After launching its first hardware device, Portal, last year, Facebook has now launched its three new Portal products i.e., the Portal Mini, Portal TV, and a redesigned Portal.
Facebook Launches Three Bew Portal Devices
The social media giant this year has launched three new Portal devices. While the Facebook Portal as well as the Facebook Portal Mini are the successors to previous year’s Portal and Portal+ smart cameras-cum-displays. However, the Facebook Portal TV is a brand new device that is here to colonise your smart TV along with turning it into a giant video calling screen.
It seems to be like that Facebook is doubling down. “We’ve been happy with Portal sales, which is why we are expanding the family of products and distribution internationally…” a company spokesperson said.
The Facebook Portal is priced at $179 (Rs 12,750 approx) and comes with a 10-inch HD screen. While talking about the Facebook Portal Mini, it comes with an 8-inch HD screen as well as it is priced at $129 (Rs 9,200 approx). As far as Facebook Portal TV is concerned, it uses your TV screen for streaming audio along with video and it is available for $149 (Rs 10,600 approx).
Last year, the models were bigger as well as costlier, that is $199 was for a 10.1 inch display and $349 for at 15.6 inch screen.
Facebook has also tried to moderate privacy concerns with the Portal. The service is not going to show ads, but “we are using Facebook’s infrastructure, so some data may inform ads on Facebook,” said Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, vice president of virtual reality and augmented reality. “But that’s not the point of it, it’s not something that is going to be material to Facebook.”
As far as the features are concerned, the Portal and Portal Mini come with an adaptive display that adjusts the brightness as well as colour of the device to your surroundings. They come with an AI-powered Smart Camera that mechanically pans as well as zooms to stay with you as you move, which also in addition frees you from remaining at a place while making video calls.
Furthermore, the two Portals come with a built-in speaker along with a Smart Sound feature that improves the sound of speaker as well as reduces the background noise automatically. The new Portals also come with a ‘Hey Portal’ functionality that is going to let users to use the devices in a handsfree manner.
The three Portal devices are going to be available in the US, the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Australia as well as New Zealand. Right now all the three are up for pre-orders in the US, Canada and Europe from portal.facebook.com along with the selected retail locations. Facebook is going to start shipping Portal and Portal Mini starting October 15 and Portal TV starting November 5.
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