NXP Development Tools Support New Ultra-Wideband Applications With iPhone and Apple Watch

NXP Semiconductors has announced that it now offers beta Ultra-Wideband (UWB) development tools from its NXP Trimension portfolio that interoperate with the U1 chip in supported Apple products. The beta development tools will allow developers to kick-start the design of innovative applications that interact with UWB enabled Apple products including iPhone and Apple Watch, unleashing the ability to create more precise, directionally aware app experiences.

Futuresource Consulting announced the availability of its latest Home Audio Tracking Report with smart speakers continuing to drive the market followed by home automation, immersive smart sound bars and smart displays. In the company's global Home Audio quarterly market analysis and commentary, Futuresource confirmed that smart speakers achieved a 53% growth since Q4 of 2018. Until now heavily concentrated in English and Chinese speaker markets, smart speakers are starting to expand to other language markets.

75 million people in the US are now using a smart speaker, and more than half of them – 39 million – are using it to control their smart TV, video streamer or other TV device at least weekly. This finding comes from Strategy Analytics’ latest report, 2019 Smart Speaker User Survey – US Results, and is based on a survey of 1136 users of smart speakers carried out in July and August 2019.

The massive growth in the voice assistant market has created a vibrant ecosystem and significant opportunities for hardware and software developers. Total voice software unit shipments are expected to increase significantly to 2024, according to SAR Insight & Consulting. The firm latest report forecasts a larger increase in voice software, especially within home devices such as smart speakers, soundbars, smart TVs and smart appliances.

A new study from Juniper Research has found that there will be 8 billion digital voice assistants in use by 2023, up from an estimated 2.5 billion at the end of 2018. The new research on "Digital Voice Assistants: Platforms, Revenues & Opportunities 2019-2023," shows growth will be driven by smart home devices and that Smart TVs will have the biggest expansion, growing at over 100% every year for the next 5 years. Juniper also identifies strong growth in wearables and emerging opportunities for both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer) uses.

At CES 2018, Roku unveiled plans to make it easier for consumers to enjoy streaming entertainment around the whole home. Roku plans to make it especially easy for Roku TV users to add great audio to their TV experience, including voice control. The new whole home entertainment licensing program will enable OEM brands to build soundbars and smart speakers, surround sound and multi-room audio systems that use Roku Connect software to work together as a home entertainment network.