Meta Portal

On October 8, 2018, Facebook, Inc. announced the sale and shipment of the {{convert|10.1|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} Portal and the {{convert|15.6|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} Portal Plus.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/11/8/18073176/facebook-portal-price-availability-now-shipping | title=Facebook's Portal video chat devices launch today | last=Kastrenakes | first=Jacob |work=The Verge |date=November 8, 2018}} The second generation of Portal devices was announced on September 18, 2019; the second-generation Portal and Portal Mini were released on October 15, while Portal TV was released on November 5.{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/facebook-portal-tv-portal-mini |title=Facebook Really, Really Wants To Open A Portal Inside Your House| work=BuzzFeed News |first=Nicole |last=Nguyen| date=September 18, 2019}}{{cite news | url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/its-a-shame-youll-never-buy-the-facebook-portal-tv |title=It's A Shame You'll Never Buy The Facebook Portal TV |work=BuzzFeed News |first=Katie |last=Notopoulos | date=November 5, 2019}} On September 21, 2021, Facebook announced 2 new devices, a battery powered 10-inch device called "Portal Go" and a new generation of the 14-inch device called "Portal+".{{cite web |url=https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/introducing-two-new-portals-including-first-portable-version/ |title=Introducing Two New Portals, Including the First Portable Version|date=September 21, 2021 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/21/facebook-announces-portable-portal-go-portal-for-business.html |title=Facebook announces new Portal video-calling devices, Portal for Business service | first=Salvador | last=Rodriguez | work=CNBC | date=September 21, 2021}}

In June 2022, it was reported that Meta was preparing to phase out Portal as a consumer product and instead focus on the enterprise market.{{Cite web |last=Kastrenakes |first=Jacob |date=2022-06-09 |title=Meta will stop making Portal for consumers |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/9/23161624/meta-portal-pivot-business-product |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Verge |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Meta Scales Back AR Glasses Plan Amid Reality Labs Shakeup |url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-scales-back-ar-glasses-plan-amid-reality-labs-shakeup |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Information}}

Later, in November 2022, it was reported that Meta would discontinue both its Portal and two remaining unreleased smartwatches. This came after Meta cut some 11,000 jobs at the company as a cost cutting measure.{{Cite web |title=Meta is killing Portal and both its unreleased smartwatches |url= https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/11/23454019/meta-portal-smartwatch-efforts-shutting-down-hardware |website=The Verge |date= November 11, 2022 |access-date=2022-11-12}}

Portal was the original {{convert|10.1|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} device released in 2018. The second generation device in 2019 also supported portrait orientation, which was much more convenient when video calling someone on a smart phone, typically held in portrait orientation.

The original {{convert|15.6|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} Portal+ was released in 2018 alongside the smaller Portal. This product was not upgraded in the 2019 releases. In 2021, a slightly smaller {{convert|14|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} new Portal+ was released which, like the previous version, is fixed in landscape orientation but has a mechanism to tilt the screen.

Portal Mini was introduced in 2019 alongside the second generation Portal. It was a similar form factor allowing use in either portrait or landscape orientation. The Mini was discontinued after the 2021 release cycle.{{Cite news | url=https://www.engadget.com/facebook-new-portals-go-170004952.html | title=Facebook introduces portable Portal Go for $199 | first=Nicole | last=Lee | work=Engadget | date=September 21, 2021}}

Portal TV was released in September 2019 alongside the second generation portal. This device has a form factor similar to the Microsoft Kinect with a built in camera and microphone but no display. It connects to a TV, enabling the TV to have features similar to other devices in the Portal family.{{Cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/18/facebook-portal-tv/ | title=Facebook launches Portal TV, a $149 video chat set-top box | first=Josh | last=Constine | work=TechCrunch | date=September 18, 2019}}

Portal Go was first introduced in Fall 2021. This {{convert|10.1|in|cm|sigfig=3|adj=on}} device is a similar design to the first generation Portal only offering landscape mode. This is the first battery powered Portal device allowing the user to remove it from the charging cradle and relocate it to other locations without powering down.

Portal for Business is a software package announced in fall 2021 that allows any of the portal devices to operate as conference room machines, supporting various third-party calling platforms as well as ties into business applications such as calendar.

According to Facebook, the Portal devices only record audio after the user speaks the "Hey Portal" command, and only record video during video calling sessions.{{cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/10/8/17937366/facebook-portal-video-screen-launch-privacy-alexa |first=Kurt |last=Wagner |title=Facebook is audaciously launching a video gadget for your home, called Portal. Is that a good idea? | work=Vox|date=October 8, 2018}} Each Portal device also includes a cover that can be slid over the camera when not in use.{{cite news | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/facebook-knows-you-dont-want-to-trust-its-portal-camera/ | first1=Jason |last1=Koebler| first2=Kaleigh | last2=Rogers | title=Facebook Knows You Don't Want to Trust Its Portal Camera | work=Vice Media |date=October 8, 2018}}

