Facebook's Video Chat Device Codenamed 'Aloha' To Be Released In May 2018

It was reported previously that Facebook was working on its own video chat device for the home. Now, more details about Facebook’s hardware efforts have been outed with executive Andrew Bosworth leading the company’s plans for its consumer hardware.

Bosworth will now be overseeing Building 8 and Oculus, as reported by Business Insider. Bosworth’s appointment as the new head of Facebook’s hardware division was confirmed inside Facebook by CTO Mike Schroepfer, while a spokesperson released an official statement.

“We are excited about our long-term investments in virtual reality, augmented reality, and consumer hardware,” the spokesperson said. “We believe these new technologies have the potential to bring the world closer together in entirely new ways, and we've built great teams with strong leadership in each of these areas. Bringing these teams closer together will help us move even faster as we continue to invest in our 10-year roadmap.”

Bosworth has been Facebook’s vice president of ads and business platform for years now, and he has been in the company for more than a decade now. With Bosworth now leading Facebook’s hardware division, Mark Rabkin will take over his old responsibilities in the company.

Building 8, Facebook’s secretive hardware team, is now composed of former Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra and former Google executive Regina Dugan.

IBT reported earlier this month that Facebook’s video chat device would come with a touchscreen display, which measures between 13 and 15 inches diagonally. The device is expected to come with built-in microphones, speakers and a camera, and it might possibly run Google’s Android operating system, according to Bloomberg.

Business Insider is now reporting that this device is currently codenamed Aloha. Facebook’s Project Aloha will also be capable of recognizing people’s faces. Prototypes of the device has already been tested in employees’ homes, and Facebook plans to release it in May 2018. Right now, it’s believed that Facebook is planning on selling the device around the $499 price range.

Facebook originally intended for Aloha to be the main competitor of the Amazon Echo. However, Facebook now believes that project Aloha is actually the main competitor for the Amazon Echo Show, which also features a touchscreen and a camera.

Building 8 is facing the difficult task on how to market Project Aloha as there has been growing concerns over mistrust in Facebook’s handling of users' privacy. According to one person familiar with the matter, the company has conducted studies for Aloha and found that people were worried that Facebook might use it to spy on users.

This is why Facebook might market project Aloha as an easy way for elderly users to communicate with their families. Building 8 is also considering creating a new brand name and ditch the Facebook brand altogether for the upcoming device.

As for the other future hardware products under Facebook’s Building 8, the team is said to be interested in making other devices as well. These include a standalone smart speaker without a display, a 360-degree camera and possibly even wearables.