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Facebook's smart speaker might skip the US for now

Other countries could get to try Facebook's (rumored) voice assistant first!

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister
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James Martin/CNET

Maybe now's not the best time for Facebook to put an always-listening device into people's homes?

That was the obvious conclusion when Bloomberg reported that Facebook would be delaying the announcement of its rumored "smart speaker" in March. And Tuesday, CNBC reports that Facebook might wind up releasing the speaker in international markets first -- to test the waters, if you will.

Facebook didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.  

Watch this: Find a date on Facebook

CNBC's sources say that Facebook actually has a pair of speakers in the works, one with a camera and touchscreen, and that they'll connect to Facebook Messenger to let you chat with friends and family. Sources tell CNBC that Facebook may call the voice-assistant by a name that starts with the letter "M," and that "Marvin" was one specific possibility. 

While Facebook didn't announce the rumored speaker today, here are all the things it did announce at its F8 developers' conference.

Cambridge Analytica: Everything you need to know about Facebook's data mining scandal.  

Disclosure: Sean's wife works for Facebook as an internal video producer.