voice computing

WellSaid Labs research takes synthetic speech from seconds-long clips to hours

Millions of homes have voice-enabled devices, but when was the last time you heard a piece of synthesized speech longer than a handful of seconds? WellSaid Labs has pushed the field ahead with a voice

Microsoft winds down its bigger plans for Cortana with mobile app shutdown

At Microsoft’s Ignite conference this month, the company announced a new vision for its personal productivity assistant, Cortana — one which aimed to make it more useful in your day-to-day

Google falls to third place in worldwide smart speaker market

The global smart speaker market grew 55.4% in the second quarter to reach 26.1 million shipments, according to a new report from Canalys. Amazon continued to lead the race, accounting for 6.6 million

Alexa’s voice apps for kids can now offer purchases that parents approve

Amazon will now allow developers to offer premium content for purchase in Alexa skills aimed at children. The company on Friday introduced new tools for building skills with in-app purchases that requ

Smart speakers’ installed base to top 200 million by year end

Smart speakers’ global installed base is on track to top 200 million by the end of this year, according to a report out today from analysts at Canalys. Specifically, the firm forecasts the inst

The damage of defaults

Apple popped out a new pair of AirPods this week. The design looks exactly like the old pair of AirPods. Which means I’m never going to use them because Apple’s bulbous earbuds don’t

Amazon expands program that pays developers for top voice apps to France, Italy & Spain

Amazon is expanding to new markets in Europe (France, Italy and Spain) its program that directly pays Alexa developers in cash for building valuable, quality voice apps. Originally launched in the U.S

Over a quarter of US adults now own a smart speaker, typically an Amazon Echo

U.S. smart speaker owners grew 40 percent over 2018 to now reach 66.4 million — or 26.2 percent of the U.S. adult population — according to a new report from Voicebot.ai and Voicify releas

Amazon’s ‘Alexa Blueprints’ can now be published publicly on the US Alexa Skills Store

Last year, Amazon introduced Alexa Blueprints, a way for an Alexa device owner to create their own customized voice skills and Alexa responses without needing to know how to code. These skills &#8212

Report: Voice assistants in use to triple to 8 billion by 2023

The use of voice assistants is set to triple over the next few years, according to a new forecast from the U.K.-based analysts at Juniper Research. The firm estimates there will be 8 billion digital v

Report: Smart speaker adoption in US reaches 66M units, with Amazon leading

Smart speakers had a good holiday. Amazon already said its Echo Dot outsold all other items on its site this holiday season, which hinted toward the sizable growth for the voice-powered speaker market

The Super Bowl gets voice-enabled

Amazon, Dish, Comcast and others are hoping to turn Super Bowl 2019 into a way to show off the potential for their voice technologies and TV integrations. The companies this week have been touting new

Alexa skills top 80,000 after a big Alexa-powered holiday season

Amazon had a record-breaking holiday quarter, with revenue of $72.4 billion and profits of $3 billion, but it’s not making much money off its top-selling item, the Alexa-powered Echo Dot. While

Google woos smart home device makers with launch of Google Assistant Connect

Google is making it easier for device manufacturers to integrate with Google Assistant technology, including those times when devices need to respond to voice commands without the benefit — or t

The NFL launches its first standalone voice app with ‘A Rookie’s Guide to the NFL’ for Alexa

The NFL is giving voice assistants a go. Earlier this year, the organization tested the waters with the launch of a flash briefing called “NFL in :60,” but today the company is debuting i

Smart speakers hit critical mass in 2018

We already know Alexa had a good Christmas — the app shot to the top of the App Store over the holidays, and the Alexa service even briefly crashed from all the new users. But Alexa, along with

Alexa gains support for location-based reminders and routines, calling features and more

Amazon Alexa is gaining new capabilities, including support for location-based reminders and routines, the ability to call local businesses by voice and the ability to check your email, hands-free, on

7 things to think about voice

Voice won't change everything but it will be part of a movement that heralds a new way to think about our relationship with devices, screens, our data and interactions.

Amazon Music customers can now talk to Alexa more naturally

Amazon Music, reportedly the third-largest subscription-based music service worldwide, is doubling down on voice. The company is today announcing the launch of a new set of features that will allow Am

Amazon launches ‘Alexa-hosted skills’ for voice app developers

Amazon on Thursday launched a new service aimed at Alexa developers that automatically provisions and helps them to manage a set of AWS cloud resources for their Alexa skill’s backend service. T
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