It looks like smart assistants based on real-time AI will catch the centre stage in the tech industry once again, with some significant announcements being made at CES 2018.
Commencing the pack is Amazon’s Alexa, which is foreseen to make its way to a wider variety of devices by the end of the year, including headphones, smartwatches and other wearable products.
For this very purpose, Amazon has proclaimed plans for a mobile accessory development kit, which will concede hardware companies to incorporate Alexa into their devices with minimum efforts. The company says it is working with a bunch of partners on this project, including Bose, iHome and Jabra, among others.
Meanwhile, Acer has gone ahead and announced that Amazon Alexa will be coming to select Windows 10-powered Aspire Spin, Switch and Swift notebooks, as well as the Aspire all-in-one PCs. This makes the brand one of the first to bring Alexa support totheir laptop and AIO range, a move that we expect many other brands to follow. For a list of supported models, you can have a look here.
Talking about the move, Steve Rabuchin, VP, Amazon Alexa says:
We’re delighted that Acer will bring Alexa to PC customers. Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more. This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her.
The move is expedient with the help of Intel’s Smart Sound Technology and an integrated Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to handle audio, video and speech interactions. Moreover, Acer’s new V6820 range of projectors will also work with Amazon Alexa. The company says that it will begin rollout of the feature starting Q1 2018.
Amazon Alexa will originally be accessible in the US via an update through Acer Care Center, with all-inclusive support expected to succeed this year.
