Smart home
Facebook Portal Go, Portal+ Announced: All You Need to Know
Facebook Portal Go, Portal+ price, availability
Facebook said the portable Portal Go will cost $199 (roughly Rs. 14,600) and the large-screen Portal+, the latest generation of the product, will cost $349 (roughly Rs. 25,700). Both will begin shipping on October 19.
Facebook Portal Go, Portal+ features
Portal Go features a 12-megapixel camera and an ultra-wide field-of-view (FoV). To facilitate portability, it comes with a handle for easy carrying and a “long-lasting battery” to enable long video calls while in handheld mode. Facebook said it also “doubles as a portable speaker with room-filling sound to listen to your favorite music throughout your home.”
Portal+ features a 14-inch display with 12-megapixel Smart Camera with an ultra-wide FoV. It comes with stereo speakers that can deliver high-fidelity sound.
Updates in the new models included a “household mode,” allowing users to share a Portal and control others’ access to their contacts and apps, and a way to watch TV through the product with others who are not using a Portal device.
Facebook also said it would start adding support for Microsoft Teams in Portal in December.
Facebook has not provided specific sales numbers on Portal, but a spokeswoman said there had been increased sales and usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, through which many companies shifted to remote working and more people stayed at home under lockdown measures. Facebook makes the vast majority of its money from digital ads.
The company, which is under scrutiny from global regulators and lawmakers over its approach to user safety, privacy and content across its services, launched its first line of Portals in 2018. The smart-display devices, one of Facebook’s forays into selling hardware, let users make video calls, with cameras that automatically follow users around a room.
The company reported $497 million (roughly Rs. 3,660 crores) in non-advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2021, which it attributed mainly to sales of its Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets. Facebook last month launched a test of a VR remote work app where Quest 2 users can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves.
JioTag Go Price in India, Availability
JioTag Go price is set in India at Rs. 1,499. It is available for purchase in the country via Amazon, JioMart e-store, as well as Reliance Digital and My Jio stores. The tracker is offered in black, orange, white, and yellow colour options.
JioTag Go Features
The JioTag Go is a Bluetooth tracker which is compatible with Google’s Find My Device feature. The tracker connects with the Find My Device application on Android smartphones, which users can access through the Play Store. People can use this to track their belongings worldwide, the company said.
It can be attached to keys, purses, luggage, gadgets, bikes, and more and then be used to locate the items if lost. When within Bluetooth range, users can tap the ‘Play Sound’ option on the Find My Device app, and the concerned JioTag Go will make a beeping noise, which should easily help locate the lost item.
Outside the Bluetooth range, the last location of the tracker can be detected by Google’s Find My Device network. On the app, users can follow the map that appears with the ‘Get Directions’ option, to this location. Once in range, the JioTag Go will automatically connect to the user’s phone and they can use the ‘Play Sound’ feature to find the tracker.
The latest tracker from Reliance Jio is compatible with smartphones running Android 9 and above. It does not connect to iPhones. Notably, the JioTag Air is compatible with iPhone models running iOS 14 or later, as well as Android smartphones on Android 9 and later.
JioTag Go does not require a SIM card to function. It supports Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and is backed by a CR2032 battery, one of which is said to last up to a year. The Amazon listing reveals that the tracker measures 38.2 x 38.2 x 7.2mm in size and weighs 9g.
Apple AirTag 2 New Ultrawide-Band Chip
The anticipated AirTag 2 will carry a new ultrawide-band chip instead of the one used in the current version of the tracker, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter Sunday. This new chip is said to be “on par with the one introduced in the iPhone 15.”
Gurman claimed that the new ultrawide-band chip is expected to increase the Precision Finding range considerably in the second generation of AirTag. This is said to make it easier to track and find items. Currently, depending on certain conditions an item with an attached AirTag can be located from 10 to 30 meters away. With the rumoured new UB chip, that range is expected to triple, Gurman said.
Apple AirTag 2 Launch Timeline
Previous reports have suggested that Apple could launch the AirTag 2 around the “middle of next year,” that is roughly June-July 2025. The purported smart tracker is said to carry the codename B589. It is expected to sport a similar design as the existing variant but get upgraded privacy features.
Since the launch of the first generation AirTag, it has been misused for stalking. Apple is expected to make privacy-focussed changes for the AirTag 2 “to make the new model more tamper-proof.” The company will reportedly launch a new smart home display alongside the second-generation AirTag.
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New Apple HomePod Display
A report by SE Daily claims that the third-generation HomePod from Apple will likely sport a 6-inch to 7-inch OLED display. The Cupertino-based tech giant will use OLED panels by Tianma. An earlier leak had claimed that the upcoming HomePod model will get a 7-inch panel from Tianma.
The older had leak claimed that Tianma would likely provide display panels for Apple’s iPad models in the coming years. Tianma is an electronic technology company which is popular for manufacturing displays for Android smartphones.
Previous reports suggested that an upcoming HomePod speaker unit could be powered by an A18 chipset and have support for Apple Intelligence. It has been tipped to carry a square display instead of a rectangular one, which is primarily seen in tablets.
The HomePod is expected to be equipped with a customisable lock screen with multiple clock faces. It may have an in-built camera to support video conferencing apps like FaceTime. The camera may be able to recognise hand gestures, that could be used to control the smart speaker.
Initial reports claimed that the third generation of Apple’s HomePod could be unveiled in the first half of 2025. A recent report suggests that the production of the speaker may not begin until the third quarter of 2025. This delay is reportedly a result of the company continuing to work on the software for the smart speaker. It may launch by the end of 2025.
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.
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