Verizon is looking to sell you a smart display, perhaps to finally launch its BlueJeans video conferencing service.
A recent FCC filing unearthed by Protocol shows evidence of a Verizon-branded smart display-like device. The filing reveals that the device has a white chassis with an 8-inch display and a camera above it with a hardware shutter button. It also has 4GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, wifi, Bluetooth, and built-in 4G connectivity.
There are few images accompanying the filing, but none of them with an actual look at the user interface. Verizon will program the wake phrase “Hi Verizon” for you to interact with the device. This is possible through Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant program, announced back in January. Companies can mold Alexa for use with other services and ecosystems, including specialized Skills you can only command with a particular device.
Verizon already sells Amazon’s smart displays in its carrier store, so this isn’t a huge pivot for the company. If anything, it feels like a move akin to Facebook’s Portal, another smart display with Alexa commands built right in. That device exists primarily to facilitate video conversations through Facebook Messenger. Verizon’s smart display will likely exist in the same vein. It bought the BlueJeans platform last year for $400 million in direct response to the uptick in video chat due to pandemic necessity. Verizon had said in the past that BlueJeans would become a complement to its business and that in the future, it would become integrated into its network.
This smart display seems like the first step toward the execution of that plan. It might also be Verizon’s chance to include a value-add as it sells customers on the idea of enterprise-level video chat. As for Amazon, this is a way to get its digital assistant propagated among more users and perhaps even woo the business crowd since it’s teaming up with one of its biggest players.
