Amazon Announces Voice Interoperability Initiative with Leading Technology Companies

Amazon, Baidu, Sony, BMW, Microsoft, Bose, Tencent, Orange, Salesforce, Harman, Logitech, Verizon, Sonos, Spotify, Sound United, and more are joining forces to promote choice by supporting multiple, interoperable voice services on a single device. The idea is to offer multiple, simultaneous wake words, so users can access multiple voice services by simply saying the corresponding wake word – from Alexa and Cortana to Orange’s Djingo, Salesforce’s Einstein, and more.

Sensory, the originator of wake words for personal assistants, raised the performance bar for always-listening wake word and speech recognition with significant upgrades to the embedded AI in its sixth generation of TrulyHandsfree, boosting the technology's already industry-leading wake word performance and accuracy by more than 65 percent. The new solution introduces upgraded turn-key voice interface solutions for devices of all shapes, sizes and power requirements.

Because every R&D department in the planet is currently looking at implementing voice, and everyone's looking at audioXpress for guidance on how to design a smart speaker, in this edition Kevin Connor, shares his insider knowledge on the topic. Connor, a Cirrus Logic engineer, explains how to provide audio and voice solutions, and design products that sound great and respond reliably to voice commands, regardless of backend service. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2018.