*By Alex Heath*
Facebook is developing hardware for the TV, Cheddar has learned.
The world’s largest social network is building a camera-equipped device that sits atop a TV and allows video calling along with entertainment services like Facebook’s YouTube competitor, according to people familiar with the matter.
The project, internally codenamed “Ripley,” uses the same core technology as Facebook’s [recently announced Portal video chat device](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-unveils-portal-video-chat-device-for-the-home) for the home. Portal begins shipping next month and uses A.I. to automatically detect and follow people as they move throughout the frame during a video call.
Facebook ($FB) currently plans to announce project Ripley in the spring of 2019, according to a person with direct knowledge of the project. But the device is still in development and the date could be changed. The announcement of Portal was postponed earlier this year due, in part, to privacy scandals surrounding the revelation that the British firm Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of millions of Facebook users to aid the Trump U.S. presidential campaign.
Ha Thai, a Facebook spokeswoman, declined to comment for this story.
Aside from Ripley’s video chat features, the device could provide Facebook an avenue to compete with the likes of Apple ($AAPL), Roku ($ROKU), and Amazon ($AMZN) for attention on TVs. Facebook’s own Watch video service is included with Portal, and the company has said that it intends to add more streaming services over time.
**An AR projector and brain interface**
Portal and project Ripley represent Facebook’s widening ambition to build a consumer hardware business outside of its virtual reality brand Oculus.
Roughly two years ago, Facebook formed a skunkworks hardware group called Building 8 that’s dedicated to developing futuristic, so-called “moonshot” products.
Two unreleased products the group teased publically last year include a device that can read brainwaves to determine what words someone wants to type and an armband that is intended to [translate sounds into vibrations](https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-building-8-prototype-device-lets-you-hear-through-skin-study-2018-10) that can be understood through human skin.
The brain interface device, internally codenamed Edgefield, is still in the early stages of development with roughly one dozen Facebook employees working on it, according to people familiar with the matter. The group is currently working on scaling down the computer needed to power the headwear and improving its glass fiber connection.
The armband project, codenamed Innatum, has been shelved due to development complications, the people said. The head of the project, Dr. Freddy Abnousi, recently took on a larger role as Facebook’s head of healthcare research and has been [talking to hospitals](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/10/facebooks-dr-freddy-abnousi-wants-doctors-to-have-more-patient-data.html) about sharing anonymized patient data with the company.
Facebook is also tinkering with hardware in the nascent field of augmented reality (AR), the technology that companies like Magic Leap are pursuing to overlay virtual objects onto the real world.
Another project, codenamed Sequoia, uses a projector to create a virtual AR experience that projects virtual objects and moves them around in physical space. Early demos have included displaying virtual board games on a physical table, reading animated children’s books, and projecting a person’s likeness onto physical objects for the purpose of video conferencing.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
