Facebook's Portal adds support for Zoom, Webex
19 August 2020
Facebook is adding a new capability to its Portal line of smart displays: Video calling using business-oriented services Zoom, Cisco's Webex, Verizon-owned BlueJeans and GoToMeeting.
Why it matters: Such services have become mainstream amid the pandemic, for work, education and personal use.
Support for Zoom and the other apps will come in September for the Portal, Portal+ and Portal mini.
Our thought bubble: The move creates another use case for Facebook's already versatile Portal for those that want something other than a computer in the kitchen or den. It also could come in handy as a second screen, for instance allowing workers or students to use the Portal for video while taking notes on a computer.
What's next: Facebook says it's working on adding support to Portal TV, which could carve out a nice niche for bringing Zoom to consumers' biggest screens at home.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.