Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive.
However, it is unclear if people would open their homes to an Internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy.
Facebook is marketing the device, called Portal, as a way for its more than 2 billion users to chat with one another without having to fuss with positioning and other controls.
Photo: AP
The device features a camera that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically pan and zoom as people move around during calls.
Since Echo’s release nearly four years ago, both Google and Apple have followed Amazon in releasing smart speakers designed for use with their other digital services — some of them, at least.
These speakers can serve as hub-like controllers for “smart” homes as people install appliances, lighting and security systems that can be controlled over the Internet.
Portal represents Facebook’s entry into that fray — but pointing an artificially-intelligent camera into peoples’ homes could well raise other privacy questions.
“The first thing consumers are going to wonder is ‘how much sensitive data is this collecting about me?’” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy of telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group that has received donations from Facebook and other tech companies.
Earlier this year, Facebook had to acknowledge that as many as 87 million people might have had their data accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm that worked for then US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign and aimed to use the data to influence elections.
More recently, Facebook said that hackers managed to pierce its security to break into 50 million accounts .
Facebook says it would not store Portal video on its data centers. The device will allow users to disable the camera and microphone with a single tap and to lock it with a numerical passcode.
Facebook also says it would not store any of the video sent through the camera on the computers in its data centers. There is also a physical camera cover to prevent recording.
“This is going to gain [Facebook] not only a place in the smart home, but also data they may not have been able to collect before or understand before,” ABI Research analyst Jonathan Collins said.
This includes people’s location, activities and interests — “all the reasons companies want to get into the home.”
Facebook is to offer Portal in two sizes — a US$199 model with a 10-inch horizontal screen and a US$349 “Plus” version with a 15.6-inch screen that can switch between vertical or horizontal orientations.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day