Amazon has been planning to expand the use of Alexa to different devices other than Smart Speakers, Fire TV and other consumer home electronics. The company recently announced that they are planning on developing tools that would allow Alexa to be used in more electronic home products like microwaves etc.
Amazon has developed a new set of developing tools which includes “Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit” that allows Alexa to connect with various Bluetooth products, like headphones, smart watches and fitness trackers. The kit has already started being used by various device makers like Boss, Jabra, iHome.
Bose has been working closely with Amazon to build, design and test solutions and refine the kit further as it will be available to the developers this summer. According to the director of product management, Brian Maguire, at Bose, “Bose is excited to add a remarkable new Alexa experience for our customers, Accessing Alexa’s music, information, and vast number of skills on our headphones will become easier than ever, and we’re looking forward to bringing our collaboration to life.”
As voice computing and virtual assistance grow popular, it has become imperative for companies that are not Apple and Google, to collaborate with Amazon in order to compete and stand their own in the tech market. The Mobile Accessory Kit enable companies like Bose to enter that competition. Amazon claims that Alexa can capture the bigger market, allowing the device makers to focus on what they do best which is not necessarily voice computing.
This Mobile Accessory Kit allows a lightweight method to build on-the-go products. This is because the device using this kit will be connected to the Alexa app via Bluetooth, instead of having it in-built.
We’ll hopefully be seeing more devices integrated with Alexa in CES’19.