Voice-activated home speakers, commonly called “smart speakers,” arguably represent the most important new audio distribution platform since the smartphone.
Smart speakers have been rising in popularity since their debut, and new data from the International Data Corporation anticipates that the global market for smart home tech will grow 26.9% in 2019 to 832.7 million shipments. Nearly 1.6 billion devices are expected to ship in 2023. Continue Reading
Westwood One released its 2019 Audioscape report, with an assessment of the latest trends and data in the audio industry. This year’s analysis focused on the impact of smart speakers and podcasts, and how their audiences differ from AM/FM radio. Continue Reading
Integr8 Research is investigating the growth of smart speakers and their impact on radio. The latest publication indicates that smart speaker ownership could outnumber radio ownership by 2020. The prediction comes from a survey of 15- to 39-year-old contemporary radio format partisans. Continue Reading
Spotify has a new perk for its family subscribers thanks to a deal with Google. Customers signing up for the family plans in the UK and France will receive a Google Home Mini smart speaker for free. Continue Reading
Voicebot.ai has released a new report about the smart speaker market in Australia. The nation is now in the early majority stage of smart speaker adoption, reaching a similar point as the U.S., yet on a faster pace. The country’s hardware user base relative to population is now greater than the United States. Continue Reading
Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant continues to receive new partnerships and new features. One of the latest developments for the platform is a Song ID tool that lets the AI voice take on the role of a radio DJ. Amazon has also entered a partnership with Ticketmaster to allow sales of tickets through the voice AI. Continue Reading
Voicebot.ai and Voicify released a new survey of smart speaker ownership in the United States. The results found that as of January 2019, 66.4 million people in the country owned the devices. That total marked a rise of 39.8% in one year. Continue Reading
The Infinite Dial 2019 has been tracking the smart speaker trend since the debut of the first Amazon Echo device. In this year’s results, awareness of the hardware reached 79%, or about 223 million people. The rate rose from 75% in 2018 and 69% in 2017. Continue Reading
Apple Music may be getting a bigger smart speaker footprint soon. An eagle-eyed reader of MacRumors noticed that Apple’s music streaming service is now listed within the latest update to the Google Home iOS app, but it can’t currently be connected to one of the smart home devices from that product line. Continue Reading
Gimlet Media has been recognized in Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” awards. Particularly notable to Fast Company is the development of Chompers, a short toothbrushing show for children. Continue Reading
Samsung introduced its first in-house smart speaker in August, and now the product has an expected launch date. The Samsung Galaxy Home, featuring the tech company’s Bixby voice assistant, is slated for release by April. Continue Reading
A German startup received a funding round to support its development of a voice assistant focused on use in cars. German Autolabs secured €7 million for its work on the AI dubbed Chris, which launched in Europe late in 2018. Drivers can use Chris to operate Android phones behind the wheel, with support for messaging, navigation, calls, and music commands. Continue Reading