Facebook is reportedly delaying the release of its smart speaker until October. It won’t be just one speaker but a line of smart speakers that are expected to compete with the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the Apple HomePod. Mark Zuckerberg isn’t stopping with taking over the world in coming up with new products, services, and features that he wants to join the smart home arena. The speakers will work on artificial intelligence (AI) so it is smarter and able to provide a more intimate interaction with the users. We don’t have many details on the device but it will come with a touchscreen display and a camera.
The Facebook speaker may be more like a smart display which is slowly becoming a trend now. We’ve seen the LG ThinQ Google Assistant Smart Display (WK9) and the ARCHOS Hello. There may be two models from Facebook but we’re guessing one will be simple with just a smart assistant and speaker plus some buttons and no screen while the other one will have a display.
These speakers are also said to be powered by a smart voice assistant. If Amazon and Google have Alexa and the Google Assistant, Facebook will have ‘M’. That’s the only information we got and we know it’s the company’s very own artificial intelligence program.
This AI, M, was once used on Messenger as a personal assistant chatbot. It may be related but it still needs a lot of work. Facebook is believed to be working on improvements and M may soon be introduced as a voice assistant that is available to understand voice commands and recognize speech. It may also include M Translations which is a new Messenger and Marketplace feature.
VIA: CNBC
