“Hell, no!”
That’s the blunt response I got from a colleague moments after I started to tell her about Facebook’s Portal and Portal+, the new voice-controlled, video-calling devices with Amazon’s Alexa that Facebook starts taking pre-orders for on Monday.
As in hell, no, I’m not buying.
Another colleague was equally skeptical: “Why would I let Facebook have an internet-connected camera in my home?” he asked.
Such distrust stems not only from Facebook’s most recent revelation that 50 million user accounts were exposed to hackers, but also a prior breach when the social network disclosed that 87 million people had their profiles scraped and improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political ad-targeting firm.
And therein lies the public relations challenge facing Facebook as it unleashes consumer hardware that is all about connecting families who may be miles apart. Never mind that Facebook says it has taken steps with Portal that the company claims will ensure user privacy and security.
Portal and Portal+ cost $199 and $349, respectively, with the former housing a 10-inch, high-definition display (720p), the latter a 15-inch, 1080p screen.
You get $100 off if you buy any two devices, the idea being that you’ll have someone with whom to share a Portal video call. That said, you also could make (or get) a video call to or from someone who has Facebook Messenger on their phone or tablet, though the experience may be lacking compared with a Portal to Portal call.
Nailing the tech part
Facebook certainly appears to have nailed Portal on the technical merits, at least based on my brief demo time in a Manhattan hotel room.
Each Portal model has a smart, AI-driven 12-megapixel camera with a 140-degree field of view. What’s especially impressive is how the camera automatically pans and zooms so that you can see everyone in a room. Alternatively, you can “pin” the camera view to a particular individual you want to follow on the screen.
On the larger Portal+ device, you can swivel the screen so that it is positioned either horizontally or vertically, not the case on the cheaper base model.
Each unit also has a four-microphone array; you initiate calls with a “Hey Portal” command. Facebook says it enhances the voice of whichever person is speaking at the moment, which helps lend the sense of "presence," or the feeling that everyone is in the same place. That's a key way Facebook hopes to differentiate Portal from other products or computers that let you make video calls.
Along those lines, Facebook says face-to-face communications on Portal are not just about talking. You and the other people might choose to listen to music together, as I was able to do via Spotify (provided each of you have Spotify Premium accounts).
Facebook is also pitching a Story Time feature that would let grandparents who live far away read stories to young kids through Portal, with augmented reality and other visual effects. Story Time titles at launch include the “Three Little Pigs” “Five Little Monkeys,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Professor Right” and “Trouble Bubble.”
You don’t have to be on a call to take advantage of Portal either. The hardware can double as a digital photo frame or basic smart speaker that through Alexa can deliver the weather forecast and sports scores or help you control smart home devices.
In this sense, Portal shares some things in common with Amazon’s Echo Show smart speaker with a display, though Facebook’s initial partner lineup on Portal is modest. Besides Spotify, there’s Pandora, iHeartRadio, Newsy, Food Network and Facebook’s own Facebook Watch video-on-demand service.
How much Facebook should be on Portal?
You’ll also be able to surface Facebook photos and videos and receive birthday notifications. What you won't get, for now, is a Facebook newsfeed, and I can understand Facebook's reluctance in making that available on Portal. For one thing, in a household with kids, not all the content you receive on Facebook may be appropriate for them to see.
Facebook is upfront about not trying to recreate the social network experience on Portal, even as it struggles with trying to determine just the right amount of Facebook to put there.
Think about it. If you have a large circle of friends on Facebook, you’d likely be overwhelmed if they all could feed content to a device like Portal that sits in your living room or kitchen.
Down the road it is possible, however, that Facebook may permit you to designate certain friends who could share stuff through Portal, but this is not happening at launch and may not happen at all. After all, Facebook is pushing Portal more for its live face-to-face communications capabilities.
What Facebook is doing for privacy
Which brings us back to the sensitive subject of privacy. Facebook says it doesn’t listen to, view or keep the contents of your Portal calls, and video calls themselves are encrypted.
The company adds that the Smart Camera and Smart Sound features inside the hardware use artificial intelligence that runs locally on Portal and not on Facebook’s servers.
You can’t record video through Portal either. And the AI camera does not support facial recognition to determine who you are.
As with other smart assistants, Portal is listening for the “Hey, Portal” wake word and only then, Facebook says, are your voice commands sent to Facebook’s servers. You can go into the Facebook Activity Log to delete your vocal history.
Among other safeguards, you can disable the camera and microphone or block the camera with a cover that lets you still receive calls or notifications. You can also also set up a Portal passcode to lock the screen and only change that passcode after entering your Facebook password.
Portals become available in November at portal.facebook.com and at Amazon and Best Buy, and I'm eager to test them out.
But has Facebook done enough to squash the concerns of people like my colleagues? Let us know if you are comfortable enough with Facebook these days to give Portal a try in your own home.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter.
