Amazon Introduces Alexa, Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service to Canada

Amazon announced that Alexa, the voice recognition engine that powers the Amazon Echo range of smart speakers, is now available for Canada, along with three Alexa-enabled devices: Echo, Echo Plus, and Echo Dot. The expansion also means that the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) and the Alexa Voice Service (AVS), enabling developers to build voice experiences for Alexa users will now be available for English speakers in Canada.

FABRIQ unveiled the next generation of its Alexa-enabled, multi-room speaker. Named Chorus, the smart speaker combines the voice activated Alexa service powered by far-field voice recognition with high-quality sound and multi-room connectivity. The development was once again based on Linkplay's AVS platform, which uses Conexant’s microphone solutions and Sensory’s voice awake technology.

Linkplay Technology, a WiFi audio solution provider, and one of the first audio platforms approved for integration with Alexa Voice Service (AVS), hosted 300 attendees from global speaker brands, OEMs and ODMs for an Amazon Alexa technology summit. The one day conference held in Shenzhen, China provided an opportunity to educate customers interested in designing and building Powered by Linkplay products with AVS.

Futuresource Consulting has just released its most recent consumer electronics report covering a new place for audio in the smart home. “Voice recognition technology is shaking up the CE industry, broadening the horizons of speaker vendors and reinventing the audio device as the gatekeeper of voice, smart home and machine learning,” the report says. Futuresource research forecasts important growth in audio applications for the connected home.