All items tagged with smart speakers and smart home (45)

Amazon Unveils Next Generation Echo Show 8, All-New Echo Hub, and New Echo Frames

September 21, 2023 by Joao Martins

Amazon Unveils Next Generation Echo Show 8, All-New Echo Hub, and New Echo Frames

Remember smart speakers? Apparently Amazon doesn't want to. At that time of the year when traditionally Amazon would introduce the latest models of its Echo smart speakers, this year the company only announced a new smart display, the next generation Echo Show 8 with an upgraded processor, spatial audio, and a built-in smart home hub. And for those who don't even want the speaker, Amazon introduced a new Echo Hub, a smart home control panel. Amazon did expand on the audio glasses category, with two ugly frames that are said to have a long-lasting battery.

Worldwide Shipments of Smart Home Devices Continue to Decline in 2023 Due to Lack of Upgrades

June 29, 2023 by audioXpress Staff

Worldwide Shipments of Smart Home Devices Continue to Decline in 2023 Due to Lack of Upgrades

Global shipments of smart home devices continued to decline in the first quarter of 2023 as shipments fell 5.6% year over year to 186.0 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Smart Home Device Tracker. The lack of new models and noteworthy updates to existing smart speakers, lack of progress in voice assistants, and the transition to the Matter smart home interoperability standard are to blame.

The Return of the Apple HomePod, Now with UWB, Matter, Bluetooth 5 and... Spatial Audio

January 18, 2023 by Joao Martins

The Return of the Apple HomePod, Now with UWB, Matter, Bluetooth 5 and... Spatial Audio

Following a surprise announcement of new M2 silicon for its MacBook Pro and Mac mini models, Apple surprised us even more with the announcement of the return of the infamous HomePod. Now packed full of innovations, more sensors, improved Siri features like the HomePod mini, and Matter-compatible smart home capabilities, the new HomePod returns with the same form factor, but now with updated Bluetooth 5 technology, UWB, Airplay 2, and the same smart, adaptive listening experience.

Powercast Unveils Ubiquity Low-Cost RF Wireless Charging Power Transmitter

January 4, 2023 by Joao Martins

Powercast Unveils Ubiquity Low-Cost RF Wireless Charging Power Transmitter

Powercast Corporation, a company specializing in radio-frequency (RF)-based over-the-air wireless power technology, has unveiled its Ubiquity ultra-low-cost RF power transmitter, which was selected as a CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree in the Smart Home, Embedded Technologies, and Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy categories.

Ubilite Introduces Wi-Fi SoC With Less-Than-Bluetooth Power Consumption

September 14, 2022 by Joao Martins

Ubilite Introduces Wi-Fi SoC With Less-Than-Bluetooth Power Consumption

Ubilite announced the immediate availability of its UBI206 platform and SoC, targeted specifically for ultra-low power wireless applications. The UBI206 is a highly integrated single device that enables a vast number of connected products with a minimal number of external components. Although originally designed targeting industrial IoT applications, the chip enables truly ultra-low power Wi-Fi audio streaming solutions with a 10-fold improvement in power consumption.

XMOS Strengthens Its Position In Voice Interfaces with XVF3610 and XVF3615 Voice Processors

November 16, 2021 by Joao Martins

XMOS Strengthens Its Position In Voice Interfaces with XVF3610 and XVF3615 Voice Processors

British chip company XMOS announced the launch of the XVF3610 and XVF3615 next generation voice processors. These high-performance two-mic voice interfaces for wireless speakers, TVs, set-top boxes, smart home appliances, gateway products and more, are built on the company's xcore.ai chip infrastructure, and are available in a cost-effective and easy-to-integrate package. XMOS also kick-started an alpha program for its all new ‘Avona’ voice reference design.

Global Hey Siri Wake Words Available from Sensory to Control Apple and Third-Party Devices

June 9, 2021 by Joao Martins

Global Hey Siri Wake Words Available from Sensory to Control Apple and Third-Party Devices

Following Apple's announcement at WWDC21 that Siri is now open to third-party device makers, Sensory announced availability of its global “Hey Siri” wake word, complementing its range of custom voice AI solutions. With TrulyHandsfree “Hey Siri” wake word models available in different sizes, languages, and ports for all of today’s popular DSP platforms, Sensory is fast-tracking the development of third-party Siri devices, ranging from wearables to smart speakers and beyond.

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

June 7, 2021 by Cristina Costa

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.

Smart Speaker Owners Own at Least One Smart Home Device

April 22, 2021 by audioXpress Staff

Smart Speaker Owners Own at Least One Smart Home Device

New research from Parks Associates reveals a strong correlation between smart speaker and smart home device ownership — 60% of smart speaker owners and/or smart display owners own at least one smart home device, versus 34% of US broadband households overall. The firm's new research, Smart Speaker and Smart Display Market Assessment, identifies key market drivers and barriers in this product category and assesses growth in the smart speaker and display market via topline market forecasts.

Knowles Releases Bluetooth Standard Solution Development Kit to Speed up Voice Integration

February 24, 2021 by audioXpress Staff

Knowles Releases Bluetooth Standard Solution Development Kit to Speed up Voice Integration

Knowles Corporation, a leading provider of advanced micro-acoustic microphones and speakers, audio processing, and precision device solutions, announced the AISonic Bluetooth Standard Solution, a complete development kit that enables fast voice integration to Bluetooth devices. The kit is built upon the Knowles AISonic Audio Edge Processor IA8201, a high-performance, ultra-low power audio-centric OpenDSP, and includes SDK, pre-integrated mics, and integration support for Bluetooth chips.

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