April 2019
ertonline.co.uk
I love watching that too!
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Sonos now offers voice control thanks to integration with Alexa and Google Assistant
Soundbars are now making a play for home entertainment ‘hub’ status by embracing voice. “We already have leaders such as Bose, Denon, Polk, Samsung, Sonos, Sony and Yamaha rolling out products on either a ‘built-in’ or ‘works with’ basis,” continues Wetherill. “So it’s fair to say that there is a substantial uplift in activity this year.” One example is the Polk Audio Command Bar, a voice-controlled ‘Alexa built-in’ soundbar with far-field microphones that support the full gamut of smart home skills to control any other Alexa-compatible smart device. Meanwhile, Optoma has pioneered the use of
voice with home cinema equipment with its UHL55, UHD51A, UHD51ALVe and forthcoming UHZ65UST 4K home cinema projectors. “Consumers are increasingly integrating voice assistants into their daily routines, as well as expecting the convenience of smart home integration with their devices and electronics,” says Kishan Mistry, Product Manager at Optoma. “So it was important for us to align our new home cinema projectors with these growing consumer needs.” It’s fair to say that voice commands on Optoma’s
projectors are limited despite working well. The user can say “switch to HDMI2 on living room” or “rewind on living room”, as well as turning on/ off, choosing specific display modes and HDR picture modes, altering the sound output, and controlling the inbuilt media player. It’s basic, but it’s convenient.
The return of Siri? Though CES was dominated by Alexa and Google Assistant, for once Apple made an appearance in
Sony’s Andoird TVs carry the ‘Works With Alexa’ badge
Las Vegas, this time touting its HomeKit ecosystem of smart home devices. HomeKit is centered on Apple’s HomePod, but with Apple’s Siri voice assistant baked into the iPhone, iPad, iMac, iWatch and more, HomeKit is not to be underestimated, especially for home entertainment. Not least because Apple appears to have finally opened its ‘walled garden’ to allow some of its products to go cross-platform. At the CES, HomeKit integration was announced
for various light switches and smart locks, but out of nowhere, Samsung revealed that its new smart TVs would not only support HomeKit and host an app for iTunes movies and TV shows, but also stream audio via Apple’s AirPlay 2 wireless audio streaming tech. Other TVs brands have followed suit, with LG announcing in March that its 2019 NanoCell
How important is Google Assistant Connect?
Although it does sell its own voice-controlled products, Google, like Amazon, can only focus on conduit products like the Google Home and Home Mini. It’s always going to be up to third- party manufacturers to put voice compatibility into TVs, soundbars, and projectors. Announced in January, Google Assistant Connect is an effort to match the runaway popularity of Alexa by making it easier for third- party manufacturers to build-in Google Assistant. “Google Assistant Connect is an interesting development,” says Futuresource Consulting’s Jack Wetherill. “Rather than serving out an additional bridging device, such as Amazon’s Echo Input, this initiative from Google involves rolling out a chip solution which audio brands can include in their products.”
This enables the devices to both respond to and supply Google Assistant commands by relying on another Google Assistant device in the home, so sparing the audio brands the need to embed microphones and heavyweight intelligent processing in their device. However, in terms of global reach, it was another announcement in January that could give Google Assistant long-term dominance. While Alexa is stuck with only fi ve languages – the fewest of any voice platform – Google Assistant now offers auto-translation of 27 different languages on its Google Home Hub!
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