Facebook Portal

After building itself into a portal for all kinds of social

connections online, Facebook now wants to provide a

portal for people to easily make video calls with each

other. And with that, the company is rolling out the

appropriately named Portal.

Facebook took the wraps off the combination video-calling

and smart-speaker devices Monday, with two versions of what

is the company’s first hardware product to carry the company’s

name. The device comes in two models: The standard Portal

has a 10-inch screen, sits in landscape mode on a built-in stand,

and costs $199, while the Portal+ comes with a 15-inch screen

that is attached to a stand that allows for the device to be rotated,

and costs $349. Facebook is also offering $100 off the purchase

of any two Portal devices at the same time.

Among the features of Portal is the ability to zoom in on a

particular person during a call and follow that person around a

room, the idea being that such a feature will add to the feeling

of being in the same room with someone during a video call.

Portal also comes with augmented reality technology that lets a

caller add images to their face during a call, interactive animated

features for reading stories, and the ability to stream music from

Pandora and Spotify so callers can listen to the same song

simultaneously during a call.