Facebook Portal coming to TVs with 'Project Ripley'

Facebook Portal was the social network's first step into consumer hardware with their introduction of two smart displays that kept you connected to your Facebook account at all times. Now with 'Project Ripley' Facebook plans to take it one step further.

In what is looking to be another bold hardware initiative, Project Ripley hopes to add a Facebook-connected camera on top of your TV. This would in turn allow video calling on your big screen, while supporting Facebook Watch along with other streaming platforms.

The advantage over a device like this over Facebook Portal and Portal+ would be its significantly lower price, due to the fact that it would be using your existing TV display. Currently, Spotify and Pandora are the only big names supporting Facebook's Portal devices. In order for this venture to be successful, Facebook would have to partner with more high-profile content providers like Netflix and Amazon if it wants to compete with Google, Roku and Apple. Project Ripley is "still in development" and is set for a spring of 2019 release.

Facebook is reportedly also working on “Edgefield”, “Innatum”, and “Sequoia” projects. These ambitious, futuristic, revolutionary products include an armband capable of translating sounds into vibrations that can be understood through human skin, a device reading brainwaves to anticipate what the user intends to type, and a virtual object projector supporting advanced AR experiences like displaying virtual board games on a physical table.

source - Cheddar