from the soon-to-be-reviewed-by-Guy-Montag dept.
Facebook unveils smart displays, promises not to snoop on your video calls
Just as Amazon's newest Echo Show comes out, Facebook enters the smart display space with two devices of its own. The company announced the Portal and Portal+ smart displays today, both of which are voice-controlled speakers with touchscreens that focus on video chatting with Facebook Messenger.
The $199 Portal looks similar to the new Echo Show with its 10-inch, 1280×800 touchscreen, but its speaker sits at the bottom edge, facing the user. The $349 Portal+ has a mammoth 15-inch, 1920×1080 display that can rotate into portrait and landscape orientations. The speaker sits at the bottom of the display, while a camera, more noticeable than that on the regular Portal, sits at the top.
[...] Plenty of people will scoff at the idea of bringing a Facebook-made smart display into their homes, especially ones with cameras and mics. Facebook hasn't been the most forthcoming company when it comes to letting users know which data it collects and how it's using that data. It also doesn't have the best track record when it comes to keeping users' data safe. Hoping to quell concerns, the company included a mic/camera disable button on both Portal devices, as well as a physical camera cover.
Does pressing the mute button alert the FBI/NSA/CIA to your suspicious activity?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Monday October 08 2018, @07:42PM (6 children)
Facebook announces way they're not yet spying on you.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday October 08 2018, @08:24PM (5 children)
Facebook announces way they're not yet spying on you.
A point that is (amazingly) not that uncommon. Maybe we're making some progress here.
Facebook unveils the Portal, a video chat camera for the people who still trust Facebook [washingtonpost.com]
Facebook Portal Is The Last Device You'd Want Looking At You [forbes.com]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday October 08 2018, @08:40PM (4 children)
Between the people on the right hating FB for being a California lefty thing, and the people on the left hating FB for being a privacy nightmare of a giant company, we might one day achieve some consensus on reining in the siphoning and exploitation of personal data.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday October 08 2018, @10:51PM (1 child)
Fat chance that. To achieve it, you'd need to lower your... ummm... political self-identification efforts.You know? Like fucking grow up.
A thing which FB (and others) will never allow to happen, there's too much to gain in keeping your gaze fixed on that shinny ball.
Watch out for the next tags, after #gamergate, after BLM and Charlotteville, after #metoo, after Kavanaugh, after all these have gone stale, they are bound to find something fresh and amplify it - if there's nothing trending, if there's no participation in 'social media', they are out of business.
And there's nothing that creates participation better than a fight. So, recall your teenager years and ... fight.. fight... fight... fight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @04:24AM
Shall we take candidates for the next trending # ?
- Age discrimination #IamNotTooOld #IamNotTooYoung
- Bodysize #IamNotFat #IamNotSkinny
- Intelligence #IamNotTooDumb #IamNotTooSmart
- I voted Trump and now I regret it #SorryWorld
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @11:06PM
Don't forget those of us on the left who hate Facebook for its role in suppressing independent, left-wing, anti-war news sources!
Actually... is there anybody Failbook hasn't pissed off yet?
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday October 09 2018, @12:28AM
Someone better keep reminding them who owns Instagram first.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @07:55PM (1 child)
People should be made legally responsible for making clear to guests that they operate corporate surveillance devices in their home.
(Score: 3, Funny) by KilroySmith on Monday October 08 2018, @09:20PM
There's always the aggressive approach:
https://xkcd.com/1807/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 5, Touché) by SomeGuy on Monday October 08 2018, @08:37PM (2 children)
The correct term for these is Telescreen.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @08:48PM
You do not exist!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday October 08 2018, @09:09PM
Not quite: Technically, those are designed to spy on you for profit. The part where they constantly make sure that you are a good citizen, and will unquestionably rat on you to the authorities, is just a side-effect. For now.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Monday October 08 2018, @09:13PM
Thanks! I was feeling a bit down and needed a laugh to brighten my day!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 08 2018, @11:47PM (2 children)
I never cease to be amazed with what people will embrace. It's like there's wave upon wave of fresh young people who increasingly care less about privacy. Seriously, WTF is wrong with society?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @01:33AM (1 child)
I don't know... I grew up watching sci-fi where the dream was a future in which everything was driven or augmented with technology and companies like Google, Amazon, and now Facebook are making some of that tech a reality. I'm glad I'm living in a time where I can choose to enrich my life with their products. Nobody is forcing this on you, you're free to live in the stone age if you like...
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday October 09 2018, @06:59PM
Or we could ask for companies in the future to develop products driven or augmented with technology without Big Brother spying on us and reporting back to mama everywhere we are and everything we do and not sell that information. We have the right to force companies to respect our privacy, so you're free to have that future if you wish but I'm free to ask that things be better than that.
This sig for rent.