All items tagged with smart speakers and voice recognition (79)
Infineon High SNR MEMS Microphones Complement Amazon AVS Far-Field Development Kit from XMOS
October 9, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Infineon High SNR MEMS Microphones Complement Amazon AVS Far-Field Development Kit from XMOS

XMOS' VocalFusion 4-Mic Dev Kit for Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) for far-field applications integrates Infineon’s high SNR MEMS microphones to ensure highest performance and reliability, creating the first Amazon AVS development kit with a linear mic array for far-field applications. The 4-Mic Development Kit features crystal clear voice capturing even in noisy environments. This enables commands to be accurately captured from across the room for processing by the Alexa cloud-based speech recognition system.
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Google Unveils New Home Smart Speakers and Wireless Pixel Buds
October 5, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Google Unveils New Home Smart Speakers and Wireless Pixel Buds

Google is all-in in its determination to compete with Amazon, Apple and everyone else on the hardware front. On the same day, Google unveiled its second-generation family of consumer hardware products, including new Pixel 2 smartphones, Google Home Mini and Max smart speakers, an all-new Pixelbook tablet/laptop, Google Pixel Buds wireless earbuds, and more. No longer releasing "reference hardware" for its software ecosystem, Google is apparently determined to emulate Apple's successful strategy.
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XMOS Delivers Amazon Alexa Voice Service Development Kit with Linear Mic Array for Far-Field Voice Capture
October 5, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

XMOS Delivers Amazon Alexa Voice Service Development Kit with Linear Mic Array for Far-Field Voice Capture

XMOS announced its VocalFusion 4-Mic Dev Kit for Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS). A far-field linear mic array solution available, the XMOS kit is ideal for developers who want to integrate Alexa into smart panels, kitchen appliances, and other commercial and industrial electronics. Being a leading supplier of voice and audio solutions to the consumer electronics market, XMOS can combine its unique silicon architecture and software at the interface between voice processing, biometrics and artificial intelligence.
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Amazon Announces New Amazon Echo and Echo Plus Smart Speakers and Introduces New Alexa Products
September 28, 2017 by Joao Martins

Amazon Announces New Amazon Echo and Echo Plus Smart Speakers and Introduces New Alexa Products

Amazon is not resting on its laurels in voice personal assistants. The company continues to severely undercut Google's ambitions with the Google Home, Assistant and Chromecast products, while jumping ahead to compete head to head with Apple and undermining Apple's plans for Siri and the smart home. The company just announced a completely revamped line of Echo speakers with lower prices and improved everything, as well as new classes of Echo devices.
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XMOS Powers Growth in Voice with $15M Funding Round Led by Infineon Technologies
September 27, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

XMOS Powers Growth in Voice with $15M Funding Round Led by Infineon Technologies

XMOS Ltd, a leading vendor in voice capture solutions for the OEM consumer electronics market, has successfully complete a $15M Series-E funding round. The round was led by Infineon Technologies with additional funding from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital. Following previous platform cooperations, Infineon Technologies AG acquired a minority stake in the company, strengthening the strategic partnership.
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Harman Introduces Harman Kardon Allure with Amazon Alexa
September 2, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Harman Introduces Harman Kardon Allure with Amazon Alexa

At IFA 2017, Harman International introduced the Harman Kardon Allure, a smart speaker with Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) that complements any home space with 360-degree sound. By pairing Harman Kardon’s refined audio performance with Alexa’s intuitive voice technology, Harman expects to attract music enthusiasts and voice-activated speaker users frustrated with the low quality sound experience of the Amazon Echo speaker.
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Sony Electronics Introduces LF-S50G Wireless Speaker with Google Assistant
September 1, 2017 by audioXpress Staff

Sony Electronics Introduces LF-S50G Wireless Speaker with Google Assistant

Promising a Smarter Way to Enjoy Music, Sony's announcements at the IFA 2017 show in Berlin follow the predictable consumer trends, offering access to voice personal assistants and improved wireless smart home features. Sony's new LF-S50G wireless speaker combines high quality sound with the smart features of the Google Assistant built-in. The LF-S50G can be used "smartly" in the kitchen with handy clock functionality and is IPX3 splash-proof design with a water repellant surface.
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Voice Application Opportunities for the Audio Industry
July 20, 2017 by Joao Martins

Voice Application Opportunities for the Audio Industry

In previous editorials, I have highlighted the important role of smart speakers in promoting the user case for voice personal assistants (VPAs) and voice recognition applications - given the ideal combination of far-field microphone arrays with a complete audio ecosystem that encompasses digital signal processing, acoustic echo cancelation, noise cancellation, and many other technologies. This opens significant opportunities for the audio industry, given we understand the challenges.
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All Apple WWDC 2017 Audio Announcements
June 8, 2017 by Joao Martins

All Apple WWDC 2017 Audio Announcements

The audio industry was once again shaken to its foundations by Apple's announcements at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2017. The product updates and sneak peeks made at this Apple Special Event, on June 5, 2017, were extremely rich in surprising technology revelations, even though its implications might not become clear until a few weeks or months later. After all, the WWDC conference - a developer's conference - is traditionally where Apple builds the foundations for what will be its underlying short-term/long-term strategies, serving mainly to motivate developers and strategic partners.
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