Digital Voice Assistants in Use to Triple to 8 Billion by 2023

A new study from Juniper Research has found that there will be 8 billion digital voice assistants in use by 2023, up from an estimated 2.5 billion at the end of 2018. The new research on "Digital Voice Assistants: Platforms, Revenues & Opportunities 2019-2023," shows growth will be driven by smart home devices and that Smart TVs will have the biggest expansion, growing at over 100% every year for the next 5 years. Juniper also identifies strong growth in wearables and emerging opportunities for both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer) uses.

G-Audio, a next generation audio technology company dedicated to enhancing the listening experience for Extended-Reality (XR) and streaming media, launched its Sol Loudness SDK for streaming services, adding to its existing Sol SDK spatial audio rendering for 360° video. This new software solution smooths variations in loudness and provides continuity of perceived sound levels for OTT video and music streaming platforms, allowing platforms to provide a better audio experience for its subscribers.

The IBC show is always an important event to remind us of some key perspectives having to do with audio technology, content production, and distribution, which are at the core of our interests. Just like music is now predominantly available on streaming services, radio and television content are now being distributed over the Internet, while movies and lots of other content is available directly to all of us in multiple platforms and services. This article was published originally in The Audio Voice newsletter.

At CES 2018, Roku unveiled plans to make it easier for consumers to enjoy streaming entertainment around the whole home. Roku plans to make it especially easy for Roku TV users to add great audio to their TV experience, including voice control. The new whole home entertainment licensing program will enable OEM brands to build soundbars and smart speakers, surround sound and multi-room audio systems that use Roku Connect software to work together as a home entertainment network.

Blackfire Research Corp., a wireless network specialist from San Francisco, CA, announced the availability of Blackfire RED, or Real-time Entertainment Distribution framework. The company says that Blackfire RED is the industry's only wireless and entertainment-centric infrastructure software framework built from the ground up to both overcome the limitations of Wi-Fi when used for media, and wireless entertainment-related consumer applications and products.

Conexant’s new I2S audio Codec and AudioSmart software offers noise cancellation and full-duplex acoustic echo cancellation for tablets, allowing better voice quality even in noisy environments. Conexant also introduced a Linux software solution for voice control and communication in smart home products and unveiled its new Smart Voice Pickup (SVP) technology for headsets, based on its proprietary SSP noise suppression algorithm.