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Vizio devices now take voice commands from Google Home
Vizio's living room devices already play nicely with Google services, but wouldn't it be nice if you could use Google voice control as well? You can now. All of Vizio's SmartCast-equipped devices, including recent TVs, soundbars and speakers, just got support for Google Home. If you want to watch a movie on Netflix, you don't even have to wake your TV -- say the right words to Google's smart speaker and it'll start playing on your set. You can also pause, skip songs and tweak the volume without touching a button.
Adobe demos a virtual assistant for voice-based photo edits
If CES was any indication, voice control and virtual assistants will rule in 2017. While some companies seem to be adding the tools just for the sake of doing so, others are finding some implementations that could actually be useful. Adobe falls into the latter category and the company is showing off what it calls "a first step" towards voice-controlled edits in its design apps.
Simplehuman made a trashcan you can open with your voice
Simplehuman's a pretty household name in, uh, households across the country, what with its sensor mirrors, stainless steel dish racks and automatic soap dispensers. Now it's come up with yet another innovation: a trashcan you can activate with your voice. Known as the Sensor Can with Voice Control, you can open it just by saying "open can" and "open sesame."
Samsung's robotic vacuum takes Amazon Echo voice commands
Samsung has revealed Powerbot VR7000, a robotic vacuum you can control with your Amazon Echo. The company says that, in fact, all of its WiFi-enabled Powerbot vacuums will work with Alexa, including, presumably, current connected models like the Powerbot WiFi. It didn't say what you can command your bots to do, but the Neato Botvac (which beat Samsung to the punch by adding an Alexa "Skill" last month) basically just lets you start and stop cleaning.
Hello's 'Sense' sleep sensor gets voice controls
Hello Inc. has launched a new version of its sleep sensor called "Sense with Voice," with the highlight being (wait for it) voice commands. As a reminder, it consists of a sphere-shaped monitor and pill-shaped sensor that attaches to your pillow and detects your movements. Rather than just controlling it with a smartphone as before, you can now say "Okay Sense" to set the alarm, gauge your sleep quality or check environmental factors like the humidity and temperature.
Whyd is a colorful take on voice-controlled wireless speakers
Just two years ago, Whyd was trying to mix up the music streaming world, with a service that let you collect tracks from around the internet, and put them in one place. Today, it's moving into hardware with a multi-room wireless speaker. Don't worry, if you were into its aggregation service, (as you likely know) it wasn't killed, but made open source earlier this month. Starting today, though, the Whyd brand will live on as a multi-room speaker system.
Hound's voice-recognition technology books an Uber for you
Virtual assistants are getting better at their jobs. With Siri, Cortana or Google Now on your smartphone, it's not hard to pin down the closest artisanal coffee shop, set up a reminder to water your plants or calculate the quickest commute. But in this race for personal assistance, the service that requires the fewest steps can be expected to win. Hound, the latest natural language voice-recognition entrant, comes with the promise of a hands-free experience.
