Facebook has launched Portal TV, an accessory that offers video chats to television screens. The TV will be shipped from the 5th of November 2019 at $149 for users to video call, play AR games, etc.
The new TV offers auto-zooming AI camera, an in-house voice assistant speaker – Alexa, apps like Spotify and newly added Amazon Prime Video, Messenger video chat and end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls.
All you need to do is connect the TV to your TV’s HDMI port, sign in to your Facebook accounts, and Boom! You can call via your Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
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The Portal TV leverages Facebook’s Smart Camera technology to navigate and zoom-in whilst a video call is on. This will help users cut out scenes or activities that they do not want the receiver to see. There is an option for users to disable the device’s camera and microphone via a tap at the front of the device.
The interesting thing about this is that you can say “Hey Portal” to wake up the device when you want to make calls. Once it wakes, you then instruct it to call a person in your network. That’s not all, during the call, you can apply augmented reality effects to your face and voice. The devices “Story Time” feature allows you to narrate children’s books while putting on different virtual costumes.
With the device’s picture-in-picture mode, you can video chat and watch a show at the same time. You also have access to watching Amazon Prime Video, Showtime, CBS All Access, and other streaming services on the device.
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