Facebook has announced a slew of new features coming to its Facebook Portal.
Not only is the smart display going to be better in terms of functionality, but it's also going to be more widely available in the foreseeable future.
Facebook Portal's Upcoming New Features
For starters, WhatsApp is makings its way to the device, adding end-to-end encryption to the mix. Facebook says users will be able to call their friends via the messaging or Messenger on Portal or their smartphone.
In collaboration with Amazon, the company is bringing Alexa skills to Portal. Things like Flash Briefings and smart home controls are coming, as well as the Amazon Prime Video app. These are expected to start rolling out sometime later in the year.
On top of that, Facebook mentions that users can tell the smart display "Hey Portal, good morning" and get a quick summary of upcoming events and birthdays. It's also adding an option that allows users to send private video messages from the device. These features should go live sometime this summer.
What's more, SuperFrame is getting an improvement. Before the update, Portal could only use photos from users' Facebook feed, but now it can also use pictures from Instagram. This summer, there's a new mobile app coming too that'll let users add photos to SuperFrame directly from their devices' camera roll.
In addition, a stand-alone Story Time app (along with three new children's book series: Llama Llama, Pete the Cat, and Otto), augmented reality games, and Instant Games are coming this summer.
Last but not least, Facebook Live is also heading to Portal, which means that users can stream in real time on it soon.
Facebook Portal's Availability Expanding
Portal and Portal Plus have been available only in the United States since they launched, and now Facebook says they're going to be available in other markets. Starting June, they'll be available in Canada, and sometime during fall, they'll expand to Europe as well.
The announcement is part of Facebook's Day 1 post for its F8 2019 event, and the full list of updates for Portal are available in a separate post.
