gizmosure

Tag: Amazon Echo

  • Amazon’s Alexa-powered wireless earbuds might feature fitness tracking

    Amazon’s Alexa-powered wireless earbuds might feature fitness tracking

    Reports emerged earlier this year indicating that Amazon is working Alexa-powered wireless earbuds, that’ll compete directly with Apple’s Airpods. Today, a new report from CNBC has shed more light on the matter. Besides, the report also suggests that Amazon plans to launch a new, better sounding Echo speaker

    To begin with, the report suggests that Amazon’s upcoming earbuds will not only feature Alexa but will also include multiple health and fitness features. They will reportedly come equipped with a built-in accelerometer that will be able to track calories burned, distance ran, and the wearer’s pace.

    However, the report also indicates that Amazon’s earbuds might not feature cellular connectivity. Now, this could make Alexa integration a bit of a hassle as they would need to pair with a smartphone to unlock Alexas’s full functionality.

    As far as pricing goes, the report suggests that Amazon’s earbuds will get a price tag of less than $100, which make them more affordable than Apple’s Airpods and other popular wireless earbuds. That said, it remains unclear whether Amazon’s upcoming earbuds will feature true wireless capabilities like Airpods. Today’s report from CNBC, however, states that the Alexa earbuds would be similar to Airpods.

    Elsewhere, the report also suggests that Amazon plans to launch a new Echo speaker with a built-in woofer, which is expected to improve the sound quality significantly, compared to the current Echo lineup, Apple’s HomePod, as well as Google Home. Amazon recently announced a lossless tier for its music streaming service that will offer songs with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. And it would be a good idea if Amazon launches a new, improved Echo speaker that would allow subscribers to listen to music in high-definition with better sound quality.

    Amazon is expected to announce these new products during its annual launch event in Seattle on Wednesday. We’ll bring you all the live updates from the event. Until then, keep checking back for more.

  • Baidu overtakes Google, now the second largest smart speaker seller globally

    Baidu overtakes Google, now the second largest smart speaker seller globally

    The global smart speaker market has seemingly witnessed a tectonic shift, making the Chinese manufacturer Baidu the second-largest smart speaker seller internationally, as it overtook Google to claim the second spot.

    According to a new report from Canalys, the Chinese manufacturer recorded a staggering growth in Q2 2019, compared to the same period a year ago. The company saw an astounding growth of 3,700 percent, recording sales of 4.5 million units, which is a monumental rise compared to 100,000 units it sold during the same period last year.

    In comparison, Google managed to achieve sales of 4.3 million units of its smart speakers, a drop of 19.8 percent as it sold 5.4 million units in Q2, 2018.

    Amazon regains the top spot, recording sales of 6.6 million units of its smart speaker systems in Q2 2019. Now, this makes for a growth of 24.5 percent, compared to 4.1 million units of its Echo range of smart speakers that found buyers in Q2, 2018.

    It’s also worth noting while Google and Amazon maintain an international presence, sales of Baidu smart speakers were largely restricted to the Chinese market. That said, the enormous size of the Chinese market means there’s a massive potential for Baidu to grow, given that smart speaker market in the country is still in its nascent phase.

    “Local network operators’ interests on the [smart display] device category soared recently. This bodes well for Baidu as it faces little competition in the smart display category, allowing the company to dominate in the operator channel,” said Canalys Research Analyst Cynthia Chen.

    Both Google and Amazon focused on international markets in Q2 2019. Reports indicate that 50 percent of Amazon’s shipments were outside the U.S in Q2, an increase of 32 percent compared to the same period last year. As for Google, 55 percent of its shipments were made outside the U.S, an increase of 42 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

    The remaining top five contenders were Alibaba and Xiaomi, shipping 4.1 million and 2.8 million units respectively in Q2 2019. Meanwhile, the sales of Apple’s HomePod totaled 3.7 million units.

  • Apple Music set to arrive on Amazon Echo on December 17

    Apple Music set to arrive on Amazon Echo on December 17

    Apple Music is slated to arrive on Amazon Echo and Alexa-powered smart speakers starting Decemebr 17, confirmed Amazon in a blog post. The announcement comes shortly after Amazon said it has joined hands with Apple to sell its latest products via its online store. Besides, the move appears mutually beneficial for both parties as music services from both companies aren’t doing particularly well.

    Starting December 17, subscribers of Apple Music will be able to play music on demand via Amazon Echo smart devices. The iPhone-maker’s streaming service now joins the likes of Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, as well as Amazon’s own music service on Alexa devices.

    “Music is one of the most popular features on Alexa—since we launched Alexa four years ago, customers are listening to more music in their homes than ever before. We are committed to offering great music providers to our customers and since launching the Music Skill API to developers just last month, we’ve expanded the music selection on Alexa to include even more top tier services. We’re thrilled to bring Apple Music – one of the most popular music services in the US – to Echo customers this holiday,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president, Amazon Devices.

    Amazon recently opened up Alexa to more third party music services when it rolled out its Music Skill API in November. This essentially allows third party services to utilize a host of Alexa capabilties across a range of smart devices. These include multi-room audio, using music as Alarms, and more.

    To recall , Amazon recently signed a new deal with Apple to sell Cupertino’s latest products such as iPhone XS and iPhone XR via its online store. However, Amazon will not sell Apple’s HomePod speaker through its ecommerce store, as it directly competes with Amazon’s own smart speakers. Not to metnion, Amazon also doesn’t sell Google’s Home devices on its platform.