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Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

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Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#121

Post by Shish2k »

arwineap wrote: post #117
gertrunde wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought two portals for elderly relatives, predominantly for video calling, and I don't think there has been another product, then or since, that fitted that use case as well, especially with people who maybe aren't as familiar with smartphones. So somewhat frustrating when it all started to wind down various bits of functionality disappeared a bit at a time, until finally you had something that would receive calls…

We still use our portals quite a bit, is support for these devices winding down?

They stopped getting new features a few years ago, and existing features have been gradually removed...

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#122

Post by wolvoleo »

jeroenhd wrote: post #88
jstanley wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there are keys on the device that would leak if meta opened it up. Are these keys not functionally leaked as soon as you ship the device to customers?

With enough encryption, obfuscation, and security-through-obscurity, you can make it extremely difficult to obtain those keys. Companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony ship consoles that are the target of a very motivated black market/cheating industry, and it usually takes years before any serious leaks surface.

Well yeah but those are more hardened and also the keys alone is generally not enough because they are asymmetric. So the private part is kept somewhere on some HSM.

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#123

Post by burnte »

I'm work-friends with one of the project leads on Portal, and I felt terrible for him when Portal launched. It was right after all the Cambridge Analytica stuff that gave Facebook a massive privacy-blackeye. I said, "I think it's a great product but I think this is the worst time for Facebook to launch a product that sits in your house with a mic and a camera." On top, it was a bulkier, less flexible, non-portable version of Facetime/Zoom/video chat on your cell phone or tablet. Never understood the drive behind it because it was an OBVIOUS failure right from the get go.

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#124

Post by hyldmo »

gertrunde wrote: post #84
objclxt wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They scaled up the team briefly, which meant that lots of weird stuff was tried, but the roadmap was diluted. Boz never cared for Portal, it wasn't his product. I was one of the original engineers on Portal. The VP running the research lap responsible for Portal was canned in a political coup, and her entire org moved under Boz, merging it with Oculus into the AR/VR team. There was some ham-fisted justification aro…

We bought two portals for elderly relatives, predominantly for video calling, and I don't think there has been another product, then or since, that fitted that use case as well, especially with people who maybe aren't as familiar with smartphones. So somewhat frustrating when it all started to wind down various bits of functionality disappeared a bit at a time, until finally you had something that would receive calls…

As for similar products i think Komp from NoIsolation is pretty identical for the use case you’re talking about.

Disclaimer: I’m friends with the founders

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#125

Post by KaiserPro »

arwineap wrote: post #117
gertrunde wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought two portals for elderly relatives, predominantly for video calling, and I don't think there has been another product, then or since, that fitted that use case as well, especially with people who maybe aren't as familiar with smartphones. So somewhat frustrating when it all started to wind down various bits of functionality disappeared a bit at a time, until finally you had something that would receive calls…

We still use our portals quite a bit, is support for these devices winding down?

I think support is for ten years after the initial announcement

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#126

Post by shye »

shermantanktop wrote: post #112
ymolodtsov wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it'd be pretty weird if people and teams inside a company go just go rogue against the CEO.

What if the CEO is wrong about something?

That's on the company owners[1], as represented by its board.

---

[1] Companies like Meta actually has two types of ownership: ownership of the company's current assets (economic equity), which is not the same as ownership of control in the company's decision making (voting power). The owners I reference here are the second category of ownership.

In the example of Meta, a quick search suggests Zuckerberg holds about 61% of the voting power.

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#128

Post by TimTheTinker »

amenghra wrote: post #46
TimTheTinker wrote: post #23

Apple Desktop Bus? That's a really old peripheral standard...

I loled (in case it was sarcasm). It’s “Android Debug Bridge” if it wasn’t.

It was sarcasm. I couldn't care less about whatever latest hardware junk Meta is hawking

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#129

Post by gertrunde »

hyldmo wrote: post #124
gertrunde wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought two portals for elderly relatives, predominantly for video calling, and I don't think there has been another product, then or since, that fitted that use case as well, especially with people who maybe aren't as familiar with smartphones. So somewhat frustrating when it all started to wind down various bits of functionality disappeared a bit at a time, until finally you had something that would receive calls…

As for similar products i think Komp from NoIsolation is pretty identical for the use case you’re talking about. Disclaimer: I’m friends with the founders

I'd not seen that one, and it does look like it has some nice points - although needing its own special app is rather frustrating (vs leveraging apps that people are already using).

Seems not too disimilar from the echo show's video calling capabilities in that respect (i.e. only calls within the Amazon ecosystem).

Re: Meta enables ADB on deprecated Portal devices [video]

#130

Post by qq66 »

objclxt wrote: post #77
KaiserPro wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is sad that it takes a Meta developer having some fun to realize they should open up ADB. Former facebook research lab twat here. It wasn't one dev. We asked when they shitcanned portal (which was a great product, badly managed) to open it up. Infact one of the kernel devs made a very direct plea to allow the community to adopt the hardware so that we could avoid Ewaste. It was denied because there are keys on t…

> They scaled up the team briefly, which meant that lots of weird stuff was tried, but the roadmap was diluted. Boz never cared for Portal, it wasn't his product. I was one of the original engineers on Portal. The VP running the research lap responsible for Portal was canned in a political coup, and her entire org moved under Boz, merging it with Oculus into the AR/VR team. There was some ham-fisted justification aro…

Your product helped our kids stay connected to their grandparents and cousins during the pandemic. One of the greatest things we've ever owned.
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