Google’s latest addition to the smart home speaker space has officially launched. The Google Home Max is now on store shelves both physical and digital. The launch draws Google’s smart speaker offerings closer in line to market-leader Amazon, although the Echo line is still leading in adoption. Continue Reading
With the holiday shopping season now upon us, the top tech toys are in position to make a lot of sales. The smart speaker niche seems likely to be a strong performer at the end of 2017. Jacobs Media Strategies, jācapps, and Sonic Ai have collaborated on a survey into consumer sentiment toward voice-activated smart speakers going into December. Continue Reading
Amazon’s Echo Show has restored access to YouTube videos. The Amazon smart speaker, which has a screen, debuted in the spring but lost the ability to play YouTube clips in September. Google and Amazon each have their own take on why the service was suspended. Continue Reading
The news that Apple has withdrawn its timetable to launch the HomePod smart speaker this year is a final buttoning down of the holiday lineup of smart speakers, as we enter Black Friday week. The broken promise of a Q4 launch is certainly disappointing to Apple loyalists who are deep into the ecosystem. Was the HomePod squeezed out of its market position by a surprise maneuver by Sonos? Continue Reading
AirKast worked with Microsoft to create skills for the tech giant’s Cortana voice-controlled assistant on the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker. Invoke is one of the first smart speakers to feature Cortana as the primary AI platform. Continue Reading
Apple has delayed the launch of its HomePod smart speaker. The device, which enters the same space as Amazon’s Echo line and the Google Home, will not roll out until early 2018. Continue Reading
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) hosted a webinar to share data into smart speaker ownership. Of the more than 3,000 U.S. participants in its September music consumption survey by AudienceNet/LOOP, 10% said they owned an Amazon Echo and 3% owned a Google Home. The results shows a strong correlation between smart speaker ownership and use of the device for music consumption. Continue Reading
Pandora has opened up its audience targeting capabilities to include connected home segments. The audio company’s connected home app is currently built into more than 2,000 devices. Advertisers can apply the Pandora audience segments on audio ads that run specifically on voice-enabled devices. Continue Reading
Integr8 Research published the second part of its investigation into radio listening. The first part examined crossover between owning physical radio sets and streaming audio habits, and the new data looks specifically at listening among people who own smart speakers. Continue Reading
Integr8 Research conducted a survey to explore radio ownership trends and whether the emerging smart speaker product segment is growing into a replacement for radio sets. The company surveyed more than 3,000 radio listeners aged 15 to 39 who are dedicated to a local genre station. Ownership of radios appeared shaky. Continue Reading
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
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