During the product announcement, Facebook initially claimed that data obtained from Portal devices would not be used for targeted advertising. One week after the announcement, Facebook changed its position and stated that "usage data such as length of calls, frequency of calls" and "general usage data, such as aggregate usage of apps, etc., may also feed into the information that we use to serve ads".{{cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/10/16/17966102/facebook-portal-ad-targeting-data-collection |first=Kurt |last=Wagner |title=It turns out that Facebook could in fact use data collected from its Portal in-home video device to target you with ads | work=Vox |date=October 16, 2018}}{{cite news |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/us/facebook-portal-security-data,news-28333.html |first=Monica |last=Chin |title=Whoops! Facebook Portal Collects User Data After All |work=Tom's Guide |date=October 17, 2018 }} The company later clarified that it analyzes the metadata, not the content, of video calls made through Portal devices.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-portal-will-the-video-chat-device-spy-on-you/ |first=Queenie |last=Wong |title=Facebook Portal: Your privacy questions answered |work=CNET |date=November 7, 2018}}

Meta spent a significant amount of money on promoting and marketing the Portal, for example spending $48.6 million in US TV ads over 6-weeks in late 2018.{{Cite web |last=Digiday |date=2018-11-16 |title=Facebook is making a big marketing push for Portal -- on TV |url=https://digiday.com/future-of-tv/facebook-marketing-push-portal-tv/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Digiday |language=en-US}} They used the Muppets started from September 2019,{{Cite web |title=The history of the Meta Portal TV, the right product, from the wrong company - Shared Space |url=https://higlo.co/shared-space/the-history-of-the-meta-portal-tv-the-right-product-from-the-wrong-company |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=higlo.co}} with characters like Kermit, Miss Piggy and others appearing in their TV ads.

Meta focused on a number of key features in promoting the products, in particular the Smart Camera function that automatically tracked people during calls, and entertainment and assistant features like Alexa built-in, and Facebook Watch (for co-watching videos), as well as other entertainment platforms like Spotify and Netflix added over time.

Dan Seifert of The Verge found the video and audio quality of Portal's video calling feature via Facebook Messenger to be better than that of competing devices and videotelephony services, but said that "Outside of video calling, the Portal's functionality is rather limited." In light of the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, he expressed concerns that the product is "always-watching and always-listening".{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/18072998/facebook-portal-plus-smart-display-messenger-review-price-specs |first=Dan |last=Seifert |title=Facebook Portal review: trust fail |work=The Verge |date=November 8, 2018}} Megan Wollerton of CNET praised the device's autotracking wide-angle cameras, which allow the subject to remain centered in the device's field of view. Wollerton also had reservations regarding Facebook's privacy policy in relation to Portal's video calls and wrote, "a spokesperson told us that Facebook will, in fact, track information about calls made via Portal to expand on the user profiles it uses to inform ads that show up elsewhere."{{cite news | url=https://www.cnet.com/reviews/facebook-portal-plus-review/ |first=Megan | last=Wollerton | title=Facebook's Portal Plus brings your friends and family closer for a price | work=CNET |date=November 8, 2018}}

In a PC Magazine review, Sascha Segan said, "From a purely technical standpoint, this is by far the best video calling appliance we've seen", and believed that Portal would be a good complement for remote workers if it gains integration with Workplace by Facebook, a feature that is not yet released. However, Segan considered Portal a "horror" from "a policy and privacy perspective" because of the "massive abuses of data on Facebook's consumer platform".{{cite magazine | first=Sascha | last=Segan | title=Facebook Portal | url=https://www.pcmag.com/review/365137/facebook-portal | magazine=PC Magazine |date=November 28, 2018}} Writing for Tom's Guide, Mike Prospero and Monica Chin criticized the "large and obtrusive" size of the display, characterizing it as "dystopian" and "more at home in a Black Mirror episode than in my living room or kitchen". The reviewers echoed "Ongoing privacy concerns", but presented a favorable impression of Portal's automatic panning and audio quality.{{cite news |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/us/facebook-portal,review-5945.html |first1=Mike |last1=Prospero |first2=Monica|last2=Chin |title=Facebook Portal Review: A Not-So-Smart Display |work=Tom's Guide |date=January 18, 2019}}

In Engadget, Nicole Lee complimented the second-generation Portal's subdued appearance and ability to be used in both portrait and landscape orientations.{{cite news |url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/15/facebook-portal-review-2019/ |title=Facebook Portal review (2019): A redesign doesn't ease privacy fears |work=Engadget |first=Nicole| last=Lee| date=October 15, 2019}} Adrienne So of Wired highlighted Portal's video tracking and augmented reality features, but denounced Facebook's inclination to "default to sharing more, not less".{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/review/facebook-portal-2019/ |title=My Parents and Kids Love Facebook's Portal. I'm Not So Sure |first=Adrienne | last=So |magazine=Wired |date=October 16, 2019}}

Segan's review of the Portal TV in PC Magazine contrasted the device's competitive video calling capabilities with its "thin" support for streaming media services, and criticized Facebook's data security record.{{cite news |url=https://www.pcmag.com/review/371816/facebook-portal-tv |first=Sascha |last=Segan |title=Facebook Portal TV| work=PC Magazine |date=November 8, 2019}} In a negative CNET review, Wollerton stated that the Portal TV is "a solidly performing, decently priced device that just isn't suited for anyone because of the privacy concerns and increasingly alarming issues" affecting Facebook.{{cite news |first=Megan |last=Wollerton |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/no-one-should-buy-the-facebook-portal-tv/ |title=No one should buy the Facebook Portal TV |work=CNET |date=November 5, 2019}}

