Rumor: Facebook is working on a smart speaker with a 15-inch touchscreen

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Facebook is working on a smart speaker in which image plays a greater role than with competitors such as the Amazon Echo, the Google Home or the Apple HomePod. That is what DigiTimes claims based on sources within Taiwanese manufacturers.

Facebook combines the smart speaker with a 15″ touchscreen and has the product built at Pegatron, the Taiwanese company that, for example, also takes care of part of the Apple iPhone and Microsoft Surface production. DigitTimes reports this from its sources within the Taiwanese technology industry.

Facebook is said to have already started production on a small scale. The design would come from the Building 8 department of the social network, where the company is working on experimental products. Facebook has had its own personal assistant ‘M’ since 2015, which it incorporated into Messenger. However, Facebook does not yet have its own hardware with the assistant, as Amazon, Google, Apple and soon Microsoft and Samsung will have. The rumor comes a week after Business Insider reported a modular device from Facebook.

That device could work not only as a smartphone and smart speaker, but also as a microphone and touch-sensitive device, depending on the connected module. However, this was only a patent application; there are no indications that Facebook is actually working on the device described in the patent.

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