German automaker Porsche has recently unveiled its next-gen Porsche Communication Management (PCM 6.0) infotainment system. The biggest news is the inclusion of wired Android Auto in addition to wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity.
Soon after Apple's WWDC 2021 keynote today, ecobee revealed that its SmartThermostat with Voice Control will be the first smart thermostat device to get built-in Siri support. With this, customers who are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem can use their HomePod mini and HomePod smart speakers to talk with the smart thermostat using the typical 'Hey Siri' command.
Voice on Spotify is the newest in voice activated smart audio control, active now with the latest update to the app. If you want to use the service, you can do so for no additional cost - or you can choose to have this "Hey Spotify" system turned off entirely. It's up to you.
It seems that there is no stopping Spotify from launching a product that no one asked for. Of course, the alleged Car Thing might just be an experimental product as Spotify claims but the pieces are falling into place for an eventual launch. In addition to an FCC sighting, the music streaming king is reportedly rolling out the "Hey, Spotify" wake word that seems to be a better fit for a hands-free car experience than on a phone with Google Assistant or Siri already available.
The Genie Company delivers Aladdin Connect smart garage door openers and retrofit kits to the public. Samsung has a smart home system called Samsung SmartThings. Today, the two companies announced that Aladdin Connect smart garage door openers and retrofit kids are now "Works with SmartThings" certified. This means that your Samsung SmartThings app can open your garage door - or your connected SmartThings devices of all sorts could, potentially, make your garage door open when you flip the right set of switches.
After becoming a mostly touch-based society thanks to smartphones and tablets, tech giants are trying to turn us back towards using our literal voices to drive our interactions with technology. AI assistants, smart speakers, and speech recognition have become staples of many products and services but, unlike touch, voice data also carries more privacy implications. After being criticized and scrutinized over such privacy invasions like its peers, Microsoft is now announcing a bigger change to its voice data collection practices that it says gives users more control.
A slightly convoluted set of steps appeared this week on Atom Tickets with an end-goal of a single free movie ticket to a film of the user's choice. The folks at Atom Tickets likely enabled this promotional bit of work in order to tie users' minds to the idea that ordering a movie ticket via Alexa (and Atom) would be the best (and most default) way to go through the future. In any case - it might be worth the process, depending on movie ticket prices in your area.
Today a new Google Nest Mini appeared at the FCC, and with it, confirmation of Google's continue expansion to every room in your home. Google has a plan with Google Assistant - that plan is to cover your entire world in Google-made natural voice smart assistant coverage, wall to wall, environment to environment. Google already has a first-gen Google Home Mini - the Google Nest Mini won't be particularly different in approach.
Voice control was meant to save us from the TV remote, but even with heavy-hitters like Amazon and Apple in the living room, we're still not quite there yet. That's a problem startup Dabkick believes it can fix, with its Dabby streaming entertainment system. Pairing a flexible dedicated tablet with an unexpectedly capable AI-powered search, it promises voice access to any content you can find online - without falling foul of the media behemoths.
When I mention the cost of this garbage can, you may recoil in horror. How dare I even consider recommending anyone pay two hundred and fifty US dollars for a can into which garbage should go? I thought the same thing at first, then I considered how often I'd replaced my kitchen garbage can in the last decade. Then I got to thinking about how much I hated the fact that no garbage can I'd ever owned really did a great job of masking smells of any significant strength, ever. Then I wondered if a can of this caliber could actually be a good investment.
Google began updating their voice match phone unlock system with a more modern Google Assistant assisted system starting this week. This is coming into full effect on devices, now - but was first initiated with the release of the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Voice Match was released several years ago as a feature for unlocking smartphones (and as a general part of voice recognition.) This simple system will be updated this year on all Android smartphones.
While some voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are duking it out for smart home dominance, there are others that focus on offering more specialized voice support. One such assistant is the new one being launched by Pandora today. Soon, everyone listening to Pandora on iOS and Android will be able to navigate the app, discover new music, and play songs using voice commands.