Whether you’re reuniting with friends and family for the holidays or celebrating together virtually, Meta Portal offers a unique way to capture and share new memories and stay connected with those who matter most all year long. Today, we’re sharing some new Portal features — and highlighting some of our favorites.
Portal’s Smart Camera is like having your own personal camera person, and Photo Booth can be your personal photographer and videographer. We’re rolling out the ability to let Portal capture the moment for you during a Messenger call, while enjoying a family gathering or as you head out the door for a night on the town, hands-free with Facebook Assistant when you say, “Hey Portal, take a photo.” And Portal also lets you quickly share photos and videos with friends and family through Messenger.
Portal is a great way to connect when you can’t be together, and it’s also a fully-capable smart home device. Portal now includes the Alexa touch interface, so you can manage smart home devices, routines, alarms, music, smart doorbells, and more by touch or directly from the Alexa app.
We’re rolling out new ways for people to stay connected and up to date with their Facebook friends on Portal, hands-free. With Facebook Assistant, you can now pull up a friend's profile or recent posts. Simply say, “Hey Portal, show me Stories,” or ask about recent posts, responses, and photos to catch up on updates from your closest connections.
With stereo sound, both Portal Go and Portal+ make great speakers, so you can listen to your favorite holiday tunes together. All Portal devices, including Portal TV, can be used as a Bluetooth speaker, so you can control the music and play DJ from your smartphone.
Make the moment a little more magical with a variety of fun AR effects, masks, and backgrounds. We’re adding group AR Effects that allow people on a Messenger call to experience the same effects simultaneously for even more laughs.
We’re also adding three new augmented reality games you can play and interact with using Facebook Assistant: Quizbee, Sequencer, and Port-a-Pet. Quizbee tests your trivia knowledge, Sequencer asks you to memorize randomized number sequences to strengthen your recall skills, and Port-a-Pet lets you use voice commands to interact with your own virtual pet. All three games are available through the Photo Booth app.
Watch Together lets you enjoy movies, shows, and videos with friends and family and see their reactions in real time — like you’re all in the same room. We recently rolled out a curated selection of family-friendly Facebook Watch videos organized by categories that encourage families to laugh, dance, learn, and cook together. Content is updated on a weekly basis, so there’s always something new. We’re also rolling out new controls for Watch Together, so you can control access during Messenger calls in addition to the app when Household Mode is enabled.
Portal already offers a variety of apps to keep you entertained, like Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TIDAL, and more. Later this month, ESPN (which includes access to ESPN+) will expand from Portal TV to include Portal, Portal+, and Portal Go in the US.
When you’re not connecting with friends and family, Portal is a great dedicated video-calling device for work — freeing up your computer to collaborate, multitask, and share files with coworkers. And Portal’s Bluetooth headphone and keyboard support means you can be even more productive throughout your day. Portal already offers Zoom, Webex, GoToMeeting, BlueJeans, and Workplace to help you connect with your team. And support for Microsoft Teams will be available on Portal, Portal+, and Portal Go December 8.*
Portal Go, our first portable video-calling device with an integrated handle and long-lasting battery, is designed to let conversations flow freely as you move from room to room. Chat with Grandma while baking holiday cookies in the kitchen, and move your call to the Christmas tree without missing a beat.
Portal+ is our new 14-inch tilting display that makes the ultimate virtual holiday dinner co-host, thanks to its large screen. And if you want to make video calls from the largest screen in your home, Portal TV lets you sit back and enjoy the chat or get up and move around the room freely.
All three devices feature a 12MP Smart Camera with an ultrawide field of view for immersive video calls. Even better, you can still score savings on Portal in time for the holidays. For a limited time, you can get Portal and Portal TV for $79 USD, Portal Go for $149 USD, and Portal+ for $299 USD. Click here to find the Portal that’s right for you, check availability, and learn more about the terms that apply to this offer.
*Microsoft Teams works on gen 2 or later Portal touch-based devices.
