Silicon Updates: Smart speakers in India - The next big thing from Qualcomm

Smart speakers is the "next-big-thing" in India. The concept of smart speakers has rooted deep in the recent past of overseas. Now, this is being taken up to the next level in India by Qualcomm. Qualcomm has announced it latest smart audio platform at the Qualcomm Developers Conference in Shenzen. All the chips for the smart speakers will be fabricated by Qualcomm itself.

Qualcomm has two constraints in launching the platform for smart speakers.

1. To support OEMs to develop cost-effective products at the earliest possible inline with the performance.
2. To provide a connected, interactive environment in the room and satisfy the consumer demands.

The major objective behind this platform is to differentiate acoustic design, cloud service partnerships, audio digital signal processing processors and apps. Qualcomm aims to achieve this objective without compromising the quality of sound. This platform allows the OEMs to build highly compatible connected environment, capable to support wide range of audio streaming services. All the devices in the environment will be connected to the internet through Wi-Fi and the devices among them are connected through Bluetooth. Qualcomm uses AllJoyn technology to connect wide range of devices for interoperability.

A glance of Qualcomm AllJoyn Framework

As of now, there are very less number of smart speaker manufacturers in India. In order to release a product, these manufacturers have to build the smart speakers from scratch. The Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform allows the OEMs to manufacture high quality smart speakers instead of starting off. This is good opportunity for the startups to develop their base.
The Qualcomm Smart Speakers Platform is a sort of plug-and-play system for the OEMs to build their product. At this point of time, the tech giants like Google, Amazon and Apple are more into this category of electronics, where the OEMs have nothing to do with. The platform comes with the features like voice assistance similar to Siri or Google Now, echo cancellation and noise suppression.
Amazon Echo and Google Home are the major gadgets in this niche, where they are not compatible with each other. Sources say that the Qualcomm Smart Speakers Platform allows compatibility with other similar devices also. The added advantage of this platform is that it comes both in wired and wireless formats.

Create more intelligent, intuitive smart speaker systems and voice-enabled home assistants utilising Qualcomm Technologies’ smart speaker solutions. Our integrated, optimised platforms guarantee superior connectivity, voice control and processing with quality audio performance. Now, sound enthusiasts can enjoy features such as contextual awareness, natural language, music playback, news delivery, and hundreds of new use cases in the future. - Qualcomm