Syntiant and Infineon Offer Always-on Ultra-Low-Power Local Voice Control

Syntiant, a California-based AI chip company focused on moving machine learning from the cloud to edge devices, announced a partnership with Infineon Technologies, to service the rising demand for voice user interface (VUI) in electronic devices. Optimized for battery-powered devices from true wireless earbuds to mobile phones to smart speakers, Syntiant’s partnership with Infineon enables more efficient voice control and custom command detection to numerous product configurations.

Altice USA, the American arm of the French telecommunications conglomerate, unveiled Altice Amplify, an Alexa-powered smart speaker developed in collaboration with French connected-speaker pioneers Devialet. Directly targeted at the booming North-America smart speaker market, the Altice Amplify introduces "an intelligent, high-fidelity home speaker that powers the connected home." Of course, Altice didn't discard the audio quality argument and worked with Devialet to design a true high-fidelity system.

Audioburst Auto is an app created for the Android Auto platform, designed to provide expertly curated playlists, a personalized news feed, and search capabilities to drivers. Having until now promoted the platform and API for developers, Audioburst Auto is the company's first consumer-oriented product. All features are built using Audioburst’s own short-format approach and are completely accessible via voice commands.

Pandora introduced Voice Mode, a new, native smart assistant powered by Houndify Voice AI platform that allows listeners to control Pandora’s mobile app and enjoy new music discovery using simple voice commands, providing an intuitive, hands-free experience tailored for the unique tastes of each user. Pandora will roll out access to Voice Mode to select listeners on iOS and Android, with general availability for all mobile users coming soon.

Vesper announced that its piezoelectric MEMS microphones will be embedded in the voice-activated sensor trash can from luxury housewares designer simplehuman. The brand will introduce the next-generation of its voice-activated Sensor Can range at CES 2019, providing an excellent example of an implementation that needs to be low-cost, low-power, and robust in any environmental conditions. It needs to support simple voice controls in any circumstance, in exactly the type of product that users appreciate not having to touch.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) interested in implementing voice control in their new products without depending on Alexa or Google Assistant should visit Snips at CES 2019. Snips.ai is a French company that provides embedded voice assistants and interfaces for connected devices that run locally and offline. This year the company won a CES 2019 Best of Innovation Awards in the Embedded Technology category and will be demonstrating its technology at CES in the Eureka Park.

XMOS will be showcasing their portfolio of far-field voice capture solutions for voice-enabled stereo smart TVs, soundbars, set-top boxes, and digital media adapter markets at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2018, Barcelona, 26th February to 1st March. XMOS will be demonstrating commercial solutions in development, and proof of concepts that capture voice commands accurately from across the room even when the audio appliances are playing content at high volume in complex noisy acoustic environments.