Frontier Silicon Announces Smart Audio Solution with Google Assistant

May 26 2017, 04:00
Frontier Silicon announced that its Smart Audio platform, Minuet, has been upgraded to include Google Assistant. Minuet already allows brands and manufacturers to develop smart audio devices with Chromecast built-in. With the addition of Google Assistant, users will be able to control their smart speakers via voice and use these speakers not only to play music but also to access Internet services, such as news, update personal schedules and control a wide range of smart home devices.

As a reference platform, Minuet provides a complete toolkit for brands and manufacturers to develop smart audio devices with Google Assistant quickly and cost-effectively. Frontier Silicon is one of a very small number of solution providers chosen by Google to work on this technology.

The Minuet speaker toolkit is a design platform enabling audio manufacturers to develop wireless speakers with technologies such as Google Cast for Audio, quickly and cost-effectively. The development solution was introduced at CES 2016 and already features 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2, enabling faster product development and mass market pricing. It allows end-users to set-up and play cloud-based content services from 100+ supported music apps, on their connected audio systems, simply and intuitively.
 

The toolkit is powered by Frontier’s Minuet module and includes the entire design set needed to build an audio product (datasheets, schematics, gerbers, mechanical drawings, bill of materials, application guidelines, simulation tools, iOS / Android reference apps and libraries). It comes pre-certified for CE, FCC, Wi-Fi alliance and Bluetooth and also offers Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and Internet radio support. The Minuet incorporates all the elements required for a state-of-the-art audio device, including diversity antennas, a dual-core ARM A7 processor, multiple audio inputs and outputs. The complete engineering bill-of-material for the Minuet speaker toolkit is as little as US$30.

"With the advent of voice control and smart home music streaming, smart speakers are quickly becoming hubs for the smart home. By incorporating Google Assistant into Minuet, we will enable third party brands and manufacturers to bring to market their own high quality voice-enabled speakers quickly and cost effectively," says Anthony Sethill, CEO, Frontier Silicon.

Frontier Silicon is a leading supplier of technology solutions for digital radio and smart audio products. Frontier Silicon’s audio products offer solutions for DAB/DAB+, Internet Radio and Wi-Fi enabled wireless speakers and soundbars - from silicon through software to production-ready platform designs. Brands supplied by Frontier Silicon include Altec Lansing, Bose, Brookstone, Denon, Grundig, harman/kardon, Jensen, Onkyo, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Pure, Roberts, Sony, TechniSat, Yamaha, and many more.
www.frontier-silicon.com
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