Naturally, because it’s a Facebook product, you can also initiate calls over Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. You can use it to call other Facebook Portal devices, but it also works with other video-calling apps too, like Zoom, BlueJeans, GoToMeeting, or Webex. The smart camera can automatically follow you as you move around the room, and built-in apps like Netflix and Spotify make it a handy alternative to other streaming devices. The company’s $150 Portal TV is a device that incorporates a webcam and microphones and perches atop your TV.
It’s weird to think that Facebook, a company better known for its massive social media and messaging presence than for its hardware, has one of the best ways to video chat on your TV, but it does. Some are elegant, some are awkward, but none are perfect solutions. There are, however, several ways to get these calls onto a TV.
And when I say ridiculous, I’m talking about how virtually none of the tech companies that make smart TVs, game consoles, or streaming media devices (yes, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, I’m looking at you) have stepped up to make video calling on a TV a task that’s as easy (and versatile) as doing it from a computer or smartphone. And even if we finally get back to “normal” once COVID-19 herd immunity has been achieved, there’s a very good chance that video calling will remain a key tool in both our careers and our personal lives.īut despite the prominence that video calling has gained, it’s remarkable that so few of us do this activity on the largest screens in the house: Our TVs. It’s hard to think of one technology that has been more central to our lives over the last year than video calling.
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