Mark Zuckerberg speaking at F8 2017
Online news network Cheddar released an exclusive article confirming the existence of a rumored Facebook product, Portal.
According to Cheddar, Portal is a device that rivals Amazon’s voice-controlled Echo. Intended for use at home, it contains social features, video chat, voice command, music and video streaming with services like Spotify and Netflix, and facial recognition.
Facebook plans to introduce the product early in May at its annual F8 conference and to ship the device the second half of 2018.
Portal is a device born out of Facebook’s consumer hardware lab, Building 8, where Facebook aims to eventually create more consumer products that compete with those of Amazon, Google, and Apple.
Currently, Facebook plans to sell Portal at $499 at pop-up and online stores. However, this price could change depending on consumer demand.
The rumored existence of Portal first appeared on the website Digitimes. At that time, the device was still unnamed and its existence dubious to the public.
