Dish Network added Google Assistant voice control to its Hopper receivers via a software update that began rolling out Wednesday. Customers can use Assistant to ask questions about what they’re watching, receive weather updates, view photos on screen and control smart devices, it said. Customers can also use the Dish remote to ask Assistant general questions such as game scores and see answers on the screen, Dish said. Verbal and visual responses are said to be seamlessly integrated into the existing Dish voice control experience across all Hopper family receivers using cloud-rendering technology from TVersity. Customers with a Dish voice remote and all generations of broadband-connected Hopper, Joey and Wally receivers can access Google Assistant once they receive the software update, said Dish.

Virtual assistant analysts predicted continued robust momentum through 2023 based on strong consumer demand and improvements in enabling technologies. Virtual assistants are on course to penetrate one in two devices sold annually by 2023, said Futuresource Monday, pegging global shipments at more than 2.3 billion units, up from 1.1 billion units in 2019. Canalys forecast the installed base of smart assistant devices -- either built-in or compatible -- in China alone will reach 5.8 billion devices by 2023, doubling that of the U.S. market. It estimated the installed base of devices with smart assistants built-in will reach 2.2 billion units in China during the forecast period, led by the smartphone. Some 3.6 billion devices such as air conditioners, door locks, TVs and refrigerators will be voice assistant-compatible, controllable by a smart assistant over a network via a smart speaker or similar device, it said Monday. In China, smart appliances will play a major role in the vision of the ideal home, as the growing middle class continues to pursue a higher standard of living, said analyst Cynthia Chen, highlighting Haier, TCL and Hisense as companies that identified the trend early on. Leading smart assistants in China are Xiaodu, Tmall Genie and XiaoAI.

Google is investigating violations to data security policies following leaks of confidential data by a language reviewer, Product Manager David Monsees blogged Thursday. Google partners with global language experts who understand nuances and accents of a specific language to review and transcribe “a small set of queries” to better understand languages, which Monsees called a critical part of building speech technology necessary to products like Google Assistant. The company learned that one of the reviewers violated Google policy by “leaking confidential Dutch audio data,” he said, and the company is conducting a review of its safeguards “prevent misconduct like this from happening again.” Language experts review about 0.2 percent of all audio snippets, which are “are not associated with user accounts as part of the review process,” Monsees said. Reviewers are directed not to transcribe background conversations or other noises, and only to transcribe snippets that are directed to Google, he said. He added that the voice assistant only sends audio to Google after a Google Assistant-enabled device detects a user is interacting with it by saying “Hey Google” or by physically triggering the Google Assistant. Monsees acknowledged that “rarely, devices that have the Google Assistant built in may experience what we call a 'false accept,'" interpreting other words or noises to be the wake word. Protections are in place to “prevent false accepts from occurring in your home,” he said. Consumers concerned about privacy can turn off storing audio data to their Google accounts completely or choose to auto-delete data every three or 18 months, he said.

The smart speaker market in Europe grew 23.9 percent in Q1, led by Google Home devices, which had 45.1 percent of shipments vs. 41.8 percent for Amazon Echo, said IDC Tuesday. Google continues to expand to new countries and support new native languages at a faster rate than Amazon, said analyst Antonio Arantes, noting Google Assistant was embedded in 49.2 percent of all smart speakers sold in Europe in the quarter. Amazon faced supply issues, with the Echo Dot out of stock in some countries for several weeks, he said. Some 21.3 million smart speakers shipped in Europe in the quarter; Western Europe had 88.3 percent share of shipments.

HVAC manufacturer Lennox Residential added Google Assistant compatibility in its iComfort smart thermostat line, joining Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri via HomeKit, it said Tuesday. Voice commands through Google Assistant include making the temperature warmer or cooler, setting temperature to a precise setting and raising or lowering temperature by 2 degrees, it said.

Legrand introduced smart lighting for Apple HomeKit, giving iOS customers the ability to control smart switches, dimmers and plug-ins over Wi-Fi without a hub and with Siri voice control. Customers who prefer a different voice assistant can configure the Legrand Home iOS app to enable control via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, it said.

Sony’s Android TVs are the first to offer expanded smart capabilities with Alexa through Amazon’s Alexa Music, Cameras and TV Control app, Sony said Wednesday. The app is installable from the Sony Select row on the TVs’ home screen, enabling users to view live video from compatible smart home cameras, including Ring and Wyze, Sony said. TV owners can use the app to voice-control music through Amazon Music, Pandora and, soon, Spotify, on the TVs. The app works with Sony’s Android TV skill for Alexa, allowing customers to use a paired Echo device to control movie and TV show playback from Prime Video and other apps installed on the TV. Customers can use Alexa to turn the TV on and off and change channels, among other functions, it said. The new app is compatible with select Sony Android TVs from 2016-2018 and all 2019 models, it said.

Accessories company Smarte is offering a 50 percent discount on the $29 Mute Plus product for Amazon Echo, Echo Plus and Dot that blocks a smart speaker from listening when a user activates a privacy setting. Mute Plus promises an “extra layer of trusted protection” by temporarily blocking near- or far-field noise from reaching the smart speakers’ mics, a company spokeswoman said. The device’s illuminated privacy timer can be set for up to an hour at a time. Users power on the battery-powered device, designed to fit specific Echo devices, via a press-and-hold action. The 02muteplus50% code is good through July 15.

Knowles developed a voice control technology for OEMs, enabling them to build headphones, headsets and wireless earbuds that allow consumers to talk directly to the Alexa without having to press a button to activate the digital assistant first, it said Tuesday. Headphone companies that use Knowles’ AISonic SmartMic headset development kit for the Alexa Voice Service can enable “natural access” to voice services via the Alexa wake word so consumers can play music, place calls, access skills and request information hands-free, the company said. Knowles’ design is the first turnkey wake-on-voice, AVS-qualified platform for Alexa-enabled headsets and hearables, enabling manufacturers and developers to “quickly integrate Alexa into their smart headsets and eliminate inconvenient push-to-talk interfaces,” said Michael Maia, product line vice president. The technology is compliant with the Alexa Mobile Accessory protocol for Bluetooth accessories and claims the industry’s lowest power necessary for wake-on-voice functionality in a small battery-operated device. Rock Gao, general manager of headphone BG at headphone company Anker, said the kit will speed that company’s time to market for true wireless earbuds. Enabling speech recognition and voice control on a headset creates unique challenges that don’t exist for smart speakers: Acoustic background distractions such as car noise, restaurant and bar conversation and street noise have to be minimized to enable effective voice recognition performance, Knowles said. The company’s solution, processed at the edge, was designed to recognize the Alexa wake word and deliver speech requests for processing in real-world environments without draining battery life, it said.

Google Assistant is now available on the Google Waze navigation app for Android phones, blogged the company Monday. Users can ask Google, in English, for information such as a traffic report or a route that’s toll-free, said Austin Chang, director-Google Assistant. Chang promoted voice commands as a way to minimize distractions on the road so drivers can keep hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.