Facebook Will Officially Enter the Global Market of Smart Speakers Soon

Facebook is going to launch two touch screen smart speakers and is ready to get into the global smart speaker market in mid-2018. Facebook plans to unveil two models; codename Aloha and Fiona.

According to reports, the Aloha model is expected to be the more expensive of the two products and may be sold under the name Portal. It is said to feature voice and facial recognition to identify users and would have a front-facing camera. It is expected to come with 15 inch touchscreen. However, very little is known for Fiona.

The panels of the smart speakers will be supplied by LG and both the units will be assembled by contract manufacturer, Pegatron. Facebook has also reportedly signed music licensing deals with Sony and Universal Music to include music functionality on the device.

With the launch of these smart speakers, Facebook will compete with Amazon's best-selling Echo models. The launch was scheduled in May but the company has pushed it to July in order to improve the audio quality. According to industry sources, Facebook needs more time to make its smart speakers more accurate and responsive.