8 BARRON’S September 28, 2020
STREETWISE
It may be a Zoom world, but Facebook appears to
have the only consumer device that turns TVs into
a videoconferencing wonder.
Life Is Now Lived
On Video. So Why Are
TVsSoFarBehind?
T
his past week, I
made my boldest
move since the
quarantine began,
joining a work
video call from a
different spot than
my usual desk perch.
Based on the reaction of colleagues,
it was as if I had moved halfway
across the world. In the last six
months, our video-call backgrounds
have become part of our identity. We
notice when co-workers move furni-
ture, paint walls, or make their beds.
And now that we’ve had time to work
out the technical kinks, it all feels
fairly normal. I’ve noticed a sharp
decrease in the number of “Can you
hear me?” preambles.
For workers fortunate enough to be
able to work from home, videoconfer-
encing has done an admirable job fill-
ing in for the office.
I can’t quite say the same for our
personal lives. I’ve had to move lap-
tops, monitors, and charging cables to
virtually celebrate birthdays from the
dining room table. I’ve taped cords to
the floor, as if it were a movie set. And
it’s all still awkward. One of my kids is
inevitably left out of the frame, which
feels like the quarantine version of
Home Alone.
Remote learning is no easier. I feel
for the teachers, who have had to start
the year by putting names to fore-
heads—the only part of my daughter’s
body that usually ends up in the iPad
camera.
But there is hope on the horizon.
Before the pandemic even began, I
bought a new product from Facebook
(ticker: FB) called Portal TV. The de-
vice sits on top of your TV and basi-
cally merges a webcam with a Roku-
like device.
Given Facebook’s privacy and data
issues, the Portal TV was met with
controversy when it launched a year
ago. Tech site CNET headlined its re-
view: “No One Should Buy the Face-
book Portal TV.”
I decided to give it a shot anyway. (I
turn the Portal off and keep the cam-
era lens closed when it’s not being
used.) I bought one for myself and one
for my parents. We’ve done long video
calls from our family-room couches,
with everything coming through the
TV. And we’ve played with Instagram-
like filters that turn grandma and
grandpa into fire-breathing lizards.
The device, which costs $150 and
streams via Facebook Messenger and
WhatsApp, is buggy at times, but
when it works it does feel as if every-
one is in the same room. It’s a huge
upgrade over the small video boxes
we’ve grown accustomed to.
“We know that the bigger the
screen, the more immersive the call,
and there is no bigger screen in your
house than the television set,” Ryan
Cairns, Facebook’s head of Portal, told
me this past week.
The Portal TV is unique. If there is
another plug-and-play option that
turns a TV into a videoconferencing
tool, I haven’t found it. The lack of
options is surprising given that even
$250 Chromebooks come with web-
cams built in. Why haven’t TV manu-
facturers just added their own cam-
eras?
Paul Gagnon, senior research direc-
tor at market research firm Omdia,
says previous efforts to turn TVs into
interactive devices have always failed.
“If you think about the apps that
people use on a smart TV, like 80% to
90% of them are just lean-back video
watching,” he says.
And then there is the economics,
which makes it tough to stuff new
hardware into displays. TVs are the
tech hubs of most houses, but they’re
barely profitable.
T
he average TV bought in
North America now has a
50-inch display and a price
of just $360. “TVs are noto-
riously very, very low margin con-
sumer electronics products relative to
other things,” Gagnon notes.
The low prices have been great for
Netflix (NFLX) and our TV binges,
but it means few companies are push-
ing the TV hardware to do more.
The pandemic could finally change
that. Videoconferencing is one of the
hottest trends in technology. Shares of
Zoom Video Communications (ZM)
are up 367% since February, while
shares of webcam maker Logitech
International (LOGI) have nearly
doubled. Hot stocks have a way of
stoking progress.
Zoom declined to make an execu-
tive available to discuss the potential,
but TVs with built-in webcams would
presumably be a huge market for the
company.
Zoom recently teamed up with
smart-home outfitter Crestron on a
residential videoconferencing device
called HomeTime. It pairs Zoom soft-
ware and a camera from Logitech to
turn your TV into a conference-room
like video experience.
“Once you experience that, it’s re-
ally hard to go back to that laptop,”
says John Clancy, Crestron’s vice pres-
ident of residential. “It changes every-
thing.”
Crestron’s approach isn’t for the
masses. At least not yet. The device
lists for $6,100 and isn’t intended as a
do-it-yourself option.
The idea of TV innovation got me
thinking about the rumors years ago
that Apple (AAPL) would eventually
come out with its own TV set. It never
happened, of course, with Apple
choosing to focus on its Apple TV box,
which just plugs into the display.
I asked Toni Sacconaghi, a senior
technology research analyst at Bern-
stein, if we could finally drop the idea
of Apple building an actual TV.
“I think that’s probably a reason-
able assumption,” Sacconaghi says.
“Just thinking through it from a busi-
ness perspective, I’d be incredibly sur-
prised if Apple came out with a physi-
cal Apple TV.”
In the meantime, next year’s TV
designs are currently being com-
pleted. New models generally arrive
between February and April, Gagnon
notes. There’s the chance webcams
appear in some of those units, but it’s
likely to take longer.
“The TV OEMs haven’t been able to
respond to the pandemic needs that
quickly,” Sacconaghi says. “I think in
two years a lot of televisions will have
embedded cameras.”
Until then, consumers will keep
buying up webcams and other video
products. Crestron says its residential
videoconferencing-related business is
up 800% this year.B
By Alex Eule
“We know that the bigger the screen, the
more immersive the call, and there is no big-
ger screen in your house than the television
set,”RyanCairns,Facebook’sheadofPortal,
toldmethispastweek.