Voice-activated home speakers, commonly called “smart speakers,” arguably represent the most important new audio distribution platform since the smartphone.
The capabilities of voice assistants have been expanding at a rapid rate as developers continue to work with new partners and test the limits of what information the AI can provide. The latest news development is beginning at a small scale, but points to a much broader use case in the future. Continue Reading
Audio brand Bose has adding support for Google Assistant to its smart speakers and voice-controlled soundbars. The integration will begin in the United States with an automatic software update to its full device lineup. Continue Reading
Samsung teased its first foray into smart speakers in August, and the tech company is still forging ahead with new ideas before that debut project has even launched. After introducing the Samsung Galaxy Home last year, a new FCC filing from the tech giant shows that it is working on a second, smaller device. Continue Reading
Canalys has released its report on the international smart speaker market’s first quarter of 2019. China was the big result in this report, overtaking the United States to be the largest smart speaker market. China secured a 51% share of the global smart speaker shipments. Continue Reading
Smart speaker ownership continues to rise in the United States, according to the latest survey by the Consumer Technology Association. The organization examined ownership and intent to purchase for this device segment and dozens of other tech products. Continue Reading
Sonos has made good on one of the announcements in its latest quarterly shareholder letter. The company is beginning to roll out a software update that will bring support for the Google Assistant voice AI to its smart speakers. Continue Reading
Live365 has launched its own skill for use with the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. This integration will allow listeners to access lean-back listening to hundreds of music genres and thousands of stations. Continue Reading
Sonos has released its second-quarter results with a new shareholder letter. The results included strong performances for a few of Sonos’ notable voice-activated wireless speakers. The other notable announcement from Sonos was its plans to begin rolling out support for Google Assistant this week. Continue Reading
Australian podcast company Whooshkaa starts the week with a new tech development that enables its hosted podcasts to become Alexa skills. That means that the podcast can be played through an Alexa device by invoking the show name rather than accessing TuneIn, which is Alexa’s standard podcast platform. Continue Reading
If smart speakers need a content hit to reach a next level (RAIN’s hypothesis, and we’re not alone), the Westworld experience on Alexa is pointing in that direction. The elaborate “skill” has won AdAge’s Creativity Award 2019 for Best Use of Voice Tech. The campaign was built by ad agency 360i. Continue Reading
Amazon is rolling out a new use for Alexa for people using its Audible audiobook service. Beginning today, the voice assistant can be used to contact the customer support team for the Audible audiobook platform. We inadvertently tested it. Continue Reading
Amazon has followed through on the launch of an ad-supported streaming music service, a move that was initially scouted by Billboard earlier this week. However, the early reports did not include one pertinent detail: the platform will only be available through the company’s Alexa voice assistant. Continue Reading