Earlier this month, Facebook announced Portal, a camera-equipped smart device, but the social media giant Facebook is now reportedly working on a TV camera that could offer Portal-like video chat on a larger screen and allow users to stream content from Facebook Watch.
Codenamed “Ripley,” if the device goes to the market, Facebook will take you from small screen to big screen smart home battleground, competing with the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google. Facebook’s addition of a camera, which will transform your entire TV into a Facebook Portal, would be a differentiator for the current marketplace.
And while Facebook has been involved in data scandals recently, it will be very difficult to say whether users will be ready to add another Facebook designed camera in their homes that constantly watches them.
For “Ripley” to work, Facebook has to first regain back the trust of its users and needs to up its support for apps. Currently, Portal supports Facebook Watch and music through Spotify and Pandora -- which is fine for a smart display, but it’s nowhere near the kind of content support Facebook will need to convince users to give up an HDMI port, especially when so many other options are out there.
