How smart home technology could change your life over the next five years

What your smart home could look like in just five years time: Your alarm clock goes off in the morning, and it tells the blinds to open. Sun streams in and that’s annoying, but by the time you’ve zombie-stumbled down the hallway, the kettle has boiled itself for your cup of coffee. Full Story: Stuff.co.nz

Google Assistant Adds Delete Data Voice Command

Google currently allows users to delete information collected by Google Assistant, but is only accessible through their settings online. When the feature arrives next week, users will be able to tell the voice assistant to erase what it has heard, ranging from the most recent command to everything recorded in the last week or longer. The one stipulation is that deleting more than a week’s worth of memory requires confirmation in the user’s account settings. Amazon added a similar voice command to Alexa devices in May as part of its own effort to educate users about their privacy policies. Full Story: Voicebot.ai

What Voice Shopping Skeptics Are Failing to See

The future of commerce is sitting on your counter. That’s right, Amazon Alexa, the familiar voice assistant who tells you the weather forecast, will also help you purchase a new umbrella. That was the consensus, anyway, until a recent viral statistic caused some backpedaling. According to a recent report by The Information, “just 2 percent of consumers with Alexa devices made purchases by voice.” And of that 2 percent, “only 10 percent purchased again.” Full Story: Total Retail

Forget ‘Googling It.’ Amazon Wants You to ‘Alexa It.’

At its Seattle event last week, Amazon unveiled more than just an ambush of Echo devices. It also unveiled a new strategy. While the company has been aggressively pushing Alexa into the homes of its customers for years in a bid to make it the smart assistant of choice, it now wants to put Alexa everywhere. Full Story: OneZero

Why brands need to build their Voice assets

Just when brands thought they had mastered weaving strategies around digital innovations, comes the next marketing medium – Voice. It has now been established that voice tech is the next big disruptor, the next big digital trend. However, as brands scurry around to find ways to connect to consumers using voice there is still ambiguity about how to best use the technology. Full Story: Exchange4Media

Sony patent shows PS5 could have a Siri-like voice assistant for in-game help

Ever wish Siri could tell you how to beat the freaky monster you’re staring down in a video game? She’ll probably tell you something about what restaurants are open nearby if you try to ask her. But a recently published patent from Sony outlines a voice assistant system that could link directly into the game, your console (probably a PS5, let’s be honest), and your phone to give you tips as you need them. Full Story: GamesRadar

Sony Has Filed A Patent for An AI Voice Assistant

According to WIPO, Sony Interactive Entertainment has submitted a patent regarding an artificial intelligence voice assistant program for PlayStation. Originally filed back in March this year, the publication for the patent was a mere two days ago.  The news was released by user ZhugeEX on Twitter. Coincidentally, Sony filed a different patent that looked to be the PS5 dev kit earlier last month. Full Story: DualShockers

How to get your brand ready for voice search

Five years ago, former Chief Scientist at Baidu, Andrew Ng, predicted that by 2020, 50 percent of all searches are going to be through images or speech. This statistic has been widely misrepresented in the tech press, as Ng was only referring to China, a country that currently accounts for 52 percent of global smart speaker growth. Still, smart speaker and voice assistant usage has continued to see healthy growth in the U.S. and other markets. Full Story: VentureBeat

Amazon’s services strategy is the key to Alexa’s success

Amazon and smart home businesses launched more than a dozen new devices at an event on Wednesday. The company also shared an eye-popping statistic: There are now 85,000 devices that incorporate Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa. You can buy twerking bears, Christmas trees, kitchen scales, light bulbs, and more that link back to Amazon’s digital assistant. A year ago, you could buy about 4,000 such devices, according to Daniel Rausch, VP of smart home at Amazon. Full Story: Stacey on IoT

Spotify Is Beta Testing Siri Voice Control On iPhone And iPad

The latest beta versions of the app support Siri, allowing you to request songs, albums and playlists with your voice. It doesn’t seem to work as yet through Apple Watch, according to The Verge, and nor is it clear whether HomePod supports the function. It reportedly works through AirPods, however. Full Story: Forbes