Frontier Smart Technologies, the digital audio solutions development company, announced the launch of a new Smart IoT software licensing and services business line. The first collaborator in this venture is leading silicon manufacturer, NXP Semiconductors. Frontier’s SmartSDK is a mature starting point for the development of reliable and sophisticated networked devices and can be deployed in a range of IoT systems including smart audio, home automation, smart appliances and security.Frontier is providing its fully featured SmartSDK and design services to major brands and ODMs who are developing voice-enabled smart devices. Frontier’s SmartSDK has already been successfully deployed as part of the company’s turnkey solutions in over 20 smart audio IoT products incorporating Google’s Chromecast platform and Google Assistant.
Now Frontier is offering its SmartSDK as a standalone software proposition. In conjunction with licensing the SmartSDK, Frontier is also providing software design services to help customers bring their smart products to market quickly and cost-effectively.
To strengthen the appeal and flexibility of its software proposition, Frontier is working with NXP to port its SmartSDK to NXP’s recently announced i.MX 8M Mini, a new quad core SoC optimized for manufacturers adding voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa to smart home products. The i.MX 8M Mini brings high compute efficiency and security to a range of edge node computing, streaming multimedia and machine learning applications.
NXP’s i.MX 8M Mini includes several innovative features which will enable substantial improvements to battery life for voice assistants. It also offers strong support for multi-channel audio products such as soundbars.“The launch of our Smart IoT licensing and services business is an important development for Frontier and its customers. The Smart IoT sector is highly competitive, and it is essential that we offer brands the maximum flexibility in designing and launching new products. The combination of our SmartSDK with NXP’s i.MX 8M Mini provides a compelling proposition to the smart IoT market,” says Anthony Sethill, Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Smart Technologies.
“The i.MX 8M Mini processor brings together the high-performance compute, power efficiency, and embedded security required for smart IoT and other consumer and industrial applications. Our collaboration with Frontier, with its proven capability in digital audio and extensive relationships across the sector, provides a powerful and effective new route to market for this family of processors,” adds Martyn Humphries, Vice President of i.MX Applications Processors for Consumer and Industrial Markets at NXP.
Frontier Smart Technologies is a pioneer in technologies for digital audio and smart IoT devices. Brands supplied by Frontier include Bose, Denon, harman/kardon, JBL, Onkyo, Panasonic, Sony, Yamaha, Altec Lansing, Blaupunkt, Grundig, Hama, Klipsch, Marshall, Pioneer, Pure, Roberts, TechniSat, Teufel and many more. With multiple ecosystems and their voice solutions playing increasingly important roles, Frontier makes it easier for companies to create smart products, supporting the ecosystems that are most relevant to their users, with its multi-ecosystem SmartSDK. As an approved systems integrator for both Amazon Alexa and Google Voice Assistant, Frontier offers support for both voice assistants in its multi-ecosystem SmartSDK, as well as AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, running on the most popular SoC platforms in the market today. The company's highly experienced team can help create unique solutions or adapt existing offerings to suit the needs. Next to design and implementation, Frontier also assists with voice assistant pre-certification services to speed up final approval processes.
www.frontiersmart.com | www.nxp.com
