Native Voice Announces Hands-Free Access to iHeartMedia Audio Content

Native Voice, an on-demand voice assistant platform that enables users to communicate directly by voice with their favorite brands, announced today a product collaboration with iHeartMedia to offer direct access to the nation’s largest library of live and on-demand music, radio and podcast content via voice. Early in 2023, anyone with a Skull-iQ enabled Skullcandy device (Grind, Grind Fuel, Push Active) can simply say “Hey iHeart” for immediate, hands-free access to iHeartRadio’s expansive world of content without having to download the iHeart app.

During Amazon’s Alexa Live 2022 event, Native Voice, an on-demand voice assistant library that enables users to communicate directly by voice with their favorite assistants, announced a partnership with Skullcandy that will allow users of their Push Active and Grind Series TWS earbuds to have their devices upgraded to include multi-simultaneous wake word functionality. Later this year, Skullcandy will push a firmware update adding Native Voice-enabled functionality.

Amazon introduced the next-generation of Echo Buds, featuring an all-new design, premium audio architecture for crisp, balanced sound, custom-designed Active Noise Cancellation technology, wireless charging capabilities, improved microphones for better call quality, and hands-free access to Alexa. Not many bought the first model anyway, so the announcement of the all-new second-generation Echo Buds is not that surprising, considering Amazon considers hardware as a pure extension of its services ecosystem.

During a special event promoted to announce a new generation of Amazon Alexa products, technologies and solutions, Amazon introduced an all-new line-up of Echo devices to expand its Alexa voice assistant ecosystem in the home and now also on-the-go. The all-new Echo Buds, using ANC technology licensed from Bose, join the Echo Auto as another option to take Alexa outside the home. The new Echo speakers also include the Echo Studio, engineered in collaboration with Dolby and supporting HRA and immersive audio reproduction.

Audio and communications technology specialist Jabra announced that it has expanded its Elite family of headphones and earbuds to provide the best combined voice and music experience, with the Jabra Elite 65e. These neckband wireless earbuds are engineered for best-in-class wireless calls and music. They feature Jabra's leading Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) solution, providing two levels of noise cancellation and challenging existing products in the market.

Among the many new true wireless earbuds unveiled at CES 2018, Jabra was a clear stand-out with its new Elite 65t and Elite Active 65t models. Benefiting from extensive experience in wireless audio and hearing aids, Jabra engineered the new Elite 65t earbuds for the best on-the-go true wireless calls and music experience - including an ‘Active’ version for those doing sports. Among the new features is also the integration for Amazon Alexa on-the-go and integrated one-touch access to Siri and Google Now.