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ZTE's 'smart voice alliance' to take on Apple, Google and Microsoft
Staff Reporter
2014-09-27
The webpage of Audience, a producer of advanced voice and audio processing for mobile devices. (Internet photo)
Chinese handset maker ZTE Corp on Wednesday established the "Smart Voice Alliance," the world's first voice-controlled technology alliance for mobiles, with other leading Chinese tech firms such as Audience, Nuance, AutoNavi and Baidu as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The alliance aims to establish a "5A" protocol, the first industry-wide standard platform for voice-controlled technologies, and seeks to pave the way for a gradual migration from touchscreens to voice-controlled devices.
Xie Wei, vice president of ZTE's terminal business, told Shanghai's China Business News that the Smart Voice Alliance will integrate voice recognition technologies and resources across the industry to improve the entire voice control ecosystem.
"Many companies have developed their own standards. From a policy perspective, there is no national standard so far," Xie said.
China Business News said China's voice-control industry consists of three types of companies. The first group is conventional suppliers of voice-control technologies such as iFlytek and SinoVoice. The second group is internet portals such as Baidu, Tencent and Sougou which plan to tap voice control technologies through strategic partnerships or acquisitions. The third type includes startup firms such as Unisound and AI Speech, which provide voice recognition technology and products to select sectors such as automobile and home appliances.
But the bigger competition comes from technology heavyweights in the global industry such as Amazon, which has acquired Evi, a natural language search platform that is similar to Apple's Siri, for US$26 million.
In the meantime, Apple is stepping into a bigger ecosystem for the home automation arena with its Siri software. The initial partners of Apple's new HomeKit software include home appliance manufacturers Marvell, Honeywell, Philips, Cree and Haier.
A representative of a member company of the Smart Voice Alliance told the China Business News that Apple has closely integrated its software with hardware, while Google owns the open-source Android operating system and Microsoft has nearly monopolized the PC operating system.
Forming a strategic alliance will help Chinese companies compete with these global technology giants by integrating resources across the industry, the person said.
ZTE's Xie added that the Smart Voice Alliance will allow local companies to explore more business opportunities in the voice control market, as well as reduce their product time to market and control initial costs of expansion to overseas markets.
Staff Reporter
2014-09-27
The webpage of Audience, a producer of advanced voice and audio processing for mobile devices. (Internet photo)
Chinese handset maker ZTE Corp on Wednesday established the "Smart Voice Alliance," the world's first voice-controlled technology alliance for mobiles, with other leading Chinese tech firms such as Audience, Nuance, AutoNavi and Baidu as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The alliance aims to establish a "5A" protocol, the first industry-wide standard platform for voice-controlled technologies, and seeks to pave the way for a gradual migration from touchscreens to voice-controlled devices.
Xie Wei, vice president of ZTE's terminal business, told Shanghai's China Business News that the Smart Voice Alliance will integrate voice recognition technologies and resources across the industry to improve the entire voice control ecosystem.
"Many companies have developed their own standards. From a policy perspective, there is no national standard so far," Xie said.
China Business News said China's voice-control industry consists of three types of companies. The first group is conventional suppliers of voice-control technologies such as iFlytek and SinoVoice. The second group is internet portals such as Baidu, Tencent and Sougou which plan to tap voice control technologies through strategic partnerships or acquisitions. The third type includes startup firms such as Unisound and AI Speech, which provide voice recognition technology and products to select sectors such as automobile and home appliances.
But the bigger competition comes from technology heavyweights in the global industry such as Amazon, which has acquired Evi, a natural language search platform that is similar to Apple's Siri, for US$26 million.
In the meantime, Apple is stepping into a bigger ecosystem for the home automation arena with its Siri software. The initial partners of Apple's new HomeKit software include home appliance manufacturers Marvell, Honeywell, Philips, Cree and Haier.
A representative of a member company of the Smart Voice Alliance told the China Business News that Apple has closely integrated its software with hardware, while Google owns the open-source Android operating system and Microsoft has nearly monopolized the PC operating system.
Forming a strategic alliance will help Chinese companies compete with these global technology giants by integrating resources across the industry, the person said.
ZTE's Xie added that the Smart Voice Alliance will allow local companies to explore more business opportunities in the voice control market, as well as reduce their product time to market and control initial costs of expansion to overseas markets.
