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In a challenge to Amazon’s Alexa, Roku pitches a voice assistant for home entertainment
Roku Inc. may have been an early pioneer for streaming media devices, but it lost some ground to competing devices from companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC Now the company wants to turn the tables by creating its own smart assistant to challenge Alexa and Google Assistant.
Roku announced today that it’s developing the Roku Entertainment Assistant, a voice assistant that will be integrated into its operating system in a free update by this fall. The update will also include Roku Connect, a new software that will allow TVs, speakers and other Roku-enabled entertainment devices to connect wirelessly as a single “home entertainment network.”
The Roku Entertainment Assistant is designed with home audio in mind, but Roku will not be making its own speakers — at least not yet. Instead, Roku will license out its operating system and its smart speaker and smart soundbar hardware reference designs to electronics makers, allowing them to build their own unified home entertainment systems that are powered by the new assistant.
According to Roku Chief Executive Anthony Wood, the new assistant and hardware licenses are part of the company’s broader goal to dominate home entertainment.
“Consumers will love the benefits of a home entertainment network, such as having more affordable options, adding one device at a time, using their voice, having a simplified set up and Wi-Fi connectivity, and holding just one remote control,” Wood said in a statement. “And, of course, OEM [original equipment manufacturer] brands benefit by offering their products in a more appealing way to our already large and engaged audience of millions of active accounts.”
Roku said its licensing deals are not exclusive, so if manufacturers wanted to, they could also include rival services such as Alexa in the same product as Roku Entertainment Assistant. This could be a budding trend this year, as companies such as Sonos Inc. and LG Corp. have announced that some of their products will include both Alexa and Google Assistant.
The company will show off its new assistant and reference speaker designs next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which kicks off on Jan. 9.
Photo: Roku
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