Searched for: HomeKit
Atonemo Unveils Streamplayer Connected Wireless Design
by Joao Martins

Atonemo Unveils Streamplayer Connected Wireless Design

Atonemo, a new company from Stockholm, Sweden, is launching its first product, the Streamplayer. A pocket-sized device with a USB-C and a single 3.5mm connector, the Streamplayer was designed to be the digital signal source for any speaker, amplifier, or home audio system — regardless of brand, age, or inputs. The company says that the Streamplayer design behaves as a complete wireless, multiroom audio system and will retail for $99 USD/EUR with shipments expected to begin in Spring 2025.
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Fresh From the Bench: WiiM Pro Smart Network Music Streaming System
by Oliver A.Masciarotte

Fresh From the Bench: WiiM Pro Smart Network Music Streaming System

Linkplay Technology is recognized for its widely adopted wireless audio streaming modules, smart home, and connected AI products. The new WiiM Pro is a versatile music streamer that combines all the latest technologies and protocols, making it the ultimate (and most affordable) home audio hub available. audioxpress received a pre-launch unit to review subjectively and objectively. This article was originally published in audioXpress, July 2023.
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Silicon Labs Opens Connectivity Lab in Boston for Real-World Matter Testing
by audioXpress Staff

Silicon Labs Opens Connectivity Lab in Boston for Real-World Matter Testing

Silicon Labs announced the opening of the new Silicon Labs Connectivity Lab in their Boston facility. The Connectivity Lab simulates a modern Smart Home, with a range of connected devices, applications, ecosystems, and networks. It offers developers an ideal environment to test their Matter prototypes, operating within real-world scenarios across a variety of protocols and device brands.
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The Return of the Apple HomePod, Now with UWB, Matter, Bluetooth 5 and... Spatial Audio
by Joao Martins

The Return of the Apple HomePod, Now with UWB, Matter, Bluetooth 5 and... Spatial Audio

Following a surprise announcement of new M2 silicon for its MacBook Pro and Mac mini models, Apple surprised us even more with the announcement of the return of the infamous HomePod. Now packed full of innovations, more sensors, improved Siri features like the HomePod mini, and Matter-compatible smart home capabilities, the new HomePod returns with the same form factor, but now with updated Bluetooth 5 technology, UWB, Airplay 2, and the same smart, adaptive listening experience.
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The Standards We Need: Do Audio Technologies Matter in the Smart Home?
by Joao Martins

The Standards We Need: Do Audio Technologies Matter in the Smart Home?

Matter is an industry-unifying standard for the Smart Home that promises reliable, secure connectivity — a seal of approval that devices will work seamlessly together. But... Do audio technologies matter in the Smart Home? The audio industry needs to get involved in this convergence and interoperability effort. After all, we can already tell a speaker to play a song - thanks to voice recognition technology, AI, and wireless networks - but we still don’t have a transparent wireless audio standard to stream audio to speakers or headphones because basically audio remains restricted by specifications that were not written with audio in mind.
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Global Hey Siri Wake Words Available from Sensory to Control Apple and Third-Party Devices
by Joao Martins

Global Hey Siri Wake Words Available from Sensory to Control Apple and Third-Party Devices

Following Apple's announcement at WWDC21 that Siri is now open to third-party device makers, Sensory announced availability of its global “Hey Siri” wake word, complementing its range of custom voice AI solutions. With TrulyHandsfree “Hey Siri” wake word models available in different sizes, languages, and ports for all of today’s popular DSP platforms, Sensory is fast-tracking the development of third-party Siri devices, ranging from wearables to smart speakers and beyond.
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Belkin Introduces Soundform Connect Multi-Room Audio Adapter with Apple AirPlay 2
by audioXpress Staff

Belkin Introduces Soundform Connect Multi-Room Audio Adapter with Apple AirPlay 2

Belkin, the consumer electronics brand specialized in Apple peripherals and accessories, announced the Soundform Connect audio adapter that turns any traditional stereo speaker into an Apple AirPlay 2-enabled speaker. This is increasingly important in most homes who already have great sound systems in place, and just need a way to connect them to the latest source devices, such as the iPhone, an iPad or a Mac computer, all of which stream high-quality audio over Apple’s recently updated AirPlay 2 protocol.
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Apple Unveils HomePod mini Smart Speaker to Expand Its Smart Home Ecosystem
by audioXpress Staff

Apple Unveils HomePod mini Smart Speaker to Expand Its Smart Home Ecosystem

Opening what was broadly expected to be an event focused on the iPhone 12 unveiling, Apple introduced the new HomePod mini. Unlike the original HomePod, primarily focused on the music listening experience, the HomePod mini is touted as an actual Smart Speaker. In fact, betting on leading on four fronts: to combine a great music listening experience, an intelligent assistant, and smart home capabilities, with built-in privacy and security, in a beautiful compact design. Also much more affordable, at just $99.
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UWB Alliance and FiRa Consortium Start Working Together to Accelerate the Development and Adoption of UWB Technology
by Joao Martins

UWB Alliance and FiRa Consortium Start Working Together to Accelerate the Development and Adoption of UWB Technology

To better support and strengthen the adoption of Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, the two existing supporting organizations, UWB Alliance and the FiRa Consortium have established a joint liaison agreement to align their ideas and get their act together. This liaison will provide the two organizations with guiding principles to ultimately achieve the common goal of creating a UWB-enabled ecosystem and supporting use of UWB technology, which could be an important enabler in critical health and safety, personal networks or smart home applications.
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Project Connected Home Over IP Created to Expand Smart Home Device Connectivity
by audioXpress Staff

Project Connected Home Over IP Created to Expand Smart Home Device Connectivity

Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance, announced a new working group that plans to develop and promote the adoption of a new, royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility among smart home products, with security as a fundamental design tenet. The working group is named Project Connected Home over IP and intends to simplify development for device manufacturers by creating a new, open standard for Smart Home Device Connectivity.
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