Facebook rolls out new line of creepy home speakers

Facebook just can’t take a hint.

After its first-ever hardware device got slammed by critics as a potential spying apparatus last year, Facebook on Wednesday unveiled a new generation of its “Portal” video chatting devices.

The screen-equipped home speaker is a privacy nut’s nightmare: It is equipped with long-range microphones, as well as a smart camera that follows users around the room when they are on video calls.

The original Portal was unveiled just months after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw it leak the private information of 90 million users. It was blasted by critics as a creepy and tone-deaf move, and Facebook delayed the release for months. In the end, it added a small plastic cover to block the camera lens if the user wants to.

The three new Portal products — the Portal, Portal Mini and Portal TV — also have the plastic cover, which you can slide over the camera lens by moving a switch on the side.

For better or worse, Facebook says the camera has been improved and “intelligently pans and zooms to stay with the action so you can move and talk freely while always being in frame.”

The Portal’s camera even knows when other people enter the room, widening its view to capture everyone in the shot.

The launch comes as Facebook says it’s trying to pivot toward more private forms of communication, after years of slowing user growth, data-sharing scandals and calls for change to its hands-off approach to content moderation.

The company is already one of the biggest global players in private messaging, with its WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram apps used by 2.4 billion people each month.

Facebook is also expanding Portal sales into countries including the UK, France and Australia, while lowering prices to more closely compete with industry-leading smart speakers from Amazon and Google that sell for under $100.

Standard models of the Portal, which ship on Oct. 15, will come in $129 and $179 versions. Portal TV will cost $149 and hit the shelves on Nov. 5.

The new Portals also feature WhatsApp calling, and the Portal TV represents Facebook’s first foray into video streaming hardware, though it offers a limited selection of subscription services.

At a demonstration in San Francisco on Tuesday, the only way to stream shows appeared to be via Facebook’s Watch app. Executives said Portal TV would have Amazon’s Prime Video app loaded by the time it is available.

The company declined to say whether it had approached other content providers like HBO, Hulu or Disney.

Facebook does not disclose how many Portals it has sold since the device’s launch late last year, but the social media giant makes less than 2 percent of its revenue from non-advertising sources.

With Reuters