Amazon launches new wave of Echo smart home devices
Amazon hosted a jam-packed day of announcements on Wednesday, with a heavy focus on expanding its Echo product line and bringing its Alexa voice controls to more places. Continue Reading
Tech
Technology, hardware, and gadgets. WiFi speakers, digital dashboards, and more.
XAPPmedia launches self-serve branded Alexa presence to radio stations
XAPPmedia, one of several companies which provide technical assistance to radio station presence in smart speakers, is today launching a self-serve solution for Amazon Alexa. Continue Reading
More music, less typing, replacing radios drive smart speaker adoption in new NPR/Edison research
NPR and Edison Research have released the second part of their study on smart speakers and voice control. The first part was released during RAIN’s Podcast Business Summit in New York this June. The latest presentation of The Smart Audio Report focused on the specific activities and details of how and why people are using this new product segment. Continue Reading
Amazon’s Alexa available in Amazon Music app on iOS and Android
Amazon’s Alexa voice control system can now be used to control the Amazon Music app on both Android and iOS mobile devices. This mobile integration is being rolled out in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Austria. Alexa can respond to the same range of queries as on the smart speaker of an Amazon Echo: asking for music from a certain artist, album, genre, time period, or activity will bring up songs that meet the criteria. Continue Reading
XAPPmedia has created Alexa skills for more than 100 radio stations
XAPPmedia announced that in less than six months, it has deployed live Alexa voice skills for 119 radio stations. These custom commands allow quick, direct access to the stations on the Amazon Echo suite of home speakers and other technology using the Alexa system. Continue Reading
Tesla hints at proprietary in-car streaming service
Call it rumor or call it leak — Tesla’s supposed new streaming service, which has been in the chatter mill since late last week, probably falls between hearsay and revelation. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to the rumor/leak. Continue Reading
Beasley working with SonicAi for Alexa skills
Beasley Media Group has partnered with SonicAi for the creation of Amazon Echo voice skills for the entire broadcast company. Beasley has 63 radio stations, and the new Alexa voice skills will make those channels easier to access on-demand from Amazon’s smart speaker and will highlight specific station features. Continue Reading
Pandora smart speaker listening up 282%, motivating new Edison Research study
Pandora has added to the smart speaker research hitting the industry this year with the first release of information from a commissioned survey by Edison Research examining how consumers use Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. The survey was conducted with interesting methodology, essentially reinventing the listening diary concept. Continue Reading
Deezer adds Google Home integration
Deezer has added support for the Google Home smart speaker in select markets. The voice controls let you access your Deezer library, and Google Home owners can ask the device directly to play their Flow playlist, a lean-back selection of personalized music choices. Continue Reading
Australian Radio Network inks deal with AdsWizz for programmatic
The Australian Radio Network announced that it would adopt AdsWizz technology on iHeartRadio, to offer programmatic buying to its advertisers. The broadcaster is calling it “one-to-one targeted audio advertising.” Continue Reading
Smart speakers evangelized for radio in Borrell webinar
Borrell Associates put on a free webinar on Wednesday, hosting presenters Fred Jacobs (Jacobs Media) and Steve Goldstein (Amplifi Media) to talk about smart speakers, and their importance to radio. The program evangelized the platform’s rise as an important opportunity for radio, and offered a takeaway list of tips. Continue Reading
Scripps taps XAPPmedia to develop radio station Alexa skills for 34 stations
XAPPmedia has been selected by Scripps to develop Alexa skills for all 34 Scripps radio stations across 13 states. Amazon Alexa is the voice-activated smart speaker operating system which resides in the Echo, Dot, and Echo Show devices.
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