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Facebook to launch new Portal smart displays in Europe
Just 10 months after launching its first voice controlled, video calling smart display in the US, Facebook is trying again with new Portal, Portal Mini and Portal TV and now they are heading for the UK and Europe.
The basic premise is very similar to the smart displays sold by
Amazon, Google and others. Portal and Portal Mini look like digital
photo frames complete with an actual black or white frame around the
outside. They display your photos and calendar events, play videos and
generally entertain, including streaming Spotify and Amazon Prime Video.
They listen out for two hotwords depending on your settings.
“Hey Portal” triggers Facebook’s voice assistant in US English only,
which handles device settings such as turning up or down the volume,
calling someone or similar. “Alexa” triggers Amazon’s voice assistant,
which connects you directly to Amazon’s servers and offers much of what
an Echo Show or similar device would. Facebook stresses that interactions with Alexa do not pass through the social network’s servers.
