Facebook tries its hand on hardware with PORTAL. We all knew it was a matter of time before Facebook creates its own hardware. Unlike feeds, texts chats and likes, video is the real aspect of the company’s social platform that can justify a standalone device.
The device comes with Facebook messenger and it uses Artificial Intelligence to recognize people in a frame and automatically zooms on their face as they move around. Portal reportedly features a privacy shutter that can cover the device’s wide-angle video camera. Now, just imagine you forgot to slide the shutter while you walked around naked in your home?
Would you allow Facebook to watch your every move? Would you trust Facebook with an always listening device in your home?
In the midst of Facebook’s privacy issues, is this a better time to unveil this product?
Portal’s creation dates back to the foundation of the hardware team two years ago. The team’s first product manager Rafa Camargo says there was some back and forth regarding whether it made sense for Facebook to finally launch first-party hardware in earnest.
“We spent six months trying to figure out how we expand the platforms Facebook has and toying with the idea of what we can do if we own the whole thing,” the former Googler says. “Otherwise, what’s the point of hardware?”