Report: 1 billion devices support voice assistants as U.S. consumer base continues to grow

Voice assistants and smart devices are one of the hottest topics for the audio industry, and a new report from Voicebot.ai, PullString, and the RAIN Agency traces the trend’s progress. According to the report, voice assistants have moved out of their first phase, marked by availability across platforms and languages and access to core features. It suggested that the second phase of voice will be marked by more nuanced features, use in more contexts, and availability on more connected devices. Continue Reading

Smart speakers are still new in Japan, but rising in popularity despite embarrassment

Smart speakers are a newer product segment in Japan, but the devices have gained awareness quickly in that market. Recent data shared by Voicebot from Marketing Research Camp showed that rates of smart speaker ownership among ages 15-69 in Japan rose from 4.5% in late 2017 to 5.7% in February 2018. Continue Reading

Survey: More than 40% of smart speaker owners stream music daily

Nearly 20% of U.S. adults now own a smart speaker, according to a survey spearheaded by Voicebot, in collaboration with PullString and RAIN Agency (not the same as RAIN News). Extrapolated, the results from its survey of more than 1,000 adults indicate that about 47.3 million people own the devices. Nearly two-thirds of all households said they own just one smart speaker. Continue Reading