*By Alex Heath*
Facebook ($FB) plans to finally unveil its Portal video chat device for the home next week, Cheddar has learned.
The device will function similarly to an Amazon ($AMZN) Echo Show with social features and come in two screen sizes, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss unannounced plans. The larger device could be priced around $400, while the smaller one could go for around $300, the people said.
Facebook [originally planned](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-dives-into-home-device-market-with-video-chat-product-named-portal-2) to announce Portal at its annual F8 developer conference in May of this year. But the company’s scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach and the bombshell revelation that Russia used the platform to interfere with the 2016 elections, led executives to shelve the announcement at the last minute.
Portal will feature a privacy shutter that can cover the device’s wide-angle video camera, which uses artificial intelligence to recognize people in the frame and follow them as they move throughout a room. The shutter was recently developed in response to worsening public trust in the Facebook brand, an effect employees internally refer to as the “brand tax.”
Aside from its A.I.-powered video chat technology, Portal will feature integration with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and let users play music, watch videos, see cooking recipes, and get news briefs. Facebook employees have been testing the device in their homes for months and have shown Portal to major retailers.
When asked for comment, a Facebook spokesperson told Cheddar that the company doesn't "comment on rumor and speculation."
Portal represents Facebook’s first foray into selling its own consumer hardware outside of Oculus, the VR headset maker it acquired in 2014 for around $2 billion. Facebook designed software for a phone in partnership with HTC in 2013 that flopped.
Portal will be the first device to come out of Facebook’s skunkworks hardware lab called Building 8, which has publicly teased far-flung technology like a brain-controlled computer interface.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-to-debut-portal-video-chat-device).
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
