IHome announced companion dock speakers for the Echo Input, a disc-shaped device that adds Alexa capability to standard loudspeakers. The “Made for Amazon” docking stations, each $49, include the iAV2v2 -- with a built-in clock and 1-amp USB port -- and the iAV5v2, with Bluetooth playback, rechargeable battery and color-changing lights. The speakers are also designed to work with the Echo Dot.

Centralite's 3 Series Micro motion sensor ($35) and Micro door sensor ($30) were certified to work with Amazon's Echo Plus voice assistant, it said Wednesday. Amazon recently added support for motion and door sensors to the Zigbee-based Echo Plus, so no third-party hub is required to integrate the sensors in a smart home system, Centralite said. In an August blog post, Brian Crum, senior product manager-Amazon Alexa, said customers can view connected sensors in the Alexa app, query their status and use them to activate routines involving other smart home devices. For example, a motion sensor would turn on lights in a room and then shut them off 30 minutes later if no motion is detected, wrote Crum, or a motion sensor inside a Wi-Fi camera could turn on a light and send a notification to a smartphone. Centralite plans to include Alexa and Echo Plus integration and support in its product road map, said CEO Sean Bryant, saying the long-time white-label smart home device maker hopes to build its consumer brand via Alexa voice control.

SoundHound's music recognition feature is available for licensing via its Houndify voice artificial intelligence platform to brands and developers for use within their user interfaces or to access via voice queries, it said Wednesday. Partners that have deployed SoundHound’s music recognition include Hyundai, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Korea Telecom, and Casio with its G-Shock watch. SoundHound said Houndify is the first independent AI platform that enables developers and business owners to deploy a conversational interface and retain control of their brands and users “while differentiating and innovating.”

Eleven percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a smart speaker in the next 12 months, Parks Associates blogged Monday. Voice control for security systems “promises to be a UX differentiator,” said analyst Dina Abdelrazik. Voice control of TV and lights also appeal to consumers for convenience and simple operation, she said.

Comcast added multilingual English and Spanish language support for its Xfinity X1 voice remote. The company processes more than 6 million Spanish-language commands monthly for customers who set their primary X1 language as Spanish, blogged Lead Engineer Raul Guerra Paredes Wednesday. “Unlike a personal electronic device like a phone, which can just be set to a mode where it only takes Spanish-language inputs and gives only Spanish responses, we knew that many of our Spanish-speaking customers lived in homes where both English and Spanish are spoken interchangeably.” Human speech patterns add complexity, Paredes said. Comcast engineers built technology so that when a customer makes a command, the voice platform queries English and Spanish voice databases simultaneously, he said. “We make manual changes to ensure we are capturing the most popular commands and train our [artificial intelligence] and machine learning algorithms to continuously improve." Some 23 million Xfinity customers have used voice remotes, issuing more than 3.5 billion voice commands in the first half of 2018. In both languages, requests for free movies top the list of voice commands, it said.

Two studies released Wednesday indicate the growing power of voice in driving e-commerce sales. CTA reported that one in four U.S. online adults is likely to make a purchase using voice technology in the next year, and most will shop from their living rooms. CTA’s 2018 voice shopping report said consumers who use digital assistants daily are much more likely to voice shop via a smart speaker -- such as Amazon Echo and Google Home -- or a digital assistant such as Apple's Siri. "Digital assistants are enabling a fourth 'voice' sales channel to emerge, joining brick-and-mortar, online, and mobile as an avenue for buying goods and services," said Ben Arnold, CTA senior director-trends and innovation. Though still nascent, voice shopping will increase as brands add more commerce-related skills and capabilities to digital assistants, leading more consumers to experiment with it, Arnold said, and the trend is expected to play out in the upcoming holiday season. Smart speaker ownership nearly tripled to 22 percent this year, making the category one of the fastest-adopted technologies since tablets, said CTA. The living room (53 percent) is the most common place consumers are locating smart speakers, followed by the bedroom (40 percent), kitchen (32 percent), a vehicle (30 percent) and home office (20 percent), it said. Top purchases via smart speaker are for food and groceries, and then household supplies and CE products, it said. CTA findings were based on a national sample of 2,000 U.S adult respondents surveyed May 18-25. A Wednesday Parks Associates report said smart speakers are driving online sales of CE purchases, and a quarter of CE purchases by broadband households are made online vs. 9-10 percent for other categories. With intent to buy on the rise for smart speakers, “online retailers stand to take a larger part of CE purchases going forward," said Parks analyst Kristen Hanich.

Google added an aqua model to its popular Home Mini portfolio that's due in Walmart and the Google Store later this month. In a Tuesday blog post, the company didn’t give a price for the light blue Mini, which joins chalk, charcoal and coral models, each $49. Despite Google’s dabble in color, the off-white version appears to be most popular at Google Store, where interested shoppers are invited to join the waitlist for the out-of-stock item. Google Home Mini, which took an attractive dip to $34.99 at various stores in July for Amazon’s Prime Day event (see 1807130051), jumped to the top of the list in Strategy Analytics' most recent tally of smart speaker shipments worldwide. Global smart speaker shipments reached 11.7 million units in Q2, topping $1 billion in revenue, SA reported, with Google Home Mini owning 20 percent share on 2.3 million units shipped. Amazon’s similarly priced and discounted Echo Dot was a close second, shipping 2.2 million units for 18 percent share, it said. Amazon’s Echo came in third at 1.4 million units for 12 percent share, and Google Home tied with Alibaba's Tmall Genie in fourth, selling 800,000 units each for 7 percent share. Apple’s $349 HomePod topped market value rankings with 16 percent share of worldwide revenue, SA said.

Twenty-eight percent of U.S. broadband homes own at least one smart speaker with voice assistant, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Adoption growth in the category has been explosive, it said. Parks estimates smart speakers penetrating more than 30 percent by year-end. That's versus 5 percent two years ago, it said. Smart speakers “are experiencing a meteoric rise not seen since tablets,” said CTA's July midyear forecast report.

Roku began rollout out of its OS 8.2 software update for Roku TVs and expects the rollout to be complete in November, said the company Monday. Its OS 9 software release will begin rolling out to Roku streaming players in early November and Roku TVs early next year, it said. OS 8.2 enables new compatibility with upcoming Roku TV wireless speakers, while OS 9 will deliver “a variety of enhancements to give Roku customers new easy ways to search and control their entertainment experience,” it said. Roku will soon enable using Google Assistant to voice control Roku streaming devices, it said. Roku also is bringing Spotify and Pandora Premium support to Roku devices, it said.

Comcast and Ticketmaster launched an integration Tuesday, enabling Xfinity X1 customers to find performers' tour dates and request concert tickets from their TV through Ticketmaster’s open ticketing platform. The companies announced the launch with singer Kelly Clarkson’s 28-city Meaning of Life tour, to begin Jan. 24 in Oakland. Xfinity customers can speak the name of the tour into the X1 voice remote to call up a presale window on the TV screen. Customers are taken to a dedicated Clarkson destination, powered by Ticketmaster’s platform, with a promotional tile enabling them to review performances and dates at nearby venues. They can initiate the online ticket-buying process and opt to receive a text message with a unique code to complete the purchase online. Dan Armstrong, Ticketmaster general manager-distributed commerce, called it “groundbreaking” and said the company will expand functionality to more live events soon. At the Clarkson destination, viewers can stream her music on TV via Pandora and watch her music videos, appearances on The Voice, and clips from previous tours.