Displaying items by tag: smart speakers

Although you still hear ads on the radio for people to buy digital radios, which do offer excellent sound quality and no need for a data plan, the latest stats show that radio listening via phones and smart speakers has surged.

The global smart speaker market, including smart displays, will reach 163 million units in 2021, the tech analyst firm Canalys says, adding that this would represent growth of 21% year-on-year.

Australian energy provider AGL has announced a number of smart home kits that it claims will help people cut down on energy use by automating functions.

Wearable bands, smart personal audio devices and smart speakers will show growth of 9.8% to 718 million units in 2020, the technology research firm Canalys has predicted, adding that this would be due to consumer IoT vendors looking for growth in markets that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak could cause around a US$42 billion revenue gap over the next 9 months for smart device vendors, according to a new global report.

Australian consumers have traditionally been early adopters of new technologies and at the end of 2019 several key milestones were reached, according to research firm Telsyte which reveals that smartphones have now become the main digital device for more than half (51%) of Australians - with millions of Australians loyal to either their iPhones or Android smartphones.

Amazon continues to dominate the global smart speaker market by shipping 6.6 million units of Echo smart speakers in the second quarter of 2019, and maintaining its lead over China’s Baidu - which bumped Google down to third spot in the market - the analyst firm Canalys says.

Global spending on automated home devices is expected to reach US$75 billion by 2025, up from US$23 billion in 2018, with much of that growth driven by two types of devices - smart thermostats and smart speakers.

Global adoption of smart speakers is forecast to grow by 82.4%, from 114 million units in 2018 to 207.9 million in 2019, the analyst firm Canalys says, adding that the US will keep its lead in smart speaker adoption with 42.2% of the installed base by the end of the year.

Danish luxury audio brand Bang & Olufsen has announced its new Beosound 1 and Beosound 2 speakers will come with Google Assistant next month, combining beauty and brains.

AirPlay 2 on Sonos means you can do a stack of Apple-related stuff on your Sonos speakers, adding to its flexibility and giving Sonos additional ammo against Apple's own HomePod.

With voice assistants used in smart homes to grow 1000% by 2023, up from an estimated 25 million in 2018, you and your voice assistant smart speaker are going to be heard!

The widely anticipated software update, allowing Apple's HomePod smart speakers to be used in stereo pairs, has arrived as part of iOS 11.4, along with multi-room support in AirPlay 2.

Privacy and security worries still abound with smart speakers, but even so, the Australian IoT home market grew 55% in 2017, reaching $583 million, with the market set to accelerate beyond 2020.

The Consumer Technology Association's annual report now includes streaming services, projected to contribute US$19.5 billion in revenue, with the full video of the presentation to the media available below.

That there's no place like home is something you don't need Sherlock Holmes to figure out, but an Apple HomePod in your home won't happen until 2018.

Growth in "smart audio hardware" should more than triple, "rising from US$1.4 billion this year to over US$5.5 billion by 2020", and it's set to be the next audio battleground.