Portal TV Facebook camera thingy

[Short Norman]

anyone got one of these.

My brother lives in Canada and regularly facetimes my parents. Just thinking about getting them one for Christmas. They currently use their iPhone etc to video chat with him.

I'm wondering how does the Portal camera work does it connect via you iPhone/iPad and use the portal camera instead of the camera on your device.

 

[DrR]

Why is this any better than how you do it now?

 

[Typhoon]

If they have MacBooks etc then can FaceTime directly from that/the built in webcam.

 

[sn00p]

Obviously these are out of stock everywhere given the situation that's going on, but I hope for not too long, although I figure it's going to be quite a long time.

Desperate to get one for my parents, my dad is pretty deaf and trying to video chat him is pretty difficult as he can't hear, I'm shouting (the whole street can hear the convo) and I keep getting live streams of his ear, this is even with hearing aids and the volume turned right up....followed by "I can't hear you". lol

 

[Typhoon]

Obviously these are out of stock everywhere given the situation that's going on, but I hope for not too long, although I figure it's going to be quite a long time.

Desperate to get one for my parents, my dad is pretty deaf and trying to video chat him is pretty difficult as he can't hear, I'm shouting (the whole street can hear the convo) and I keep getting live streams of his ear, this is even with hearing aids and the volume turned right up....followed by "I can't hear you". lol

What technology do they have now that you’re capable of using video chat features with? WhatsApp?

Wouldn’t the easiest solution be to get your old man a decent pair of clear headphones?

I’d be lying if I said I knew what this Facebook Portal thing is but as I can make out, it just looks like a tablet? Out of interest: how will that help your old mans hearing/camera placement? I understand I’ve probably got the whole concept wrong but I’m just going by a google image.

 

[sn00p]

What technology do they have now that you’re capable of using video chat features with? WhatsApp?

Wouldn’t the easiest solution be to get your old man a decent pair of clear headphones?

I’d be lying if I said I knew what this Facebook Portal thing is but as I can make out, it just looks like a tablet? Out of interest: how will that help your old mans hearing/camera placement? I understand I’ve probably got the whole concept wrong but I’m just going by a google image.

Headphones are a no go, he's pretty deaf. I've ordered a 3.5mm cable and a stand so that he can plug it into the Alexa, hopefully he'll have plenty of volume then and be able to hear, it's not entirely ideal.

The stress I had getting him to install WhatsApp was crazy, he had a stroke 20 odd years ago and has zero tolerance since then and gets frustrated very quickly, so anything I do has to be as simple to do and organise from my end. I considered bluetooth to the alexa, but that would create all sorts of issues with it auto connecting and sound coming out of the wrong place when he didn't want it to, that would send him over the edge.

Theres a few portal devices, but one is the portal tv which is like the kinect bar, it's basically a fancy webcam that works with facebook and whatsapp, you plug it into the TV and so they get a nice big picture and as much volume as they want, I suspect it would be trivial to set up with whatsapp and I could talk him through it over the phone.

 

[Typhoon]

Headphones are a no go, he's pretty deaf. I've ordered a 3.5mm cable and a stand so that he can plug it into the Alexa, hopefully he'll have plenty of volume then and be able to hear, it's not entirely ideal.

The stress I had getting him to install WhatsApp was crazy, he had a stroke 20 odd years ago and has zero tolerance since then and gets frustrated very quickly, so anything I do has to be as simple to do and organise from my end. I considered bluetooth to the alexa, but that would create all sorts of issues with it auto connecting and sound coming out of the wrong place when he didn't want it to, that would send him over the edge.

Theres a few portal devices, but one is the portal tv which is like the kinect bar, it's basically a fancy webcam that works with facebook and whatsapp, you plug it into the TV and so they get a nice big picture and as much volume as they want, I suspect it would be trivial to set up with whatsapp and I could talk him through it over the phone.

So essentially, are you opting for this so you can use the capacity of the TV’s volume?

 

[sn00p]

So essentially, are you opting for this so you can use the capacity of the TV’s volume?

Yes, that and convenience for them. Anything I try to organise has to be simple, otherwise it won't happen.

I'll see how we get on with the phone + cable + alexa, but if that doesn't work too well then I guess I will just wait until the portal tv comes back into stock.

 

[Typhoon]

Yes, that and convenience for them. Anything I try to organise has to be simple, otherwise it won't happen.

I'll see how we get on with the phone + cable + alexa, but if that doesn't work too well then I guess I will just wait until the portal tv comes back into stock.

What do you reckon about Skype? Either built in to a smart TV or preloaded on a fire stick? They have a cheap deal on fire sticks at the moment which @rctempire will fill you in on.

 

[Gally]

Don't put a Facebook portal in your house dude! Or anyone's house! Their record in privacy is nothing short of shocking!

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Obviously these are out of stock everywhere given the situation that's going on, but I hope for not too long, although I figure it's going to be quite a long time.

Desperate to get one for my parents, my dad is pretty deaf and trying to video chat him is pretty difficult as he can't hear, I'm shouting (the whole street can hear the convo) and I keep getting live streams of his ear, this is even with hearing aids and the volume turned right up....followed by "I can't hear you". lol

Builder I know is deaf as a post.. has recently got new hearing aids that are Bluetooth'd to his phone...

#GameChanging

 

[sn00p]

Builder I know is deaf as a post.. has recently got new hearing aids that are Bluetooth'd to his phone...

#GameChanging

My dads 75, Bluetooth is out because I can’t deal with all the problems it will create!

 

[sn00p]

Don't put a Facebook portal in your house dude! Or anyone's house! Their record in privacy is nothing short of shocking!

its ok i have plenty of tinfoil. Honestly, using my phone , google or debit card would reveal move about my habits than anything that’s on my facebook profile.

My parents profile is only used to look at facebook, in about 8 years they haven’t posted once!

 

[sn00p]

Huzzah, it came back into stock on amazon.

 

[sn00p]

looks like they sold out pretty quickly as well, glad I randomly decided to check!