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.

At IFA 2017, Harman International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics unveiled the JBL LINK series of voice-activated speakers with the Google Assistant. Available in three models, the LINK 10, LINK 20, and LINK 300 were designed to generate full-range sound in a portable format, with instant access to music through voice control. With this announcement, Harman now offers voice-activated speakers for Microsoft Cortana, Amazon Alexa and now 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.

At the IFA 2017 consumer electronics show in Berlin, Libre Wireless Technologies announced their LibreSync wireless mic-to-cloud voice and media streaming platform solutions will work with Amazon Alexa voice service, as well as support the newly announced Alexa Connected Speaker APIs. With the integration of Alexa and the Alexa Connected Speaker APIs, Libre enables consumer brands and ODM’s to easily incorporate and leverage Alexa voice service and multiroom audio control via Alexa.