Frontier Introduces Multi-Ecosystem Voice Control to Smart Speakers

Frontier Smart Technologies, a pioneer in development platforms for wireless audio, digital radio and voice recognition solutions, announced a significant enhancement to its Minuet Smart Audio platform, which will be the first in the world to allow smart speakers, soundbars and AVRs to be simultaneously controlled by voice-enabled devices from Google, Amazon and Apple, helping manufacturers to differentiate, and not have to compete head on with 1st party devices.

Qualcomm has released its annual The State of Play 2018 report, with valuable insights on the fast-moving world of personal and home audio technology - including expectations and product purchase drivers for American, British and Chinese consumers. The new report shows, for the second year in a row, that sound quality is by far the highest ranked buying consideration when choosing wireless headphones or speakers. More than half of participants surveyed (53%) said they are planning to purchase completely wire-free earbuds.

Wireless communications chipset solutions specialists DSP Group announced the availability of its HDClear 3-Microphone Development Kit for Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS). This Alexa certified solution features DBMD5, DSP Group’s advanced audio/voice processor, and its best-in-class HDClear voice enhancement processing technology, creating a complete development platform for low-power applications, including smart speakers, wearable computing devices, smart home devices and remote controls.

Market research firm Futuresource Consulting announced the latest edition of its "Voice Assistants in Consumer Electronics" report. Voice Assistants (VAs) are being integrated into an increasing number and variety of connected consumer devices in multiple markets and are on course to develop as a major user interface over the next 2-3 years, according to this latest report, which leverages new industry and end-user research to assess the size and shape of the market at a worldwide and regional level.