The Portal devices from Facebook have become popular over the last year, because of the pandemic and video calls from home. The social giant has announced 2 new Portals; an updated Portal+ for $349 and the company’s first-ever portable brand-new smart display Portal Go at $199. There’s also an integrated handle on the back for easy carrying. It has a relatively compact form factor with a 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 display housed inside a soft fabric-wrapped enclosure. Facebook has indicated that the main idea behind this portable Portal is to keep the device in a kitchen or an office. The device can be moved around the house if the family is gathering in a different room. It can also be brought outdoors as long as you have a relatively strong WiFi signal. You can use the Go as a portable speaker and stream music from various sources like Spotify.
Facebook also said that you will get up to 5-hours of battery life for one-on-one Messenger calling on a single charge and up to 14 hours of music playback if the screen is off. Moreover, the company released a new Portal+, which hasn’t been updated since the original debuted in 2018. It still has the largest screen out of the Portals with a 14-inch, 2,140 x 1,440 display, but its footprint is much smaller than before. The Portal+ display can also be tilted up and down to accommodate different heights. Both the new Portals have a 12-megapixel camera with an ultra-wide field of view. These make use of Facebook’s so-named Smart Camera technology, which uses AI to follow you around the room, panning and zooming to keep you in a frame the entire time. The smart sound tech allows you to speak at a normal volume, regardless of the distance between you and the device. Pre-orders for both the Portal Go and the new Portal+ start today and will begin shipping on October 19th.
Both the new Portals have built-in camera lens covers. There are buttons at the top that disconnects the camera and the microphone. The smart camera AI technology runs locally on the device and not on Facebook’s servers. By default, WhatsApp calls are end-to-end encrypted. You will have to specify the contacts and groups you need to enable the end-to-end encryption on Messenger. Facebook also detailed some incoming software updates. One of them is Household Mode, which essentially lets you share the Portal with the whole family. The Portal home screen has also been redesigned to be more personalized, with a top row of favorite contacts, and a card interface similar to the one on other smart displays. There’s a card for Messenger Rooms, one for Spotify playlist shortcuts, another for most-used apps, and more. Facebook has updated the experience of Watch Together on Portal. The social giant is introducing Portal for Business specifically for small businesses to deploy and manage Portal devices.
