Zoom is trying to be everywhere, as it expands support for additional devices
Facebook Portal, Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub Max will gain support for the popular app
Zoom, facing competition for the video conferencing space from Google Meet, Apple's FaceTime and other software, has announced that it's expanding support for a number of devices, including Facebook Portal.
In a press release, Zoom, which has seen a boom during the coronavirus pandemic, said the support for Zoom for Home would come at different times. Facebook's Portal, which also competes with Zoom's own hardware, is getting support next month and the other devices, which include Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub Max, will come before the end of the year.
“We’re excited to bring Zoom to these popular devices,” said Oded Gal, Chief Product Officer at Zoom, in the statement. “It’s more apparent than ever that people are looking for easy-to-use displays for their video communications needs, both professionally and personally.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZM | ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 81.20 | +2.34 | +2.97% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 198.38 | -4.50 | -2.22% |
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 167.63 | -8.35 | -4.74% |
ZOOM, APPLE GET NEW COMPETITION AS TELEGRAM LAUNCHES VIDEO CALLING
The way Zoom for Home will work on each device is slightly different. Facebook's Portal devices will just add a Zoom app and use the devices smart camera to "automatically ... keep you in frame for immersive video calls with colleagues and family."
The apps will first be available for the Portal Mini, Portal and Portal+ with support for Portal TV "in the future," Zoom added.
The Amazon Echo Show devices will use a person's calendar and sync so a user can say, “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting.” Users can also enter a meeting without the meeting ID or passcode if they've linked their calendar to the Alexa app.
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The Echo Show 8 will be the first device to get Zoom for Home support, with others coming later.
Google's Nest Hub Max will see similar support, using integration with Google Calendar and Google Assistant to pull existing Zoom meetings from a person's calendar.
Shares of Zoom were lower on Wednesday, falling 0.85% to trade at $274.45.