According to a report in Taipai-based website Digitimes, the social networking giant is planning to enter the global smart speaker market by launching two speakers in July 2018 that are mainly aimed to allow family and friends stay in touch with each other through video chat and other social integrations. Codenamed, Aloha and Fiona, both the speakers are designed by Facebook’s Building 8 R&D center and will have massive 15-inch LG Display touchscreens. Taiwan’s Pegatron is reported to be the sole contract assembler for the devices. The model ‘Aloha’, to be promoted under the official name Portal, is expected to be the more high-end model and will use voice-controlled technology. Besides this, it will include “facial recognition to identify users for accessing Facebook through a wide-angle lens on the front of the device,” the report added. It will also have more social networking functions although details are yet unknown. On the other hand, the Fiona model is believed to have less advanced functionalities, but it will include voice commands. Facebook has signed music licensing contracts with Sony and Universal Music for smart home speakers, which means both the speakers should offer music streaming services to enrich the device’s applications. Facebook wanted to originally launch the devices in May, but then decided to delay the launch to perfect the acoustic quality and software, the report notes. Both the devices are expected to form the base for Facebook’s long-term plan to build an ecosystem of video consumer devices that the social media giant plans to bring out during the next five years. The smart speaker is just the initial-stage product, with more terminal devices expected to be rolled out in the coming years, the report added. Source: DigiTimes
