Facebook Delays Its Smart Speaker

Facebook delays its smart speaker over privacy concerns, Lincoln's new SUV uses your phone instead of a key fob and a Samsung Galaxy S9 giveaway courtesy of AT&T.giveaway details and rules here:http://richontech.tv/2018/03/giveaways/att-samsung-galaxy-s9-giveaway/Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontechNEW! You can add the Rich on Tech Daily Update to your Alexa Flash Briefing! Just search for the "Rich on Tech" skill in your Alexa app and add it to your briefing! You'll get a daily dose of tech news each day and a longer show on the weekends!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Facebook delays its smart speaker plus text and to win
a Samsung Galaxy S nine smartphone.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Amrich damiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Well, they say that timing is everything, and with that
in mind, Facebook is reportedly shelving plans to unveil a
smart speaker. Folks are loving their smart speakers, lots of
people bought them over the holidays. You've got Amazon's Echo
with Alexa built in, you have Google Home with Google
Assistant built in, and of course you have Apple's entry

(00:34):
to the race, the Home Pod with Siri. Now, Facebook
has been working on a speaker with a video chat capability,
so this is really interesting. They were planning on showing
it off at their F eight Developers conference in May,
but now those plans have been put on hold until the.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Later part of this year.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
According to various reports, one unique aspect of Facebook Speaker
is that it uses facial recognition to know when your
friends are near their speaker, so it can then suggest
video calls to people who are actually around to receive them.
So let me explain that Facebook already knows what you
look like. They know what your friends look like because
they've been using facial recognition for years. So imagine you

(01:13):
give permission to say, hey, look, when I'm near my speaker,
let my friends know that I'm nearby. Some people might
find this kind of creepy, but it is actually not
a bad idea. For example, my kids love calling their
grandparents on FaceTime, but half the time my dad or
my mom don't answer because they're just not around. Maybe
they don't want to pick up their phone, maybe they're
at work. So I like the idea of this speaker

(01:35):
that sits in a common room in your house, and
when you're in that room, say your dining room or
your living room, it can show that you're around and
able to take a call. So that's kind of cool. Apparently,
according to various reports, this was going to be unveiled
at F eight, but that's not going to happen. Expect
to see something from Facebook maybe later in the year.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
All right, moving on.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Now, Forward's latest suv let's you use your smartphone as
a key. The company unveiled a pretty reduction preview of
the Lincoln Aviator, a three row plug in hybrid that's
a bit smaller than their flagship Navigator suv. Now, other
cars already let you lock onlock and start them from
a smartphone mine included.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
But the Aviator takes it a step further.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
You can drive with no keyfob as long as you
have your smartphone with you. Now, if your phone is
lost or the battery is dead, there's a backup keypad
on the door to unlock your car. We've seen those before,
but the new thing is when you get into your car,
the center console lights up, you put a passcode in there,
and then you can actually drive the car. The Lincoln

(02:35):
Aviator Suv goes on sale next year. The only thing
similar to this is when I rented a Maven car.
I tested out the Maven car rental service. This is
from GM, and they've specially outfitted their cars to work
with your smartphone. So you literally unlock the car, you
start it with your phone, and your phone has to
be with you for this thing to work. And I

(02:56):
was concerned the whole time, what if I lose my phone,
What if my my phone goes dead?

Speaker 2 (03:01):
How would I get this car started?

Speaker 1 (03:03):
But everything worked out and it was just a little
paradigm shift in my mind. So a lot of people
are going to have that feeling with the Ford Suv.
But the reality is with that passcode in the center console,
you'll be okay.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
All right.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Finally, now for your chance to text in to win
a smartphone that's just as elegant as that car. It's
the brand new Samsung Galaxy S nine. You've heard me
talk about this phone. It's one of the hottest devices
of the year. It has a camera that takes great
pictures even in low light. It's got the personalized ar
emojis that look just like you, super slow motion for

(03:35):
some really fun video, and an amazing design. The winner
is also going to get three months free of direct
TV Now. This is a one thousand dollars value courtesy
of AT and T. To enter, text the word Galaxy
to five one five one, five to one before eleven
fifty nine pm March twenty ninth, twenty eighteen.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
The computer is going to pick one winner at random
from all entries received. Good luck on this and thanks
again to AT and T and if you want.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
The official rules, just go to my website richontech dot tv.
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. Please do
me a favor and share the podcast with your friends, spread.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
The word, and rate and review us if you can.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
In iTunes or the Apple Podcasts app I'm rich tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
That's gonna do it for now. Good luck on the
phone entry, I'll talk to you real soon