The Era of Smart Home what we imagined has come to life, with access to Smart Home devices
Voice input is going to take over the technological way of navigating, be it on a global level or the Indian Masses — be it a 3-year-old toddler or a 95-year-old grandpa – all of them are finally going to leverage voice to interact with the devices and control the devices digitally, a top Amazon executive has stressed.
For Adam Berns, Director of Business Development, Alexa Voice Service (AVS) at Amazon, voice is going to be the new way of navigating through devices — bringing millions of interesting use-cases to the platform. And India is now ready for voice as a core experience.
Amazon has big ambitions for Alexa in India, where voice recognition is considered "the next big innovation." But for now, she only speaks English.https://t.co/NGuFtOrWvq
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 22, 2018
“Voice today is powering several devices — PCs, wearables, smartphones, car accessories and smart home devices — helping people streamline their lives. I firmly believe voice is the next interface with computing and Amazon with its Alexa offerings is here to change the world,” Berns told in an interview.
India to utilize the best of AVS
“India is a relatively new market for us. We came here in February 2018. I am confident that we will have some key learning from here as this is going to be a different experience for us,” added Berns, who joined Amazon little over two-and-a-half years ago and was in India last week.
The AVS helps manufacturers integrate Alexa into third-party hardware.
AVS provides developers with access to a plethora of resources to quickly and easily build Alexa-enabled products. Application program interfaces (APIs), hardware development kits, software development kits, and documentation will be included.
Four Indian manufacturers announced the launch of new products like portable headsets, smart speakers & set-top boxes with the Amazon Alexa built-inhttps://t.co/PpAMmHjaw6
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) October 22, 2018
At the end of the year 2016, companies had built and launched 10 AVS products. Today, that number is approaching 100.
“Apart from our Echo family of devices, the third-party business is growing fast and India is top on our chart. A two-pizza Alexa team has now expanded across the world, helping create better products. We have a broad Alexa commitment to voice,” Berns told.
Alexa built-in is a segment of devices manufactured with the AVS that have a microphone and speaker.
Indian hardware manufacturers @iBallIndia, @SirenaTechnologies @boAt and @MyBox have integrated #Alexa into their products with the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) which enables developers to integrate Alexa directly into their products @amazonecho@amazonhttps://t.co/qErt1Ndera
— Nishant Arora (@nisharotech) October 22, 2018
One can talk to these products directly with the wake word “Alexa“, and receive voice responses and content instantly.
Alexa compatible devices shall soon bring its potential to its fullest
Alexa built-in products work with Alexa skills and Alexa-compatible smart home devices, bringing similar capabilities from the Amazon Echo family of devices to a range of new form factors and incidents developed by leading brands.
“Alexa is broadly distributed and is setting the pace for services and technologies. People across the world have an Alexa story to share. I hope Indian users will have their Alexa stories to share soon,” Berns noted.
Via AVS, a lot of new devices capable of the features can be used to access the easy way of accessing their products from distance and even handle them remotely. The integration will bring better mobility to newly produced devices.
“Voice is non-threatening although younger people adopt it fast as they are voice-forward. It is also funny that people treat Alexa as a virtual assistant. It is much more than just a digital assistant; it is a full-fledged platform,” Berns said.
AVS will soon to integrated to a lot of Big Tech brands
AVS today has hundreds of 1,000 of developers and 50,000-60,000 Alexa skills. Globally, big tech companies like Bose, Jabra, Harman Kardon, and Motorola have products with Alexa built-in.
“We are doing interesting form factors with Alexa, developing interesting skill-sets. Amazon never believes there is going to be one voice and hence, focuses on customers rather than the competition,” Berns emphasized.
In India, Alexa devices are expanding across multiple segments, including portable headsets, smart speakers and set-top boxes.
Indian Tech Brands are on their way to integrate AVS
4 Indian brands — iBall, Sirena Technologies, boAt, and MyBox — have announced products that feature Alexa built-in.
“Breathe–M” from iBall is a wireless Bluetooth over-ear headset with built-in Mic for just ₹2,225 while “Vood” by Sirena Technologies is labeled as one of the world’s smallest portable smart speakers for ₹2,699.
iBall Breathe-M Bluetooth headset, Vood and boAt Stone 700A smart speaker, MyBox TV set top box with Alexa announced in India https://t.co/fbaPcDwVx3 pic.twitter.com/PrDDsQ7c0e
— FoneArena Mobile (@FoneArena) October 22, 2018
“boAt Stone 700A” is a shock and waterproof smart speaker for ₹7,999 and “MyBox” Alexa Kit for the set-top box (STB), paired with a voice remote, costs just ₹1,999.
“The momentum we have had in a short period in India is amazing. I am blown away by the energy of our partners here. We will soon have more third-party products that will eclipse our first-party products,” Berns added.
Indians shall soon embrace the use of Voice-Input for a better living
According to Manohar Hotchandani, Country Manager for AVS at Amazon, Indians want to listen to different incidents and devotion, Bollywood and cricket are among the most popular destinations for them.
“We now have products designed and developed in India. We will have more products adapted to the Indian conditions being manufactured here as the skilled workforce for that is already available,” Hotchandani told.