On January 17, 2019, The New York Times columnist Kevin Roose posted on Twitter that Facebook Portal's Amazon product listing contained five-star reviews that appeared to have been written by Facebook employees,{{cite news |url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/17/facebook-portal-amazon-reviews-employees/ |title=Facebook employees caught leaving five-star Amazon reviews for Portal |date=January 17, 2019 | work=Engadget |first=Kris |last=Holt}}{{cite news | first=Abrar |last=Al-Heeti |title=Facebook employees appear to have left 5-star Amazon reviews for Portal |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-employees-appear-to-have-left-5-star-amazon-reviews-for-portal/ | work=CNET |date=January 17, 2019}}{{cite tweet | user=kevinroose |title=Speaking of coordinated inauthentic behavior, what are the odds that all these 5-star Facebook Portal reviewers on Amazon just happen to have the same names as Facebook employees?|first=Kevin |last=Roose |author-link=Kevin Roose |number=1085947102818119681 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127202240/https://twitter.com/kevinroose/status/1085947102818119681 |date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=January 27, 2019}} including one who claimed to have "historically not been a big Facebook or other social media user" before purchasing Portal.{{cite news | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/facebook-employees-caught-giving-5-star-ratings-to-portal-smart-speakers-on-amazon/story-fTix7np2WSZnd4Gp8bGjMI.html | title=Facebook employees caught giving 5-star ratings to Portal smart speakers on Amazon |first=Kul |last=Bhushan | work=Hindustan Times |date=January 18, 2019}}{{cite news |first=Jack| last=Morse |url=https://mashable.com/article/amazon-reviews-facebook-employees-portal |title=Facebook Portal reviews on Amazon appear to be padded with employee 5-star ratings | work=Mashable |date=January 17, 2019}} These reviews were written in violation of Amazon's community guidelines, which forbid "creating, modifying, or posting content regarding your (or your relative's, close friend's, business associate's, or employer's) products or services".{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/17/18186990/facebook-portal-amazon-reviews-fake-employee-5-star-astroturfing |first=Chaim |last=Gartenberg |title=Facebook employees busted leaving 5-star reviews for Portal on Amazon | work=The Verge |date=January 17, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14279631 |title=Amazon.com Help: Profile & Community Guidelines |work=Amazon}} In response, Facebook's augmented and virtual-reality vice president Andrew Bosworth stated that the reviews were "neither coordinated nor directed from the company" and indicated that Facebook would instruct the employees to remove them.{{cite news | url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/facebook-staffers-busted-portal-reviews | title=Facebook staffers busted leaving 5-star reviews for Portal speaker | first=Mikael |last=Thalen |work=The Daily Dot |date=January 18, 2019}}{{cite tweet |user=boztank |author=Boz| author-link=Andrew Bosworth |title=neither coordinated nor directed from the company. From an internal post at the launch: 'We, unequivocally, DO NOT want Facebook employees to engage in leaving reviews for the products that we sell to Amazon.' We will ask them to take down. |number=1085966442820886528 |date=January 17, 2019}}{{Cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-portal-amazon-fake-reviews-staff-5-star-employees-a8734151.html | title=FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES CAUGHT GIVING 5-STAR AMAZON REVIEWS FOR THE FACEBOOK PORTAL | first=Anthony | last=Cuthbertson | work=The Independent | date=January 18, 2019}}

In June 2022, Meta announced that they would no longer sell Portal products.{{Cite web |last=News |first=Mat Gallagher published in |date=2022-06-14 |title=Facebook Portal is going away and that's a bad thing |url=https://www.t3.com/news/facebook-portal-is-going-away-and-thats-a-bad-thing |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=T3 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-06-10 |title=Meta is reportedly discontinuing Portal devices for consumers |url=https://www.engadget.com/meta-discontinuing-portal-devices-consumers-050424665.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}} Meta report on their support page people can continue to use their Meta Portal until February 2032,{{Cite web |title=Meta Support |url=https://www.meta.com/en-gb/help/portal/28980127478297747/ |access-date=25 April 2025}} however many of the services and apps on the devices are reportedly being phased out much earlier.{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Jaron |date=2023-08-21 |title=Meta is Apparently Phasing Out Photo and Video Sharing on Portal Devices |url=https://petapixel.com/2023/08/21/meta-is-apparently-phasing-out-photo-and-video-sharing-on-portal-devices/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=PetaPixel |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=cobaltfault |date=2023-06-27 |title=Full list of Meta Portal services being dropped starting TODAY |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/FacebookPortal/comments/14k67et/full_list_of_meta_portal_services_being_dropped/?rdt=36612 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=r/FacebookPortal}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website}}

{{Facebook navbox}}

{{Smart speaker}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Products introduced in 2018

Portal

Category:Smart speakers