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Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger Added End-To-End Encryption For Voice And Video Calls.

As the name suggests, Facebook Messenger is an app that allows users to communicate via chat, voice, and video between Facebook’s web-based messaging and smartphones. User’s device and geographic location determine specific capabilities.) Mobile data plans and Wi-Fi connections are available for users of the Messenger app on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and Blackberry.
SMS texting is also integrated into the Android app so users don’t have to switch between different communication interfaces to communicate with their friends and family. Users can access text messages and Facebook chat through the interface once Messenger is selected as the default SMS client. A purple color code is used to distinguish between SMS and Facebook messages.

Facebook Messenger
Image source: i.gadgets360cdn.com

Messenger will now support end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls. On its blog, the company announced that it is implementing the change as well as new controls for its disappearing messages. It’s possible that some users will also notice some new encryption test features.
With the addition of the “secret conversation” option to Facebook Messenger’s app, text messages were encrypted from beginning to end in 2016. Now, that mode also allows for the use of a telephone. Because Messenger is now receiving more than 150 million video calls per day, Facebook says the feature is being added to keep up with the growing popularity of voice and video calls.
It was already possible to make calls with E2EE, which prevents anyone but the sender and receiver from seeing the encrypted data, on the Facebook chat app WhatsApp. And so do others like Zoom, Signal, and Apple’s FaceTime video calling app. E2EE, according to Facebook, is “becoming the industry standard” for messaging apps. Before now, there was speculation that Facebook might roll out an encrypted messaging system across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
Smaller changes will be made to text conversations. To make a message disappear, you can choose from a range of time frames from five seconds to 24 hours. When it first launched, it offered one-minute increments as well as one-hour, four-hours, and 24-hours.
However, Facebook is running a limited beta test of other features that will be visible to everyone. “Friends and family that already have a chat thread or are already connected” end-to-end encrypted group chats and calls will be available for some users. As well, Facebook’s existing non-E2EE controls on who can contact them on Messenger will be supported. For those who use Instagram, a “limited test” is offering opt-in E2EE for that app’s direct messages.

Facebook is an American company that provides social networking services over the internet. Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, all Harvard University students, founded Facebook in 2004. Facebook became the world’s largest social network in 2012, with more than one billion users, half of whom used it daily.
Part of Facebook’s appeal comes from Zuckerberg’s insistence that members be honest about who they are from the start; users are prohibited from adopting fictitious names. The company’s management argued that transparency is necessary for forming personal relationships, sharing ideas and information, and building society as a whole. A peer-to-peer network of Facebook users makes it easier for businesses to connect with consumers.
“Facebook,” as it was called back then, was created to allow Harvard students using their “.edu” email addresses and photos to connect with each other. Zuckerberg saw an opportunity to bring the existing social experience of college into cyberspace when he was a student. He wanted to create a place where college students could come together and socialize.
With a market cap of more than $600 Billion, the social media giant had revenues of $70.7 Billion in 2019. As a result, Zuckerberg is one of the world’s wealthiest men.

Facebook Portal TV

Portal TV: New Video Chat Devices from Facebook for Your Living Room

Despite the backlashes for the user’s privacy invasion, Facebook has been always the leader in the field of social media. And, now the company wants to move ahead with its home devices. Last year, the company launched its own video chat device, Portal Plus, which seemed to be vain when people can use their smartphones for video chats. But Facebook had got its plans for the new hardware range. That is why, now the company has unveiled three more home devices in the similar range.

As a part of its connected devices to TV strategy, Facebook has just launched a new video chat and streaming device called Portal TV. The device is specially built for the users to make video calls over Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp, and for that, the company has incorporated a wide-angle video camera and a microphone to the device. The camera is capable of zooming and following the people around the room for the video calls.

Users can log in to their Facebook accounts on the Portal TV by plugging in the Portal device to the HDMI port of the TV, and they are ready to make video calls. The users need to say “Hey Portal” to the device and instruct it to call the particular person (from their friend list). The same procedure goes for Whatsapp. A picture-in-picture feature included in the Portal device lets the users watch Facebook Watch altogether with video calls to their friends, both in one screen.

Facebook Portal TV
Image Source: pocket-lint.com

The company is careful with its users’ privacy this time at least, as Facebook has included the options to turn off the camera and the microphone, simply by tapping on it or by sliding the cover to the camera, whenever they want. Also, like for the Whatsapp chat smartphone app, the chats, video and text, are encrypted, these are encrypted end to end for the Portal TV, too. But again, there is something unusual that the company has included in the device, and that is, human auditors to listen to what the users are talking over the calls to improve the service. Yes, the device will be continuously recording human chattering, and the Facebook contractors will be reviewing the talks. But again, the users can opt-out of this feature anytime.

Other than that, the device also offers streaming various channels, including Amazon Prime, Facebook Watch, Showtime, etc. The users can also play augmented reality games on the TV while making video calls.

The company revealed that it will bring the devices in the market starting from November 5th, and the Portal TV will cost $149.

Along with the Portal TV, the company also announced two more devices, the Portal Mini video chat smart speaker and a redesigned version of its Portal speakers. The Portal Mini costs $129, and the speakers cost $179. These two devices will be available in the market from October 15. However, buying all three devices together will get you an off of $50.