Facebook’s Aloha 500 Smart Home Device Will Cost $500

Apparently this is the week to dominate the smart home life. We already told you that Google is looking to make a smaller version of their Google Home device to compete with the Amazon Echo Dot. And then we told you that Samsung is getting into the game too with a speaker of their own. Now Facebook is bringing the Aloha, but it’s much more than just a smart speaker.

The Aloha is said to have a large touch screen, along with speakers, a camera, and facial recognition software. This positions it to compete with the Amazon Echo Show, but also brings us to its first problem. Facebook already has a shaky relationship with the public, one that’s been rife with trust issues, and now they’ll be bring a camera into your home; a camera that can recognize people no less. Through their own marketing studies they’ve found a very real concern among consumers that Facebook will use the camera to spy on them.

In addition, reports say that the Aloha will come to market at $500, which is $200 more than the Amazon Echo Show, it’s supposed competitor. The price difference, coupled with the spying worries, might mean that the Aloha has an uphill battle in front of it.

Facebook is eyeing a May 2018 release for the product, which they’re promoting as an easy way for elderly consumers to keep in touch. Any recent sci-fi movie will show you that easy-to-use video chat is expected to be the preferred communication method of the future, but those same films also show mega corporations using the technology to spy on people, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Remember, in the ongoing AI battle between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, the CEO of Facebook is on the <em>pro-artificial intelligence</em> side. Something to think about (he’s a robot).