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
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
Google Assistant is broadening support for listening on YouTube. The free, ad-supported tier of YouTube Music can now be requested from any device running the voice platform, including the Google Home smart speaker line. Continue Reading
The Google Assistant voice AI platform has introduced two developments this week. First, it is adding a new tool for voice-driven shopping. Second, it’s getting a new sound with its first celebrity cameo. Continue Reading
Voice assistants and smart speakers have been one of the hottest topics at this year’s CES, but one development between two major players is worth a little extra attention. Sonos has been promising an eventual integration with Google Assistant, but that support has been delayed past its initial target date. Google and Sonos hosted demonstrations of the voice assistant on a Sonos Beam and Sonos One this week in Las Vegas. Continue Reading
Just how smart are smart speakers? Loup Ventures has released the results of its annual Smart Speaker IQ Test, and the report found that Google Assistant is currently the brainiest of the bunch. In a test of 800 questions, Google’s voice platform answered 88% correctly. Continue Reading
Google is reinventing a standard feature in smart speakers: the news update. Made famous by Amazon Echo’s “Flash Briefing,” Google’s version is invoked by “Play the news.” The initiative would bring the vast news collection capability of Google News into the voice activation realm. Continue Reading
Sonos has released new hardware in the smart speaker space, but its software options have thus far been limited to Amazon Alexa. The company had previously stated that it was working on adding support for Google Assistant this year. Continue Reading
Google is continuing to release new smart speaker designs to keep pace with its top rival, Amazon. The tech giant’s latest device confirms rumors from last month with the unveiling of the Google Home Hub, a speaker with a display screen, a low price point, and an emphasis on privacy. Continue Reading
Google Assistant is getting a new look and new features. Most notably for developers, the voice platform now supports transactions for digital goods (physical goods were already supported). Continue Reading
Google Assistant has been updated with bilingual support, a change that means the voice platform can field queries from two different languages. Prior to the update, managing more than one tongue would have required manually switching between language settings. Continue Reading
So far, voice assistants are commonly used to access audio entertainment, but as the technology advances, the next step could involve commerce and shopping. Voicebot and Voysis have collaborated on a report pointing to the future of voice shopping. The analysis predicts that, due to the high rates of ownership (79.8%), many people will first be introduced to voice assistant shopping on smartphones. Continue Reading