Facebook Really, Really Wants To Open A Portal Inside Your House

tech

Facebook’s second-generation Portal, announced today, is more affordable than last year’s device. There’s also a new product built just for TV.

ByNicole Nguyen

“Smart Camera” enables the Portal to automatically pan, zoom, and widen the frame as you move around the room. Another feature, called “Spotlight,” lets you focus on one person. “Smart Camera” is shown here on Portal TV, an accessory that adds Messenger and WhatsApp video calling capabilities to your television.

Facebook said that it wouldn’t use Portal to show advertising. But Bosworth noted that some of the data from Portal — like whether or not you use video calling frequently or whom you’re making calls to — might be used to improve Facebook’s ad targeting: “As I said last year, we’re using Facebook’s infrastructure, which means some data may inform ads people see on Facebook. But [given] the volume of Portals it’s obviously not the purpose of it, and it’s not anything that’s going to be really material for Facebook.”

Portal and Portal Mini ship on October 15, and Portal TV ships on November 5. The devices are now available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.

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