By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 12th, 2024
Facebook has also announced its Portal for Business services allowing small and mid-sized businesses to deploy and remotely manage portal devices for workers.
On Tuesday, September 21, social media giant Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) unveiled the third iteration of Portal video calling devices. The company announced a total of two models of which the first is a portable version.
The stock of the company reacted to the news with a slight gain. Yesterday, the trading session was closed with a 0,50% increase, at $357.48. Today FB stock is 0.67% up in the pre-market, trading at $359.86.
Facebook continues its bullish bet on video calling screens as it expects people to continue with video-chatting going ahead. For the first time, Facebook unveiled its Portal device ack in 2018. However, it hasn’t shared the sales numbers for this product.
But a company spokesperson told Reuters that the sales increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, as companies continue to delay the return to the office, it expects executives and colleagues to connect over such video calling devices.
Facebook is not the only player in the market to come up with such a portable video calling device. Giants like Google and Amazon are already into this game with their products like Nest Hub and Echo show.
Facebook’s new video calling device dubbed Portal go comes with a 10-inch screen. Besides, it also features a price point of $199. the Portal Go has a carrying handle to easily move it around the home. Facebook says that the Portal Go battery can last for up to five hours during one-on-one calling through Messenger. It also supports 14 hours of listening with the screen off.
Facebook Portal+ Features Larger Screen
The second device from Facebook is the Portal+ that features a 14-inch display. It has been specifically designed for computer desks for business executives to make video calls. The Portal+ retails for a price of $349.
Although both the Portal devices cost higher than their previous versions, there could be a price revision coming soon said Facebook’s head of product management for Portal Micah Collins.
“Portal is extremely useful given the amount of video connection we have to sustain during a workday, and that trend isn’t going away,” added Collins.
Besides, Facebook has also unveiled a new service dubbed Portal for Business. This specifically caters to small and mid-sized businesses allowing companies to deploy and remotely manage portal devices for workers. As companies move to remote and hybrid setups, Facebook is seeing higher demand for such devices.
Facebook will launch its Portal for Business service in beta this year in the US Collins noted that it will be more widely available in 2022. Besides, Facebook is also planning to add Microsoft Teams to Portal devices ahead in December. Thus, Portal users will be able to access a range of Teams services like contacts, calendars, chat functionality and file sharing. As of now, Portal supports popular video calling apps like zoom and Webex.
