{"id":338380,"date":"2017-04-14T16:09:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T08:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2017\/04\/14\/amazon-opens-up-voice-recognition-tech\/"},"modified":"2017-04-14T16:09:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T08:09:01","slug":"amazon-offers-echos-far-field-voice-recognition-tech-to-third-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/amazon-offers-echos-far-field-voice-recognition-tech-to-third-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Offers Echo’s Far-Field Voice Recognition Tech to Third Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon has fired another salvo in the virtual assistant wars by opening up access to the far-field voice recognition technology found in its Echo smart speakers so that third-party manufacturers can make their own versions (via BBC<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

The move comes as Amazon attempts to spread the use of its Alexa virtual assistant across a wide range of connected products and take ownership of a larger portion of the growing smart devices market. Google announced its branded Home smart speaker in November, while Apple is also rumored<\/a> to be planning a similar Siri<\/a>-enabled device this year.<\/p>\n

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The initially invite-only access to the technology via the Alexa Voice Service program will give manufacturers the right to replicate the Echo’s seven-microphone array that allows the speakers to hear a voice command from across the room.<\/p>\n

The access also means third-party developers can use the proprietary algorithms used for wake-word recognition, which focus the array on the owner’s voice and filter out echoes and other noises. Developers will be provided with a reference kit as a starting point for their own designs, and the freedom to source components from a range of parts manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\n

“Our vision is for Alexa to be everywhere, and that means making it available to other companies and services to integrate into a wide range of devices,” said an Amazon spokesperson.<\/p>\n

“We expect Alexa to be in many devices over time, including products that compete with Echo, which is why we’re investing in making a wide range of hands-free and far-field reference solutions available to OEMs [original equipment manufacturers].”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Amazon’s rollout of Alexa has gained steam ever since CES 2017<\/a> in January, when the virtual assistant cropped up in a range of products including third-party smart speakers, cars, TVs, lamps, and even refrigerators.<\/p>\n

In February Amazon announced it was extending third-party support for its Alexa Voice Service (AVS) internationally<\/a>, and last month it added<\/a> its Siri competitor to the company’s iOS app, allowing users to search Amazon, track orders, play music, and start audio books from Audible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazon has fired another salvo in the virtual assistant wars by opening up access to the far-field voice recognition technology found in its Echo smart speakers so that third-party manufacturers can make their own versions (via BBC<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

The move comes as Amazon attempts to spread the use of its Alexa virtual assistant across a wide range of connected products and take ownership of a larger portion of the growing smart devices market. Google announced its branded Home smart speaker in November, while Apple is also rumored<\/a> to be planning a similar Siri<\/a>-enabled device this year. <\/p>\n

\"\"
\n
\nThe initially invite-only access to the technology via the Alexa Voice Service program will give manufacturers the right to replicate the Echo’s seven-microphone array that allows the speakers to hear a voice command from across the room.<\/p>\n

The access also means third-party developers can use the proprietary algorithms used for wake-word recognition, which focus the array on the owner’s voice and filter out echoes and other noises. Developers will be provided with a reference kit as a starting point for their own designs, and the freedom to source components from a range of parts manufacturers.
\n<\/p>\n

“Our vision is for Alexa to be everywhere, and that means making it available to other companies and services to integrate into a wide range of devices,” said an Amazon spokesperson.<\/p>\n

“We expect Alexa to be in many devices over time, including products that compete with Echo, which is why we’re investing in making a wide range of hands-free and far-field reference solutions available to OEMs [original equipment manufacturers].”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazon’s rollout of Alexa has gained steam ever since CES 2017<\/a> in January, when the virtual assistant cropped up in a range of products including third-party smart speakers, cars, TVs, lamps, and even refrigerators. <\/p>\n

In February Amazon announced it was extending third-party support for its Alexa Voice Service (AVS) internationally<\/a>, and last month it added<\/a> its Siri competitor to the company’s iOS app, allowing users to search Amazon, track orders, play music, and start audio books from Audible. <\/p>\n

Tags: Amazon Echo<\/a>, Alexa<\/a> <\/div>\n

Discuss this article<\/a> in our forums<\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[68,69,59,26],"class_list":["post-338380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-macrumors","tag-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}