Facebook’s smart speaker has been in the news for quite some time now, the company actually planned to launch it at the F8 event but backed out after the privacy concerns. Now it is said that the company will first launch the smart speaker in the international markets first to avoid U.S. public scrutiny of data privacy issues.
Not one but two Facebook smart speakers will include a voice assistant based on the same technology that powers “M” chatbot, which was discontinued in January. With American users and Govt giving extra attention to Facebook and its user privacy, this new report comes as no surprise.
Facebook is launching these two new speakers as competitors to Amazon’s Echo and Alphabet’s Google Home products. Of the two new speakers, one is said to come with a camera and a touchscreen, and it will also connect directly to Facebook Messenger which will make it easier to chat with friends and family. Though Facebook recently shut down the M chatbot, the company is reportedly taking the program and developing it into a voice assistant with voice commands as well.
Having a smart speaker that listens to users and stores their data raises more privacy concerns, and it is the last thing Facebook would want at this time. On the other hand, direct roll out to international markets will help Facebook diversify its product where competitors are weaker. Facebook declined to comment, and we should know more details in the days to come.