Facebook planning smart STB for TVs with video calling support

Facebook planning smart STB for TVs with video calling support

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MUMBAI: According to a United States news website, Cheddar, social networking company Facebook is working on smart set-top boxes for TV.

And according to the sources, the set-top box will be camera equipped. It will also allow video calling along with entertainment services like Facebook’s YouTube competitor.

Internally codenamed ‘Ripley’, the device uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automatically detect and follow people as they move around during a video call.

Apart from opening the door for video chat feature, the new hardware would help Facebook compete in the TV market averse to Apple and Amazon.

With concepts like Ripley, Facebook is attempting to build consumer hardware business outside of its virtual reality brand ‘Oculus’. Oculus VR is an American technology company acquired by Facebook in March 2014 for around $2 million.