil rights anyway)
For senior citizens living on their own. "I've fallen, and I can't get up!"
In stores to monitor pilferage.
I don't know what planet these "people" live on, but it's definitely not Earth and these are definitely not humans. ... and the swarm lifeform.
Not to denigrate alternative life styles, but I think we are at the verge of two types of lifeforms separating.
The individual
Classical homo sapiens always was a bit of a swarm-type due to being social, but it seems to really diverge here. I see so many "people" who openly glorify passive-thinking and passive-living and actually seem to like submitting to being merely a limb / tool / drone of their opinion leaders so much, that it can be rightfully said, that they do not want to be people, let alone individuals. (If one can speak of "will" in those cases.) ;). (Maybe our ideal only look ideal to us because they are ours.)
It reminds me a bit of single-celled organisms versus multi-celled ones, with the former vastly out-numbering the latter (apparently even in our own bodies), but the latter being seen as a "higher" life-form (but who is telling us that though?
Ok, one could define a swarm as a person too, so the swarm can be a person, but the drones aren't. Just like our fingers or cells aren’t people either.
Meanwhile, I (and many others) like to be an individual and think for myself. Although I like being social too. But only where it is useful.
I haven't thought about if I'd like being the leader of such a swarm of drones though. It would make the whole thing less of a problem, provided there wouldn’t be too many actual individuals left.
I guess what I worry about, is how much I am already forced into this conformism, even though my individuality does not conflict with their life style and I don’t intend to harm them either. (Aka I don't claim to want the freedom to do with them whatever I want.) They are harming my freedom from their freedom (do do whatever they want) though!
Or it's just that the swarm is so damn stupid. (Any sufficiently advanced stupidity becomes evilness. Which is why, even though evilness itself is stupid too, on top of playing stupid too, that "Never attribute to evilness, what you can attribute to stupidity." meme is the wrong way around.)
What could be, and what actually is, due to them, is what pains me.
I hope Valve sues their ass and wins the internets!
For all those who happen to be in the room. You then consent just by being there? No thanks.
And we completely trust FB not to gather all information it can about our private lives and personal conversations in our homes and not sell that to marketeers.
Never mind Zuck lied before congress about shadow profiles.
It's definitely Earth, and it's most definitely humans. I've checked, ehehe.
This situation will continue until a pathogen killing corporations and states is in existence, then the best adaptation strategy for the masses changes. *wink*
It seems to me, that you're overwhelmed by the modernity discourse. The current world situation is not unique in any way, maybe technologically, but its still same useless humans. And if human stupidity is what kills these damned things, well well then. Nothing of value was lost.
"What could be" is an absolutist dream, there are historical reasons why this timeline is like this. Maybe on a different timeline things are different... No way to verify.
Do yourself a favor, and do not think in terms of "Evil and good", these are empty signifiers (look it up) , the highest truth is "nothing is true, everything is permitted".
Under that framework, the future looks awesome to a resourceful individual =)
..installed the landlord, because of my security. It is even a camera in the shower, in case I should slip and fall. I love my landlord, and he loves me.
Sheila.
a sponsored story. Kinda goes like this:
Hello Auntie, how is your da . . . . [ interrupted by a sponsored story] . . . y. Hope things are w . . . . [Our privacy policy has changed. Please agree to continue this call] . . . ell. I absolutely love this device, how about . . . .
Maybe Equifax will make a smart speaker/camera next!
That, and he's right of course.
Facebook robots with cameras to track humans inside their own homes
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Ohhhhhh CoC fight.
First Amazon, now Facebook... I'm anxiously awaiting the announcement of a Slashdot smart cam that I can buy.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Hey
If you show me your CoC I will show you my CoC.