Facebook reportedly delays plans to release a smart speaker

Facebook has reportedly delayed plans to unveil its own smart speaker as it grapples with a scandal over its mishandling of user data.

The smart speaker, which will operate similarly to Amazon’s Echo the Google Home, was expected to be unveiled at the company’s F8 developer conference in May, according to a report in Bloomberg that cited anonymous sources.

The speaker was not expected to be commercially available until the fall, and it is unclear if the postponed unveiling will affect its release date.

Facebook will take the time to undergo a “deeper review” of its new hardware products, according to the report, to “ensure they make the right trade-offs regarding user data.”

The reported delay comes amid revelations that Facebook spilled the data of over 50 million users to Cambridge Analytica, a firm with ties to the Trump campaign.

Shares in Facebook were trading up 1.2 percent Wednesday afternoon, sitting at $154.02 at 12:55 p.m.