Universal Electronics and Microsoft Collaborate on a Turnkey Digital Assistant Platform for Smart Home Hub

Universal Electronics (UEI), a company specializing in universal control and sensing technologies for the smart home, announced a collaboration with Microsoft to launch a new digital assistant platform for the home built on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform using AI and IoT services. The UEI’s Nevo Butler turnkey smart home hub with nevo.ai built-in digital assistant will be launched at CES 2019 and will be available as a white-label solution for other manufacturers.

Cadence Design Systems announced the Cadence Tensilica HiFi 5 DSP for audio and voice, the company's first IP core optimized for high-performance far-field processing and artificial intelligence (AI)-based speech recognition processing. This fifth-generation HiFi DSP offers 2X audio processing and 4X neural network (NN) processing improvements versus the HiFi 4 DSP, making it ideal for voice-controlled user interfaces in digital home assistants and automotive infotainment.