IHome, whose iPhone-inspired clock radios are still seen in hotel rooms after Apple converted from the 30-pin connector to Lightning, showed an Alexa-compatible clock radio at CEDIA Expo. The 10-watt iAVS16 ($149) integrates Alexa functionality and can control lights and appliances via voice after users set up devices using the iHome app, Gary Schultz, director-product and business development, told us. Users can control the snooze feature by voice or with a button so they don’t disturb others in the room. Smart buttons on top of the radio can control a light or coffee pot connected to an iHome smart plug, Schultz said. The radio supports Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music, and users can set presets for music streaming services. A USB port on the back provides 2.1-Amp charging for a smartphone. IHome's smaller, 6-watt iAVS1 ($69), with a 1-Amp USB charging port, offers Alexa compatibility via the Echo Dot. The radio has a round cutout in the top to house and charge the Dot. The company doesn't have plans to introduce a clock radio to support Google Assistant, but "we're always looking at different things," Schultz said.

BBC R&D is working to develop an “original interactive audio drama pilot” for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice devices that lets users “actively” play a role in the story using their own voices, said the broadcaster in a Wednesday blog post. Using a story developed with Rosina Sound, a London-based audio entertainment specialist agency, “we wanted to make it feel like you’re having a genuine, direct interaction with the other characters in the piece,” wrote BBC R&D producer Henry Cooke. “We haven’t come across any other interactive stories like this on voice devices, and we’re excited to see how people respond.” BBC R&D built a “story engine” that will allow the pilot to be released “across different voice devices,” he said. In addition to starting with Alexa and Google Assistant, “we’ve got the potential to add to that roster of devices” that includes Apple’s HomePod or the Invoke smart speaker from Microsoft and Harman Kardon, he said. “As far as we know, there aren’t many people developing cross-platform voice experiences in this way.” The pilot will be released before year-end on BBC Taster, BBC’s website for floating and testing new content and technology ideas to the public, he said.

Origin Acoustics is bringing to the CEDIA show this week a voice-controlled amplifier, the Valet, that works with Amazon’s $49 Echo Dot. The four-zone amp, with eight 75-watt channels, can access Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and TuneIn libraries via the Dot, and external sources also can be played through the system, said the company. Each of the four stereo zones, equipped with an RJ45 connector, sends power to the Dot over a CAT 5 cable, which returns the audio signal to the amplifier via a proprietary balun. The Dot’s audio output allows music and Alexa’s voice to play through the room’s loudspeakers, giving an audio upgrade to the Dot’s internal speaker, said the company. The Dot can be ceiling mounted behind a perforated 3-inch speaker grille “making it virtually invisible in the room but easily voice activated,” said the company. Up to four Dots can be incorporated into the amplifier. The Valet ($1,500, including baluns) allows the Dot and other voice-controlled products to be incorporated into the custom channel while creating profit opportunity for installers, said the company.

In a week packed with partnership news from Amazon Alexa, Panasonic bowed at IFA Wednesday a Bluetooth hi-fi speaker with Google Assistant built in. Users can control music via voice on the SC-GA10 and compatible smart devices, Panasonic said. The speaker will offer app control, too, it said. Supported streaming services include Spotify, Google Play Music and TuneIn Radio, said the company, and the speaker can synchronize with speakers incorporating built-in Chromecast in a multiroom audio setup. The speaker is said to provide a 180-degree soundstage. No price was given.

Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana voice engines will be able to communicate later this year, the companies announced Wednesday. Consumers can tell Alexa to “open Cortana” or tell a Windows 10 device to open Alexa, they said. Alexa users will be able to access Cortana to book a meeting, access a calendar or read work email through Office 365 integration, said the companies. Cortana customers will be able to ask Alexa to control their smart home devices, shop on Amazon and interact with Alexa skills built by third-party developers, they said. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos cited a “big” and “multifaceted” world, saying there will be “multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas.” Together, their strengths “will complement each other” and create richer and “more helpful” experiences, Bezos said.

Eufy, a China-based brand from Anker, known for chargers and cables widely distributed on Amazon, will begin selling a version of the Echo Dot ($49.99) Thursday at a 40 percent discount, said the Eufy website Wednesday. That would put the purchase price of Eufy Genie at just under $30, which is less than Amazon’s standard $34.99 promotional price for the Dot. A chat agent at Eufylife.com said, “We don’t know the price yet,” when we inquired, while directing us to a page where we could sign up for a discount. Amazon boosted Dot sales efforts recently with a $34.99 Prime Day promotion last month and a one-day sale Monday (see 1708040009) at Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy with the $35 price. Eufy advertising copy described the "smart home speaker with Alexa built-in" as having "enhanced audio with room-filling sound" and offering "complete smart home control."

The BBC is working with Microsoft to build an “experimental version” of its iPlayer internet-streaming catchup service that uses artificial intelligence “to allow individuals to sign in to BBC services using their unique voiceprint and to talk to their TV to select what they want to watch,” said Cyrus Saihan, BBC head-digital partnerships, in a Wednesday blog post. Just like fingerprints, “you have a voice that is totally unique to you,” said Saihan. In the BBC’s development work with Microsoft, a voice print is matched “to a sample of your voice stored in the cloud,” he said. Artificial intelligence software then “checks that you are who you say you are and then signs you in, without you having to type anything,” he said. The prototype they built “is only a proof of concept and we are still at the very early stages for voice interfaces,” he said. It focused on “getting the basics right,” including creating a working model that allows individuals to sign into an account using their voiceprints, he said. As the technology advances, voice prints and artificial intelligence “could enable even greater levels” of personalization, he said.

Universal Remote Control announced integration with Google Home and other Google Assistant-enabled devices, said a Wednesday email. Customers can automate their homes with voice commands, including custom phrases and custom responses, said the company, citing AV, lighting and climate control. Any Total Control macro sequence can be controlled via the Google Assistant integration, it said. URC also said Russound’s XStream streaming audio models are compatible with Total Control and Lenbrook’s BluOS-enabled products integrate with Total Control for basic music playback functions.

For users who don't want to be far away from Alexa, Compulocks introduced a lock bracket ($29) for the Amazon Echo to allow the speaker to be used securely in an office, said the company. The bracket is secured with a cable lock that fastens around the lower part of the Echo and has two sets of prongs that mesh with the speaker holes to keep it in position when locked, it said.

Sony 2017 Android TVs are still slated for a Google Assistant firmware update later this year, a Sony spokesman emailed us. Sony announced last week (see 1707130036) that its 2017 Android TVs now support Alexa voice control with a recent firmware update. The update to support Google Assistant will be delivered by year-end, the spokesman said.